Biography

I was born in Rome of an Italian father and an American mother. At the age of sixteen, I came to the States for school and have been here, more or less, ever since. I hold degrees in Comparative Literature (Brown University) and Film Production (USC).

After graduate school, I wrote, produced, and directed for Stanton Films, an educational company. The eight films I created for them are still in international distribution. Following Stanton, I began to teach and to pursue my own film work, a new direction that took me to Austin in 1993, where I became a professor of film and animation at the University of Texas.
In addition to starting UT’s animation area, I got it into my head to write, produce, and direct my first feature film. Snake Tales, a 1001 Nights set in Texas, was invited to 18 festivals and won nine awards.
For the past several years, I have been focusing mainly on animation. My series, Poetry in Motion, which features nine animations, each illustrating a different poem, received the support of several important grants. My project after that, The Planets (completed in 2000), was shot on 35mm after miles and miles of 16mm tests. Poetry in Motion has been screened a multitude of times (see Poetry in Motion link), and The Planets got an Honorable Mention at Sundance in 2003.
I have been living in Chapel Hill since 2001, where I teach at the University of North Carolina. Recently, I completed A Brief History of Voting, commissioned by Swell Cinema, and am currently concocting something decidedly new… Stay tuned!

Biography prepped by Katherine Tanney