Dennis Latos is a Greek-American film director, producer and editor who works as a team with his partner Scott Aharoni. They both directed, produced, and edited the award-winning short film, Bardo. Their film Bardo signed a three-year distribution deal with ShortsTV as well as an additional distribution deal with Amazon Video.
Early life
Dennis Latos was born in Flushing, New York. His mother Julie was a florist and his father Peter was a Greek-American lawyer running the Latos & Latos law firm in Astoria, Queens. Latos attended St. Mary's High School. During his senior year, Latos was accepted to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Summer Program in Dublin, Ireland. After graduating high school, Latos attended Emerson College. That November, his father Peter, had been diagnosed with highly aggressive stage 4 prostate cancer at just 44 years old. After the news, Latos decided to withdraw from Emerson and move back to New York. He transferred into Hofstra University, where he continued his film studies, and made the Provost's List each semester he was there. Latos then started working as an assistant music video editor and production assistant on music videos for artists such as Fabolous, Red Cafe, Jadakiss, Young Jeezy and Machine Gun Kelly. Latos then created his own production company, Latos Entertainment. On June 29, 2013, Latos's father died from prostate cancer at age 48. Shortly thereafter, Latos and his brother Stavros, formed The Peter Latos Prostate Cancer Foundation in memory of their father. The foundation's mission is to save lives through early detection and to provide prostate cancer screenings and PSA blood tests for those in need. The foundation also aims to increase awareness through education and provides information about prostate cancer to the public.
Career
In late 2014, Latos landed an internship with Warner Bros. Hollywood producer Michael Tadross at Kaufman Astoria Studios. Tadross is responsible for producing such iconic films such as Coming to America, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Rollerball, The Thomas Crown Affair, I am Legend, Hitch, Sherlock Holmes, Gangster Squad, Winter's Tale, and Ocean's 8. Latos worked in the production office and on set as a production assistant for Tadross's film, Run All Night starring Liam Neeson and Ed Harris. In the summer of 2015, Latos met with long time middle school friend Scott Aharoni who was also a filmmaker. They decided to start their own production company, Duo Entertainment. Through Duo, they would direct, edit, and produce all of their content together.
Short films
Under Duo Entertainment, Aharoni and Latos produced, directed, and edited their first short film together titled Bardo, which stars 2x BAFTA nominated actress Lelia Goldoni. Bardo won various awards in film festivals including the first annual Golden Lion Award which was given to the filmmaker of the year at Hofstra University. Bardo also won Best in Show, Best Director, Best Editor, and Best Producer. On June 24, 2016, Bardo premiered at The Dolby Theater in New York City. The film was accepted to 20 film festivals worldwide including MadridInternational Film Festival, Cyprus International Film Festival, Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, and Soho International Film Festival to name a few. The film won 8 awards and received 5 nominations including Independent Spirit Award at the Sedona International Film Festival in Sedona, AZ, Grand Jury Prize at the Watertown Film Festival in Watertown, NY, and Audience Choice Award as the Downtown Urban Arts Film Festival in NYC. Bardo'' has been screened in Greece, Cyprus, London, Madrid, Australia, and the United States. Bardo additionally signed a 3 year distribution deal with Shorts TV and shortly thereafter signed another distribution deal with Amazon Video. Latos and Aharoni then met with Los Angeles based and student Emmy nominated screenwriter Arthur Panoyan to direct their next short film, The Untimely Gift. On October 13, 2017 the film was screened at the Director's Guild of America Theatre in New York City with an audience of over 500 people. The film was accepted to Rhode Island International Film Festival and Bermuda International Film Festival, both of which are Academy Awards qualifying film festivals. The film was a finalist in both festivals.
