[3] After being discharged from the Army, he attended Southern Connecticut State University, where he became interested in drama.
[2] In 1999, Colesberry began his association with HBO as executive producer of The Corner (2000), a six-hour miniseries adaption of The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, a nonfiction book by Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon and former Baltimore police detective Ed Burns.
[1] Following his death, the Robert F. Colesberry Scholarship Fund for young filmmakers was established in his honor at the NYU Tisch School.
[2][5] Colesberry was survived by his wife Karen L. Thorson; two sisters, Jean Brown and Christine Strittmatter; and 11 nephews and nieces.
[2][3] Colesberry's death occurred soon after his directing debut on The Wire second-season finale, "Port in a Storm" (2003).