Dr. Santo D. Marabella has been a resident of Reading, Pa. for most of his life. Born in Italy in 1960, and placed in an orphanage, he was adopted in 1961 by his parents Sam and Anna who brought him to live with them in Reading and with whom he resided until he left for college. “I had a wonderful childhood and a happy life growing up in Reading. I went to parochial school, first at St Joseph’s and then Central Catholic, graduating in 1978. I went on to Villanova University where I earned a BS in Business Administration in 1981, to St Joseph University, for a master’s in business administration in 1984, and University of Pennsylvania, where I obtained a Doctor of Social Work in 1991.
As a young boy, a passion for the arts was naturally instilled in him as he spent a lot of time with his father a widely recognized musician, Sam Marabella. “I traveled with my father and his orchestra to weddings, proms, and parties, and later on, as I was getting older, I would be his roadie, packing instruments and speakers. We did a lot of shows and fundraisers which were always focused on community stuff. The arts became a part of my life.”
While studying at Villanova University, Santo began working in a non-profit setting, focusing on youth with mental challenges and then established a program known as Sunshine Day for the benefit of these young people. “While working with Monsignor Felix A. Losito at Holy Rosary Church in Reading for National Shut In Day, he encouraged me and my contemporaries at the church to put our religion into action. The idea to use film and theatre to share our work came from my education at Villanova and from community members who supported our efforts with Sunshine Day. This inspired my interest in film making. The film making started on television in 1984 when we did a program called “County Eye”, which was a news magazine with different segments; food, entertainment, and a newscast. AT&T allowed us to use studio space at Berks Cable on 13th Street for two or three years.”
Santo’s passion for film making grew along with his efforts and involvement in helping to create a viable home for film makers and the industry in our community. “After college I started writing shows and reviews and created my first short film. It started as a public service announcement to promote the film office in 2006. It was a one-minute promo that I worked on with Tracy Schott. The following year we worked on a location promotional film called Location, Location, to entice film makers to come here first. I actually met Tracy in 2008 through local artist, Jane Runyeon. Together, we worked on a variety of projects, including some with Michael Constantine, who was a friend of the family. Michael wanted to make a film and have it done in Reading. I got some people together from the Visitors Bureau, and the City of Reading, and other company partners, and in 2006 we launched the Film Commission which is now called the Reading Film Office under the very capable leadership of Cammie Harris. The Film Office is currently located at the Goggleworks in Reading, and Tracy and I have collaborated over the past 17 years on many films together.”
Dr. Marabella has played a major role in helping to create a solid foundation for promoting film and theatre in Berks County while serving as Professor of Management at Moravian University, President of Marabella Entertainment & Education Enterprises LLC, Co-Founder and former Film Commissioner at Reading Film, Co-Founder of ReadingFilmFEST, Co-founder and Past Chair for Greater Reading Alliance of Community Theatres, and Teaching Artist at Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
The Reading Film Office sponsors the Reading Film Fest, which returned for its eleventh year on October 9-12, 2025. “The festival featured four days of independent cinema, filmmaker conversations, educational programs, and vibrant community celebrations. This year’s festival spotlighted more than 65 films, with over 40 film makers in attendance from across the United States as well as international talent from England, all converging in Reading to share their stories and connect with audiences in meaningful ways.”
Dr. Marabella’s contributions to the Berks County Arts community have earned him several coveted awards and distinctions including 2018 Reading Eagle Entertainment Newsmaker of the Year. In addition to his active involvement in the arts community, he is also a highly respected “trainer/facilitator for the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance since 2015 an author, playwright, filmmaker, speaker, and educator who creates, produces and distributes ‘Storytelling for Good’. He is author of two books, ‘The Lessons of Caring’, and ‘The Practical Prof: Simple Lessons for Anyone Who Works’, and his newspaper column, ‘Office Hours with The Practical Prof’, which started in the Reading Eagle’s Business Weekly, and now appears in a total of six newspapers in the MediaNewsGroups Philadelphia cluster.” -Biography, Dr. Santo Marabella.
Dr. Marabella’s contributions to Berks County have had an incredible impact and influence over the course of his career. He began to step back from some of his commitments, focusing his attention on taking care of his parents in their later years and retiring from working as a full-time college professor. “I lost my mother in 2020, my father in 2021, and my dog in 2023.” Since the loss of his parents and his beloved dog, he has focused on his filmmaking more than ever. In 2022 he released a film entitled The Caregiver, a short narrative film that highlights the challenges facing family caregivers. He served as writer/director/ executive producer of the film.
In 2025 a film based on his early beginnings in Italy entitled II Mio Posto a Tavola – My Place at the Table, examines the complex emotional issues that are associated with adoption. Born in Aosta, in northwestern Italy, he was cared for by nuns in an orphanage for abandoned children. At that time, unwed mothers were pressured by the church to give their children up for adoption, resulting in what was termed the “Baby Scoop Era”. He began his search for his birth parents at age 19, and ultimately was reunited with family members years later, which serves as the basis for the documentary film.
While the film has been entered into several film festivals, his main objective is to have the film resonate with other adoptees who have longed to know where they came from. The challenges he has experienced in his life as an adopted child have been converted into tools for creating resources for helping others. “I am a person who lives in gratitude. I have been very blessed, and my parents Anna and Sam gave me so many opportunities. There were challenges surrounding the adoption, and it is great to pay it forward through art. Art is a way of coping, creatively helping us to move through the things in our lives. It does not have to be perfect or be published for it to be important to work through things. It is a way to express yourself and validate yourself. Gratitude and giving back through creativity is a way to cope and help others to cope. I worry that we have lost community. Social media and technology gives us a free pass to no longer seek out each other for support and enjoyment. To be with each other is so important and it is so concerning. We can get through anything together, and we can do anything together. What is most important is living in gratitude and giving back, having a passion for something that you dive into and immerse yourself into while creating community.”
Learn more about Dr. Santo D. Marabella and his extraordinary life, using both his challenges and his gifts to give back to others.
Website: www.MarabellaLLC.com
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thepracticalprof/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePracticalProf/
X: https://x.com/MarabellaLLC
“Manage with a Heart, in ways that feed the Spirit” – Dr. Santo D. Marabella
