Nasso's film career started in 1980 when he joined
Sergio Leone as his personal assistant. He worked for Leone during the 1980 filming of
Once Upon a Time in America in New York. In 1987, Nasso began a business partnership with
Steven Seagal while Seagal was working on his first film,
Above the Law, for
Warner Bros. Pictures. He was responsible for the international marketing of the film. Nasso and Seagal "became best friends", according to Seagal, and in 1990, they formed
Seagal/Nasso Productions together, which handled distribution and foreign rights sales of Seagal's films. The men were at one point next-door neighbors on
Staten Island in New York. Nasso served as associate producer of
Marked for Death (1990) and executive producer of
Out for Justice (1991). In 1992, Seagal/Nasso Productions signed a deal with Warner Bros. for four films —
On Deadly Ground (1994),
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995),
The Glimmer Man (1996) and
Fire Down Below (1997), all of which Nasso produced or co-produced. Seagal, who later claimed that he brought a handgun to the meeting, was able to stall Ciccone and escape the meeting unharmed. Ciccone and Cassarino again visited Seagal at his home in
Los Angeles the following month. In the spring of 2001, Seagal sought out another mobster,
Genovese crime family captain
Angelo "The Horn" Prisco, to act as a "peacemaker" in the dispute. He visited Prisco in prison at
Rahway, New Jersey, and paid Prisco's lawyer $10,000 as "a favor for a favor". In March 2002, Nasso filed a lawsuit in
Richmond County Supreme Court, suing Seagal for $60 million. According to the suit, Nasso and his company had suffered substantial financial losses as a result of Seagal breaching a contract to star in four agreed upon motion pictures. Nasso was arrested by the
FBI at his Staten Island home and charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit extortion. An attorney for Seagal, Martin Pollner, denied claims by Nasso's legal team that Seagal had initiated the FBI investigation. On March 17, 2003, Ciccone, Cassarino and others were convicted of extortion and various other counts under the
RICO Act. Seagal testified for the prosecution about the mobsters' extortion attempt. During the trial, Nasso was described by federal prosecutors as a Gambino associate. During the sentencing hearing, the judge questioned the government's decision to label Nasso a
Mafia associate, instead describing his conduct as "aberrant" behavior from an otherwise law-abiding man. After a six-year legal battle, Nasso reached an out-of-court settlement with Seagal on January 6, 2008, with Seagal reportedly paying $500,000 in exchange for Nasso agreeing to drop the $60 million lawsuit for alleged breach of contract. Nasso commented: "I’m glad it’s behind us. I wish him the best".
Manhattan Pictures Nasso co-founded Manhattan Pictures Intl., a Gotham-based motion picture distribution and production company, in his home city of New York, where he produced and released the films
Enigma (2001) and
In Praise of Love (2001).
Belafonte Arts and Media Since 2006, Nasso has been Harry Belafonte's producer and contributed to a variety of works, including
Sing Your Song (2011). Nasso's most recent protégé,
Tony Schiena, who he met in London in 1998, costarred in Nasso's directorial debut
Darc (2018). == Awards and achievements ==