Thomas A. DiCillo (born August 14, 1953) is an American

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

, and

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

Early life

DiCillo was born in Camp Le Jeune,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. His father was

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and his mother was from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. He studied creative writing at

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

and went on to study filmmaking at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

's Film School alongside

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter and musician. He has been a major proponent of independent film, independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films such as ''Stranger Than Paradise'' ...

Howard Brookner Howard Brookner (April 30, 1954 – April 27, 1989) was an American film director. He produced and directed the documentary ''Burroughs (film), Burroughs'' about William S. Burroughs (1983), ''Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars'' on theatre direct ...

, Sara Driver and

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

. Subsequently, he worked as an actor and cinematographer, before making films.

Career

His first film, '' Johnny Suede'' (1991), featured

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...

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 The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. For his second film, '' Living in Oblivion'' (1995), DiCillo received acclaim for his satire of independent film-making. The 1995

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

, itself a low-budget

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

, features

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi (,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself. It is not uncommon for people to pronounce his name or instead. ; born December 13, 1957) is an American actor. He is known for his work as an acclaimed character actor. Mul ...

as a director driven to near-madness by his cast and crew, including a vain

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

actor. Describing the inspiration for and origin of ''Living in Oblivion'' in an interview with ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

'', DiCillo described making a movie as "one of the most tedious, boring, painful experiences, and that's just when something goes right". His fifth film, '' Double Whammy'' (2001), was released straight to video. ''Delirious'' (2006), a comedy starring Steve Buscemi,

Michael Pitt Michael Carmen Pitt (born April 10, 1981) is an American actor, model, and musician. In film, he has appeared in ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch (film), Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (2001), ''Bully (2001 film), Bully'' (2001), ''Murder by Numbers'' ...

, Alison Lohman and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

, 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

in 2007 and won Best Director at the HBO Comedy Film Festival in

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...

. DiCillo wrote and directed '' When You're Strange'' (2009), a documentary about the rock band

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize. It was subsequently nominated for both an Emmy Award, after airing on PBS' American Masters series, and a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Video. DiCillo 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 A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

'' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', inspired by the lonelygirl15 videos on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Filmography

As director

* '' Johnny Suede'' (1991) * '' Living in Oblivion'' (1995) * '' Box of Moonlight'' (1996) * '' The Real Blonde'' (1997) * '' Double Whammy'' (2001) * '' Delirious'' (2006) * '' When You're Strange'' (Documentary) (2009) * ''Down in Shadowland'' (Documentary) (2014)

As cinematographer

* '' Permanent Vacation'' (1980) * ''Underground USA'' (1980) * '' Burroughs'' (1983) * '' Variety'' (1983) * ''

Stranger Than Paradise ''Stranger Than Paradise'' is a 1984 American black-and-white absurdist deadpan comedy film directed, co-written and co-edited by Jim Jarmusch, and starring jazz musician John Lurie, former Sonic Youth drummer-turned-actor Richard Edson, an ...

'' (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 Cigarettes'' (2003)

References

External links

Official site
*
Audio interview with DiCillo regarding his entire career. Jekyll and Hyde, 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dicillo, Tom 1953 births Living people Tisch School of the Arts alumni People from Jacksonville, North Carolina American people of Italian descent Film directors from North Carolina Sundance Film Festival award winners