David Stagnari

David Stagnari, aka Slave/DJ Slave/D.S. Slave is a writer/director who started making 8mm, Super 8 and 16mm films as a teen. He studied film at SVA- School of Visual Arts in New York City. He was a freelance writer for Spin, Alternative Press, Reflex and Project X magazines. Stagnari created a long and successful career as an influential New York nightclub disc jockey know as DJ Slave. Slave's DJ career created other avenues for creativity including directing music videos, composing and producing alternative/electronic/dance music culminating in music for the multi-platinum selling Mortal Kombat movie soundtrack. Other music credits include writing, programming and producing two albums for the band BILE as well as electronic dance music for Roadrunner Records. Stagnari retired from nightclubs in 1999 and returned to film making spending four years writing, directing and producing an experimental film based on a psychology test titled Catharsis. Catharsis and Stagnari were featured in Christopher Garetano's outrageous documentary on the tribulations of five filmmakers titled Horror Business. Stagnari worked five years shooting a documentary titled Autism Paints about a talented painter with autism who illegally created an art school for special needs children and war veterans inside an abandoned gas station.