Tom DiCillo
Encyclopedia
Thomas A. "Tom" DiCillo (born August 14, 1953) is an American
film director
, screenwriter
and cinematographer
.
, North Carolina
. His father was Italian
and his mother was from New England
. He studied creative writing at Old Dominion University
in Norfolk, Virginia
and went on to study filmmaking at New York University
's Film School, subsequently working as an actor, then cinematographer, before making his own films.
, cast the then-unknown Brad Pitt
and Catherine Keener
in what would be their first starring roles. It received a nomination for a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival
.
For his second film, Living in Oblivion
, DiCillo received acclaim for his satire of independent film-making. This 1995 black comedy
, itself a low-budget independent film
, features Steve Buscemi
as a director driven to near-madness by his cast and crew, including a vain Hollywood actor. Describing the inspiration for and origin of Living in Oblivion in an interview with Salon, DiCillo described making a movie as "one of the most tedious, boring, painful experiences, and that's just when something goes right".
In 2001, his film Double Whammy was released straight to video. His latest film, Delirious
, is a comedy starring Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt
, Alison Lohman
and Elvis Costello
. It was screened at the San Sebastian Film Festival where it won three awards (Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and the Signis Award for originality). The film also screened at the Sundance Film Festival
in 2007 and won Best Director at the HBO Comedy Film Festival in Aspen
.
DiCillo wrote and directed the movie When You're Strange
, which was released in 2009 and premiered at the Sundance Film festival. The film, a documentary about seminal rock band The Doors
, was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize. It has since been nominated for both an Emmy Award - after airing on PBS' American Masters series - and a Grammy Award - for Best Long Form Video.
He has published books of two of his screenplays, Living in Oblivion
and Box of Moonlight. Both books contain the full scripts along with commentary, stories and anecdotes.
DiCillo also directed "Weeping Willow", a sixth season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent
, was inspired by the Lonelygirl15
videos on YouTube
. In the episode, a vlogger named Weeping Willow (Michelle Trachtenberg
) is kidnapped during a live Internet video, and the kidnappers demand ransom through additional videos.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
.
Early life
He was born in Camp Le JeuneMarine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune is a United States military training facility in North Carolina. The base's of beaches make it a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports allows for fast deployments.The main base is supplemented by five satellite...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. His father was Italian
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
and his mother was from New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. He studied creative writing at Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University is a state university located in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...
in Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
and went on to study filmmaking at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's Film School, subsequently working as an actor, then cinematographer, before making his own films.
Career
His first film, Johnny SuedeJohnny Suede
Johnny Suede is the 1991 film directorial debut of writer-director Tom DiCillo. It starred Brad Pitt and Catherine Keener with early appearances from Samuel L. Jackson and Nick Cave.-Plot summary:...
, cast the then-unknown Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
and Catherine Keener
Catherine Keener
Catherine Ann Keener is an American actress. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Being John Malkovich and Capote...
in what would be their first starring roles. It received a nomination for a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
.
For his second film, Living in Oblivion
Living in Oblivion
Living in Oblivion is a darkly comic, low-budget independent film depicting the making of a low-budget independent film, written and directed by Tom DiCillo and starring Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Danielle von Zerneck and James LeGros. The film won Tom DiCillo the Waldo Salt...
, DiCillo received acclaim for his satire of independent film-making. This 1995 black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
, itself a low-budget independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
, features Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
as a director driven to near-madness by his cast and crew, including a vain Hollywood actor. Describing the inspiration for and origin of Living in Oblivion in an interview with Salon, DiCillo described making a movie as "one of the most tedious, boring, painful experiences, and that's just when something goes right".
In 2001, his film Double Whammy was released straight to video. His latest film, Delirious
Delirious (2006 film)
Delirious is a 2006 film released directed by Tom DiCillo. It stars Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt and Alison Lohman.It is the story of twenty-year old Toby Grace who progresses from a homeless scavenger in New York City to the assistant of a self-absorbed, obsessive-compulsive, familial-complexed...
, is a comedy starring Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt
Michael Pitt
Michael Carmen Pitt is an American actor and musician. Pitt is best known in film for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, and in television for his portrayal of James "Jimmy" Darmody in the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire.-Personal life:Pitt was born in West Orange, New Jersey, the...
