Jerry Ciccoritti
Encyclopedia
Jerry Ciccoritti is a Canadian
film
, television
and theatre
director. His ability to work in a number of genres and for many mediums has made him one of the most successful directors in the country.
theatre in 1978 and of the Rhubarb Theatre Festival in 1979. He attended the film program at York University
but dropped out to work in the burgeoning Toronto film industry.
With Robert Bergman, he produced and directed the low-budget horror film Psycho Girls (1985). Several other genre films followed, eventually leading to work in episodic television and television movies. Ciccoritti was instrumental in developing the TV series Catwalk
(1992) and Straight Up
(1996) and began a secondary career as a director of big-budget television movies and miniseries with Net Worth
(1995), a drama about hockey player Ted Lindsay
's battles with the NHL on behalf of his fellow players. Another popular film of Ciccoritti's that deals with Canadian history is Trudeau
. The director has also made a name for himself as a chronicler of the Italian-Canadian experience, with films like Boy Meets Girl
(1998) and the television adaptation of Nino Ricci
's Lives of the Saints
. His theatrical release Blood (2004) was a well-received thriller shot on digital video. Most recently, Ciccoritti completed shooting the movie of the week, The Terrorist Next Door, about Ahmed Ressam
, the so-called "Millennium Bomber" arrested in 1999 on charges of attempting to bomb Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
. Based on a script by Suzette Couture, the film was produced by CTV
.
, The Life Before This
and Blood, and the television films The Death and Life of Nancy Eaton, Net Worth
,Lives of the Saints
, Shania: A Life in Eight Albums
, Chasing Cain, Trudeau
, Murder in the Hamptons
and Dragon Boys
. He has also directed episodes of The Hitchhiker, Forever Knight
, Due South
, Highlander: The Series
, Poltergeist: The Legacy
, Made in Canada
, Straight Up
, Nikita, ReGenesis
, and King
.
Ciccoritti has also won two awards from the Directors Guild of Canada
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
director. His ability to work in a number of genres and for many mediums has made him one of the most successful directors in the country.
Biography
Born in Toronto, Ciccoritti became active in amateur drama in high school and was one of the founders of Buddies in Bad TimesBuddies in Bad Times
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a Canadian professional theatre company.Based in Toronto, Ontario and founded in 1978 by Matt Walsh, Jerry Ciccoritti, and Sky Gilbert, Buddies in Bad Times is dedicated to "the promotion of queer theatrical expression"....
theatre in 1978 and of the Rhubarb Theatre Festival in 1979. He attended the film program at York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
but dropped out to work in the burgeoning Toronto film industry.
With Robert Bergman, he produced and directed the low-budget horror film Psycho Girls (1985). Several other genre films followed, eventually leading to work in episodic television and television movies. Ciccoritti was instrumental in developing the TV series Catwalk
Catwalk (TV series)
Catwalk is a Canadian musical drama series that ran for 49 episodes on the YTV network from 1992 until 1994. The series' first season aired in syndication in the United States, while the second season aired on MTV.-Synopsis:...
(1992) and Straight Up
Straight Up (TV series)
Straight Up is a popular but short lived Canadian television series produced by Back Alley Films. Although critically acclaimed , the show only ran for 13 episodes on CBC Television from 1996 to 1998...
(1996) and began a secondary career as a director of big-budget television movies and miniseries with Net Worth
Net Worth (film)
Net Worth is a 2000 drama film that starred Todd Field, Craig Sheffer, Daniel Baldwin, Michael T. Weiss, Tara Wood, Ernie Garrett, and Alix Koromzay...
(1995), a drama about hockey player Ted Lindsay
Ted Lindsay
Robert Blake Theodore Lindsay is a former professional ice hockey player, a forward for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League . He scored over 800 points in his Hockey Hall of Fame career, won the Art Ross Trophy in 1950, and won the Stanley Cup four times...
's battles with the NHL on behalf of his fellow players. Another popular film of Ciccoritti's that deals with Canadian history is Trudeau
Trudeau (film)
Trudeau is a 2002 television miniseries dramatizing the life of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. It aired on CBC Television and was written by Wayne Grigsby and directed by Jerry Ciccoritti....
. The director has also made a name for himself as a chronicler of the Italian-Canadian experience, with films like Boy Meets Girl
Boy Meets Girl (1998 film)
Boy Meets Girl is a 1998 romantic comedy fantasy film directed by Jerry Ciccoritti and starring Sean Astin and Emily Hampshire.-Awards and nominations:...
(1998) and the television adaptation of Nino Ricci
Nino Ricci
Nino Ricci is a Canadian novelist who lives in Toronto, Ontario. He was born in Leamington, Ontario to Italian immigrants, Virginio and Amelia Ricci, from the province of Isernia, Molise....
's Lives of the Saints
Lives of the Saints (TV miniseries)
Lives of the Saints is a 2004 TV miniseries directed by Jerry Ciccoritti, written by Malcolm MacRury, and based on the 1990 novel, Lives of the Saints, by Nino Ricci...
. His theatrical release Blood (2004) was a well-received thriller shot on digital video. Most recently, Ciccoritti completed shooting the movie of the week, The Terrorist Next Door, about Ahmed Ressam
Ahmed Ressam
Ahmed Ressam is an Algerian al-Qaeda member who lived in Montreal, Canada.He was convicted of attempting to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport on New Year's Eve 1999, as part of the foiled 2000 millennium attack plots...
