Joe Camareno

Joe Camareno, a New York City native is the son of Mexican singer & composer Jose Manuel whose late 1970's hit "Eres Un Angel" (You Are an Angel) garnered composing commissions from the popular Spanish language recording groups, Los Diablo's and Los Freddy's.

A graduate of the American Musical & Dramatic Academy in New York, Camareno graced the Big Apple's stages in shows like GREASE, ONE FLEW OVER THE COOKOO'S NEST, RUM & COKE and an original musical review, THE GLORY OF LOVE. He has also toured the country as the Tin Man in THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Camareno is also an accomplished actor of the screen with starring roles on hit television shows like THE SHIELD (recurring), UNFABULOUS (recurring), ER & ROSWELL (recurring). Although trained in New York, Camareno was raised in Los Angeles' East Side, where he was introduced to the stage by his 5th and 6th grade teacher Helen Stringos. She is credited with teaching the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Martha and Gabriel Gonzalez of the musical group Quetzal, among other successfull actors, dancers and musicians. Camareno is a graduate of Hollywood High Performing Arts and studied under esteemed director Jerry Melton.

Camareno has also produced several successful theater productions in the Los Angeles area including A WEEKEND NEAR MADISON, DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER, DELIA'S SONG, EXMAGARE, Shakespeare's TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA & the runaway hit THE UNSINKABLE BISMARCK.

In the spring of 2004, Camareno joined forces with sound designer & playwright Jeff Folschinsky to form Playgrounds, Ink! LLC, a full service production company. Since then, they have produced the wildly successful CUP O' JOE, written by Camareno & Kurt Patino under the helm of Dale Fabrigar. The short film, originally written as a television pilot has been making rounds in the film festival circuit. CUP O' JOE stars Ruth Livier, Erick Carrillo, Tom Ayers, Carolyn Wilson, Rhett Fisher, Anthony DeSantis, Rebecca Gray, Phil Johnson & Lola Davidson. See the CUP O' JOE Gallery.

Camareno has wrapped MEMOIRS, his directorial debut in May of 2005. It is a film based on his play DELIA'S SONG. The featurette stars Yvonne Delarosa, Ricardo Molina, Danny Molina, Erick Carrillo, Esther "Tita" Mercado, Christi Curry & newcomer Veronica Loren. He has other scripts in the works some of which have garnered literary interest in Los Angeles. The film will debut in 2006

Camareno also just wrapped TRANSA-ACTION, a new dramatic film in "Spanglish" with English subtitles; directed by Ricardo Molina and produced under the banner of Ideal Transaction Films. The newly formed production company is the brain child of Camareno, Ricardo Molina, Erick Carrillo, Danny Molina and Leticia Vasquez. They formed this company to create intensly diverse character driven stories of Latino heritage. TRANSA-ACTION, the second for these filmakers is currently in post and will be released in 2006.

Virgin Falls, Camareno's award winning podcast premiered in April 2006. The show is best described as Tim Burton meets South Park. It can be found on iTunes for free or at www.playgrounds-ink.com/virginfalls. The show will be premiering a second season due to its wild success. Also, Virgin Falls en Espanol will premiere November 2006. Camareno voices several characters in both the English and Spanish versions.

Camareno is one of six children.