Joe Lauro is an American documentary filmmaker, musician and stock footage archivist.
[3][4] He has directed and produced documentary films such as The Big Beat: Fats Domino,[5][6] the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll and Rejoice and Shout.
[16] Since 2021, he has hosted THE AMERICAN GROOVES RADIO HOUR on Southampton New York's WLIW, Long Island's only NPR station, where he discusses and plays Jazz, Blues and Country 78 rpm recordings of the pre-1940 era from his extensive collection.
In 2006, Lauro tracked down Hal Tulchin the original producer of the video tape footage shot at the 1969 HARLEM CULTURAL FESTIVAL which became the basis of the 2022 Academy Award winning documentary THE SUMMER OF SOUL .
Lauro's Historic Films Archive began licensing excerpts for the footage and In 2007 Lauro, with filmmakers Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville began shopping around a documentary film on the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival which Tulchin dubbed "The Black Woodstock" When negotiations with Newmarket Films broke down, it's attorney Robert Fyvolent entered into an option deal with Tulchin that in 2022 resulted in THE SUMMER OF SOUL.