DANCING OUT OF THE DARK is the true life story screenplay of George Velazquez, a professional ballroom dancer, whose life changes drastically with a freak auto-accident that severs his left leg below the knee. Panic stricken by the sudden impact of this event on his life, George fights overwhelming odds to make a come-back to the competition dance floor. With the help of his devoted friends, he learns to dance again, to continue as a dance instructor, and to help other amputees deal with daily physical challenges. DANCING OUT OF THE DARK is a positive and up-lifting journey of recovery set in the world of professional and amateur ballroom dancing.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Joe Ariola was born and raised in Cedarhurst Long Island and graduated from Lawrence High School. He attended St. John’s University and has been a member of the New York City Operating Engineer Local 15 Union for over twenty five years. It is there, through his everyday workings in the construction field, he got the idea to write his first film “Coalition” which has been released domestically by Image Entertainment. Joe wrote, produced and directed Coalition and co-produced the film’s soundtrack with Raekwon of “The Wu-Tang Clan” which was picked up by MicMac records and released through Sony.

He is the founder and president of Ariola Productions Inc., a full fledged production and multimedia company. Ariola Productions is currently working on multiple projects in animations and flash media. For over twenty years, Joe has written and produced live theme shows with a variety of dancers and singers. Joe wrote, produced and directed “The Pork Store”, a half hour TV comedy pilot; “Cannon Bootcamp”, an interval military style workout video shot on location on the flight deck of the U.S.S Intrepid aircraft carrier for international distribution; and “Cardio Street Dance”, a high impact cardio dance video that was sold on QVC. Joe has also written and produced an array of informational content for QVC, HSN and other cable outlets and has directed over 700 hours of health related content for streaming video on a prominent wellness website.

Joe’s second feature, “Knock Knock”-a horror film, has just been released through LIONSGATE home video domestically as well has been released International. Joe has written a one man play called “Dead Not Buried” that he plans on premiering this year and is currently writing the true life story screenplay of George Velazquez in “Dancing Out Of The Dark”.

For more information on Joe & Ariola Productions log onto: www.ariolaproductions.com