September 28, 2026
More than two decades before Robert Cotto ’04CCPS produced a documentary about iconic musician and Sopranos star Steven Van Zandt and joined him at SiriusXM, the musician was already one of the St. John’s University student’s guiding influences.
At St. John’s, Mr. Cotto was already listening religiously to Van Zandt’s Underground Garage, which was originally syndicated on radio station Q104.3. Its influence could be heard in Mr. Cotto’s own WSJU Radio show, “Yo, It’s Cotto!”—from the music he chose to the instrumental beds he placed beneath his breaks, absorbing its eclectic music and on-air style.
Today, Mr. Cotto produces and hosts programming on Sirius, working under the auspices of Mr. Van Zandt, who has since become a mentor and friend. Among his many career accomplishments, Mr. Cotto produced the Grammy nominated Disciple, an exhaustive look at Mr. Van Zandt’s incredibly accomplished and diverse career.
Growing up in Bridgeport, CT., Mr. Cotto was passionate about music and film. He studied them exhaustively and both would intersect his life in profoundly meaningful ways, paving the way for unique opportunities he could not have dreamed of at St. John’s.
“There were a few North Stars in my life, especially Martin Scorsese and Steven Van Zandt,” he said. “Those guys were it to me.”
Mr. Cotto explained that what attracted him to both icons was not simply their own work, but “their desire to preserve the work that came before them and to honor it.” Their inspiration would inform his professional life.
To indulge his passions, Mr. Cotto knew he needed to be in New York City and saw St. John’s University as his premier option for learning about both industries and eventually gaining a foothold there. At St. John’s, he immersed himself in opportunities that would pay dividends in the future.
“St. John’s was honestly the best thing that ever happened to me,” he stressed.
Coming from a working-class family, Mr. Cotto immediately felt at home there. “I knew the people that I was going to school with. I related to them.”
Mr. Cotto became Copresident of the Film Club, hosted the show on WSJU, and perhaps most providentially, became film critic for The Torch, the official student newspaper of St. John’s. After reviewing several films, he found himself being invited to press junkets as a student in New York City and interviewing A-list celebrities like Will Smith, Michael Mann, and Jamie Foxx.
During the junket for the film Little Nicky, he found himself sitting opposite Adam Sandler, whom Mr. Cotto encouraged to accept an unlikely offer from director Paul Thomas Anderson for the film Punch-Drunk Love. “I said, ‘You have to do that.’ I’m not saying that he listened to me. I’m sure everybody in his camp was like, ‘You have to go and do this.’”
“I remember having that experience,” he said. “And that was because of St. John’s.”
Mr. Cotto identified Barry E. Sherman, Associate Professor in The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies, as an inspiring mentor who encouraged him to follow his path.
Working the press junkets inspired Mr. Cotto to consider other ways beside production to enter the film business. On his own initiative, he obtained an internship with Focus Features, which was enjoying great success with the film The Pianist. At Focus, he struck up conversations with everyone, soaking up as much knowledge as he could, including their publicity consultants.
A year after the internship ended, one of those consultants recommended Mr. Cotto for an opportunity that would change his life: working for pop legend Neil Sedaka. He spent 19 years working closely with Mr. Sedaka and his wife and manager, Leba, eventually serving as a key member of his operation as director of artist relations, and taking on responsibilities ranging from publicity and touring to catalog management and record production.
As Mr. Sedaka began scaling back his touring schedule, Mr. Cotto found himself with more time to reconnect with filmmaking. Through a circle of film friends, he met director Bill Teck, and the two quickly bonded over a shared fascination with Mr. Van Zandt, about whom Mr. Teck wanted to produce a documentary.
Mr. Cotto made his case immediately. “I know his story inside and out,” he recalled telling Mr. Teck. “I know his music inside and out. This guy deserves to have this story told.” Eventually, Mr. Cotto found himself face-to-face with his idol.
"Explaining he worked for legendary singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka, Mr. Van Zandt immediately declared that he belonged in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “I asked him why he wasn’t. And in that moment,” Mr. Cotto recalled, “Steven and I clicked.”
For the next several years, as Mr. Sedaka wound down his career, Mr. Cotto began working in earnest on Disciple. “There was no other choice in my life than to make this movie,” he said.
Disciple endured a six-year production process that was interrupted by COVID. It entailed endless hours of interviews and hunting down a treasure trove of footage, much of which Mr. Cotto personally discovered and Mr. Van Zandt had never seen, including scenes from his wedding. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June of 2024 and earned a Grammy Award nomination for Mr. Cotto, Mr. Teck, and producer David Fisher.
However, despite this artistic and personal triumph, Mr. Cotto found himself in need of work when Mr. Sedaka essentially retired. While promoting Disciple, Mr. Cotto asked to do a guest DJ spot on Mr. Van Zandt’s Underground Garage. He created a two-hour program modeled on the syndicated show he had loved since college. Mr. Van Zandt heard it and during the London premiere of Disciple asked Mr. Cotto if he wanted to develop a movie-themed show.
“I was just looking at it as doing my old college radio show again,” Mr. Cotto explained.
Today, he hosts his own program, Robbo At The Movies, produces other Underground Garage programming, and works with Mr. Van Zandt’s record label. He has truly come full circle.
Musing on the trajectory of his career, Mr. Cotto is grateful for each decision he made, because each one seemed to beget opportunities years down the road. “It’s funny how you do things not knowing how they’re going to pay off, but they’re important enough to you to do them. Who knows decades down the line how they may bear fruit. Never in a million years did I think they’d bear fruit this way.”
Last year, he paid a visit to Prof. Sherman’s class. “Once I got on campus, it felt like coming home.”
Mr. Cotto hopes to return to the University and teach the next generation, paying forward with profound gratitude everything he learned there. “Hopefully, one day I’ll get to teach a film class. I feel like I know New York because of St. John’s.”