About Us

Icon Independent Films was founded by Writer/Director Billy Tooma in the summer of 2006.  As President/CEO, Billy brought on board with him Nick Mazzolla to serve as Vice-President as well as a Producer for the up-and-coming company's film projects.  The first such projects were two music videos for musician, Joe Mifsud.  It was during that time when Billy began toying with the idea of creating a short film that touched upon the troubles going on in the world and with that, Brothers of Freedom was born.  Production on the movie began in November of 2006 and wrapped a month later.  Two months of post-production brought about an eerie look into the world of terrorism through the eyes of the terrorists themselves.

With his first film completed, Billy had his eyes pointed to bigger things, and, in this case, it was a feature-length film.  Over the winter of 2006-2007, he wrote the script and production on a.k.a Jersey, a movie dedicated to the lives of every twenty-something year-old who have ever experienced one crazy night in the Garden State.  With the lead role of Zach Foley going to actor Benjamin L. Newmark, Billy went on to film the movie over the course of 2007, producing a completed cut that December.  It was that May of 2008 when a.k.a Jersey was screened at the 4th Annual Bergenfield Film Festival.  That summer, Indie Slate Magazine (#54) published a making-of article written by Billy about his trials and tribulations in making his first feature.

During the spring of 2008, Billy was inspired by the Daniel Day-Lewis movies, In The Name of the Father & The Boxer, to pen a script entitled Ceistiú (Irish for "Interrogation").  It was a short film whose story revolved around the "Troubles" that went on between the UK and IRA.  It was shot by his film mentor, Karl Petry, and featured Billy in full Method-acting mode.  Co-starring was Benjamin L. Newmark.

As the summer of 2008 approached, Billy planned to take a rest from moviemaking.  One night, however, while he was with Nick and cousin Brian Robert Jones, an episode of the old Twilight Zone television series came on.  The three watched and during that time Billy began throwing ideas back and forth through his head.  When the show ended, Billy looked to Nick and Brian, saying, "I want to make a movie like that."  The break that the filmmaker had planned on soon faded away.  That night Chronicles of the Beyond was born.  Everything was planned out within the following week; Billy would script four (one being an adaptation of a short story by Mark Sandford) of the segments in this anthology film, while Brian (who would now become a Producer for the company) penned the fifth.  The movie was filmed through the remainder of 2008 into early 2009 and premiered to a packed theater at the 5th Annual Bergenfield Film Festival.  Another making-of article by Billy appeared that year in Indie Slate Magazine (#59).

The rest of 2009 into 2010 proved to be one of the most productive, if not hectic, times of Billy's life as a filmmaker.  During the post-production of Chronicles of the Beyond, he began developing and eventually went into production on Icon Independent Films' fifth movie, and first documentary, Fly First & Fight Afterward:  The Life of Col. Clarence Chamberlin, a look at the life and times of the forgotten aviation pioneer, which Billy had been working on since early 2006.  For this project, he traveled across the country conducting interviews and gathering an enormous collection of archival material.  That May of 2009, Billy also shot a music video for the NJ-based band, Arlington Blvd.  The entirety of the video was shot at the Medieval Times in Lyndhurst, NJ.  It was during this time that Billy came into contact with mystery-novelist and literary agent, Evan Marshall.  The two decided to co-write a screenplay and in the spring of 2010, Seeking Nirvana went into production.  To better the production's visual style, Billy brought in Cinematographer Fred Henry III and Gaffer Matt Rosen. 

Icon Independent Films is growing and bettering itself with each new project and, hopefully, the sky's the limit.

Billy Tooma - President/CEO of Icon Independent Films

BA - English Literature & Secondary Education - William Paterson University - 2007

MA - English Writing - William Paterson University - 2009

Billy was trained in acting by his cousin, Karlo Tooma, in 1998 and taught the art of filmmaking by Karl Petry between 2005 & 2006.  Upon founding Icon Independent Films, he made a promise to himself that he would do all he could to make movies that would entertain people.  Billy has been quoted saying, "I try to push myself to produce the best possible product.  My philosophy is that as long as the next thing I do is better than the last then I am both learning and expanding upon my talents."  In 2010, Billy was hired by Essex County College (Newark, NJ) as an Adjunct Professor of English.  He is currently awaiting the publication of his first book, The Great Obesity Crisis & Other Poems.

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