Benjamin Coccio (born August 2, 1975) is an American filmmaker from

Niskayuna, New York Niskayuna is a town in Schenectady County, New York, United States. The population was 23,278 at the 2020 census. The town is located in the southeast part of the county, east of the city of Schenectady, and is the easternmost town in the county. ...

. He is best known for his feature film work, directing '' Zero Day'' and co-writing ''

The Place Beyond The Pines ''The Place Beyond the Pines'' is a 2012 American Epic film, epic Crime film, crime drama film directed by Derek Cianfrance with a screenplay by Cianfrance, Ben Coccio and Darius Marder from a story by Cianfrance and Coccio. The film tells thre ...

''.

Biography

Coccio attended the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

, graduating in 1997 with a BFA Film/Animation/Video. Coccio's first directorial effort was the short film ''5:45am'', released in 2000 by IFC. His next project was '' Zero Day'', a fictionalized account of two high-school teens who plan and then execute a violent attack on their peers inside their high school. The film was admittedly a study of the

Columbine High School massacre A school shooting and attempted bombing occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, twelfth-grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 13 students and one teach ...

, and the two characters bear much resemblance to the perpetrators

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold ( ; September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were American high school seniors and mass murderers who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre at Columbine ...

. In 2003, Coccio received the award for Best Director at Slamdunk Film Festival, was nominated for an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

, and was named one of ''

MovieMaker ''MovieMaker'' is a magazine, website and podcast network focused on the art and business of filmmaking with a special emphasis on independent film and film festivals. The magazine is published on a quarterly basis, and is known for the annual l ...

''s upcoming directors to watch for. In 2005 he was awarded a Connecticut State Commission on Culture and Tourism Artist Fellowship Award in the category of Film and Video. Coccio co-wrote ''

The Place Beyond the Pines ''The Place Beyond the Pines'' is a 2012 American Epic film, epic Crime film, crime drama film directed by Derek Cianfrance with a screenplay by Cianfrance, Ben Coccio and Darius Marder from a story by Cianfrance and Coccio. The film tells thre ...

'' with director

Derek Cianfrance Derek M. Cianfrance (; born January 23, 1974) is an American film director, cinematographer, screenwriter, and editor. He is best known for writing and directing the films ''Blue Valentine (film), Blue Valentine'' (2010), ''The Place Beyond the P ...

, setting the story in his hometown of

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

. In 2015 Coccio narrated Part 5 of the

Civilization V ''Sid Meier's Civilization V'' is a 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K (company), 2K. It is the sequel to Civilization IV, ''Civilization IV'', and was released for Microsoft Windows, Windows in Sep ...

Battle Royale Mk. II - an event hosted by the

Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...

community for the Civilization V Video Game.

Filmography

*''5:45 AM'' (2000) *'' Zero Day'' (2003) * ''The Beginner'' *''

(''2013) (writer, story by)

References

External links

"The Zero Day Diaries"
Coccio's article on the making of ''Zero Day'' in Moviemaker Magazine Issue #51 (Summer 2003)

An interview with Coccio on BigSPEEGS Movie Review *
Professor Bright Films

Trailer for ''The Beginner''

July 2012 Interview with Coccio
- The Oculus Online {{DEFAULTSORT:Coccio, Ben 1975 births Living people People from Niskayuna, New York Film directors from New York (state)