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Tommy Joseph Avallone III (born October 29th 1982) is an American director, producer, and film maker who is best known for creating the documentary film, “I am Santa Claus.” Avallone partnered with Morgan Spurlock in 2014 when Spurlock picked up the “I Am Santa Claus” documentary for theatrical distribution, under his "Morgan Spurlock Presents" label, a partnership between Spurlock’s company, Warrior Poets, Virgil Films and Abramorama. “I am Santa Claus” premiered at the Hollywood Film Festival in October of 2014. In November of 2014, “I Am Santa Claus” was released on Netflix streaming and DVD. In 2015, Avallone was awarded best “Feature Length Indie Film of the Year” at the Philadelphia Geek Awards for the documentary. While filming “I Am Santa Claus,” Avallone obtained an Associated Degree in Santa Clausology through popular Santa Claus, Santa Tim Cunningham. Tommy is also an honorary member of the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas as well as the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas.

Avallone also co-founded Double Windsor Films, which is based out of New Jersey.

In April of 2016, Avallone announced that the documentary he produced and co-edited, “Ghostheads” will premiere at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival. “Ghostheads” dives into the world of Ghostbusters fandom, shedding light on the movie’s cultural influence on fans around the world. In July of 2016, “Ghostheads” was released worldwide on Netflix.

While filming “Ghostheads,” Avallone became an honorary member of the Ghostbusters of New Jersey and the New York City Ghostbusters.

=Early Life= Avallone was born and raised in Haddon Heights, NJ and is the only child to his parents, Tom and Lynn. At the age of 11, Tommy picked up a video camera for the first time and began shooting skits with neighborhood friends. Taking his interest in video work, he helped developed his high school’s video production department, “HTV”. Tommy was Student Council President in high school.

=Mayor Run= At age 20, Tommy ran for Mayor of his hometown of Haddon Heights, NJ being the youngest resident to ever campaign He gained national popularity with CNN covering his run, jokingly saying that he persuaded media outlets with milk and cookies to cover his story. Although Avallone lost the mayoral race, he gained 8% of the vote collectively with a highest amount of younger voter turnout.

=Career= Shortly after Tommy’s run for mayor, he was hired by CBS Radio Philadelphia to work in the promotions department. From there, Tommy joined the digital team to create video content for 5 stations in Philadelphia local as well as national. CBS collaborations included time spent with the Kidd Chris show as well as the Danny Bonaduce morning show. After Avallone’s departure from CBS Radio in 2015, he was signed to the William Morris Endeavor talent agency to focus on non-scripted work for television.

=Nitty Gritty= In 2002, Tommy and fellow friends Tim “White Chocolate” Dean and Mike “DJ Skeleton” Palante formed the comedy rap group, Nitty Gritty, releasing two full length albums. Performing under the name, “Rock Hard Killa,” Avallone provided vocals for the group and also co-wrote songs. In 2007, the group was signed to the Rich Cronin of LFO boy band fame’s record label, Orange Freeze Records. Nitty Gritty still pops up to perform to this day.

=Philanthropy= In 2003-2004, Tommy and a group of friends, Alex Wildman and Ryan Petrillo created, “Beards for Cancer.” The group was sponsored and for every day not shave, a dollar was raised for the American Cancer Society. The trio did not shave their faces for 1 calendar year, collectively raising $10,000 for the American Cancer Society.

=Appearances= Tommy appeared in the 2013 documentary, “Dear Mr. Watterson”, a fandom documentary highlighting Calvin and Hobbs fandom, showing off his Calvin and Hobbs tattoo on his arm.

=Personal Life= Avallone is a lifelong fan of WWE Wrestling and always features a WWE Wrestler from wrestling’s past and present in each of his films. His grandfather turned him onto the sport as a child and since then he enjoys the fandom of wrestling. To celebrate his high school graduation, Avallone purchased a WWE World Heavy Wight Championship belt. Tommy is quoted on saying that, “Making movies is a lot like professional wrestling, just without the professional wrestling.”

While working at CBS Radio in Philadelphia, Tommy met his to be wife, Alicia in 2007. In 2011 they married in Montego Bay, Jamaica in a small ceremony with close friends and family. In June of 2016, Avallone announced the birth of their son, Miles.

Other interests of Avallone include: documentary film, Ecto-cooler, Calvin and Hobbs, and Disney afternoon. He is also a proud owner of a Ghostbusters replica proton pack which he was given while filming “Ghostheads”.