, Alison Lohman
Alison Lohman
Alison Marion Lohman is an American actress. She has had lead roles in the films White Oleander, Where the Truth Lies, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Flicka and Drag Me to Hell as well as smaller parts in Matchstick Men, Big Fish, Gamer, and Beowulf...
and Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
. It was screened at the San Sebastian Film Festival where it won three awards (Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and the Signis Award for originality). The film also screened at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in 2007 and won Best Director at the HBO Comedy Film Festival in Aspen
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
.
DiCillo wrote and directed the movie When You're Strange
When You're Strange
When You're Strange is a 2009 documentary about the life of The Doors. It is written and directed by Tom DiCillo and for the first time makes material from Jim Morrison's 1969 film fragment HWY: An American Pastoral publicly available....
, which was released in 2009 and premiered at the Sundance Film festival. The film, a documentary about seminal rock band The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
, was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize. It has since been nominated for both an Emmy Award - after airing on PBS' American Masters series - and a Grammy Award - for Best Long Form Video.
He has published books of two of his screenplays, Living in Oblivion
Living in Oblivion
Living in Oblivion is a darkly comic, low-budget independent film depicting the making of a low-budget independent film, written and directed by Tom DiCillo and starring Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Danielle von Zerneck and James LeGros. The film won Tom DiCillo the Waldo Salt...
and Box of Moonlight. Both books contain the full scripts along with commentary, stories and anecdotes.
DiCillo also directed "Weeping Willow", a sixth season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
, was inspired by the Lonelygirl15
Lonelygirl15
lonelygirl15 was an interactive web-based video series which began in June 2006 and ran through to August 1, 2008. Developed under the working title The Children of Anchor Cove, the show gained worldwide media attention when it was outed as fictional in September 2006.-Overview:lonelygirl15...
videos on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. In the episode, a vlogger named Weeping Willow (Michelle Trachtenberg
Michelle Trachtenberg
Michelle Christine Trachtenberg is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Dawn Summers in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and as Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl...
) is kidnapped during a live Internet video, and the kidnappers demand ransom through additional videos.
Filmography (director)
- Johnny SuedeJohnny SuedeJohnny Suede is the 1991 film directorial debut of writer-director Tom DiCillo. It starred Brad Pitt and Catherine Keener with early appearances from Samuel L. Jackson and Nick Cave.-Plot summary:...
(1991) - Living in OblivionLiving in OblivionLiving in Oblivion is a darkly comic, low-budget independent film depicting the making of a low-budget independent film, written and directed by Tom DiCillo and starring Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Danielle von Zerneck and James LeGros. The film won Tom DiCillo the Waldo Salt...
(1995) - Box of Moonlight (1996)
- The Real BlondeThe Real BlondeThe Real Blonde is a 1998 movie directed and written by Tom DiCillo. It stars Matthew Modine, Catherine Keener, and Maxwell Caulfield. The film is a satire on New York's fashion and entertainment industries.-Plot:...
(1997) - Double Whammy (2001)
- DeliriousDelirious (2006 film)Delirious is a 2006 film released directed by Tom DiCillo. It stars Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt and Alison Lohman.It is the story of twenty-year old Toby Grace who progresses from a homeless scavenger in New York City to the assistant of a self-absorbed, obsessive-compulsive, familial-complexed...
(2006) - When You're StrangeWhen You're StrangeWhen You're Strange is a 2009 documentary about the life of The Doors. It is written and directed by Tom DiCillo and for the first time makes material from Jim Morrison's 1969 film fragment HWY: An American Pastoral publicly available....
(2009)
Filmography (cinematographer)
- Permanent VacationPermanent Vacation (film)Permanent Vacation is a 1980 drama film directed, written and produced by Jim Jarmusch. It was the director's first release, and was shot on 16 mm film shortly after he dropped out of film school. This film is often credited as the birth of the director's original style, and character schemes...
(1980) - Underground USA (1980)
- Burroughs (1983)
- Variety (1983)
- Stranger Than ParadiseStranger Than ParadiseStranger Than Paradise is a 1984 American absurdist/deadpan comedy film. It was written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and stars jazz musician John Lurie, former Sonic Youth drummer-turned-actor Richard Edson, and Hungarian-born actress Eszter Balint...
(1984) - Robert Wilson and the CIVIL WarS (1987)
- Robinson's Garden (1987)
- The Beat (1987)
- Laura Ley (1989)
- End of the Night (1990)
- Coffee and CigarettesCoffee and CigarettesCoffee and Cigarettes is the title of three short films and a 2003 feature film by independent director Jim Jarmusch. The 2003 film consists of 11 short stories which share coffee and cigarettes as a common thread, and includes the earlier three films....
(2003)