, the so-called "Millennium Bomber" arrested in 1999 on charges of attempting to bomb Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
. Based on a script by Suzette Couture, the film was produced by CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
.
Films
His credits include the theatrical films Paris, FranceParis, France (film)
Paris, France is a 1993 Canadian comedy-drama film directed by Jerry Ciccoritti and written by Tom Walmsley.-Plot:Lucy is a frustrated erotic novelist exploring whether a weekend of sexual passion with Sloan , a bisexual poet, can liberate her from writer's block.-Cast:* Leslie Hope as Lucy* Peter...
, The Life Before This
The Life Before This
The Life Before This is a 1999 Canadian film directed by Jerry Ciccoritti. It begins with a massacre perpetrated in a coffee shop by two gunmen, and then uses flashbacks to show how each of the people present found themselves in the shop on that day. It shows how small choices can result in...
and Blood, and the television films The Death and Life of Nancy Eaton, Net Worth
Net Worth (TV film)
Net Worth is a 1995 television film that starred Aidan Devine, Al Waxman, R.H. Thomson and Kevin Conway. It was directed by Jerry Ciccoritti from a script written by Don Truckey, Phil Savath, David Cruise and Allison Griffiths...
,Lives of the Saints
Lives of the Saints (TV miniseries)
Lives of the Saints is a 2004 TV miniseries directed by Jerry Ciccoritti, written by Malcolm MacRury, and based on the 1990 novel, Lives of the Saints, by Nino Ricci...
, Shania: A Life in Eight Albums
Shania: A Life in Eight Albums
Shania: A Life in Eight Albums is a Canadian television movie, which aired on CBC Television on 8pm on November 7, 2005. It is a biopic of Canadian country star Shania Twain, that was originally scheduled to air in October, but was delayed by the CBC labour dispute...
, Chasing Cain, Trudeau
Trudeau (film)
Trudeau is a 2002 television miniseries dramatizing the life of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. It aired on CBC Television and was written by Wayne Grigsby and directed by Jerry Ciccoritti....
, Murder in the Hamptons
Murder in the Hamptons
Murder in the Hamptons is a true story made for TV movie, based on the events leading to the murder of multi-millionaire Ted Ammon and the conviction of Ammon's estranged wife's lover Daniel Pelosi.-Plot:...
and Dragon Boys
Dragon Boys
Dragon Boys is a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation miniseries starring Eric Tsang, Byron Mann, Lawrence Chou, Tzi Ma, Lauren Lee Smith, Steph Song, Darryl Quon, Christina Ma, Jean Yoon, Simon Wong and Chang Tseng...
. He has also directed episodes of The Hitchhiker, Forever Knight
Forever Knight
Forever Knight was a Canadian television series about Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire working as a police detective in modern day Toronto. Wracked with guilt for centuries of killing others, he seeks redemption by working as a homicide detective on the night shift while struggling to find a...
, Due South
Due South
Due South is a Canadian crime drama series with elements of comedy. The series was created by Paul Haggis, produced by Alliance Communications, and stars Paul Gross, David Marciano, and latterly Callum Keith Rennie...
, Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series is a fantasy-adventure television series featuring Duncan MacLeod of the Scottish Clan MacLeod, as the Highlander. It was an offshoot and another alternate sequel of the 1986 feature film with a twist: Connor MacLeod did not win the prize and Immortals still exist post-1985...
, Poltergeist: The Legacy
Poltergeist: The Legacy
Poltergeist: The Legacy is a Canadian horror television series which ran from 1996 to 1999. The series tells the story of the members of a secret society known as the Legacy, and their efforts to protect humankind from occult dangers...
, Made in Canada
Made in Canada
Made in Canada is a Canadian television situation comedy which aired on CBC Television from 1998 to 2003. Rick Mercer co-created the program and starred as mercenary TV producer Richard Strong....
, Straight Up
Straight Up (TV series)
Straight Up is a popular but short lived Canadian television series produced by Back Alley Films. Although critically acclaimed , the show only ran for 13 episodes on CBC Television from 1996 to 1998...
, Nikita, ReGenesis
ReGenesis
ReGenesis is a Canadian television program produced by The Movie Network and Movie Central in conjunction with Shaftesbury Films. The series, which ran for four seasons, revolves around the scientists of NorBAC , a fictional organization with a lab based in Toronto...
, and King
King (2011 TV series)
King is a Canadian police drama which premiered 17 April 2011 on Showcase. The series stars Amy Price-Francis as Jessica King, a veteran police officer who gets promoted to head of the Major Crimes Task Force in Toronto after her predecessor has a breakdown on television.-Cast:* Amy Price-Francis...
.
Awards
Ciccoritti has been nominated for and won several Genie Awards, including a record number of wins for Best Director (Television). Blood was nominated for "Best Adapted Screenplay" in 2005.Ciccoritti has also won two awards from the Directors Guild of Canada
Directors Guild of Canada
The Directors Guild of Canada is a Canadian labour union, founded in 1962, which represents more than 3,700 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. The DGC represents directors, assistant directors, location managers, production assistants and...
.