Roman Coppola


Roman François Coppola is a French-born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and entrepreneur. With the 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom, he and co-writer Wes Anderson were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. His television series Mozart in the Jungle won the 2016 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. In 2019, Coppola was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Coppola serves as president of the San Francisco-based film company American Zoetrope. He is also founder and owner of The Directors Bureau, a commercial and music video production company.

Early life

Roman Coppola is the son of documentary filmmaker, artist, and writer Eleanor Coppola and director Francis Ford Coppola. He was born in the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, while his father was in Paris helping write the screenplay of Is Paris Burning? As a boy, he had minor, uncredited roles in both The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. He attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Career

Coppola began his directing career by overseeing in-camera visual effects and second unit direction for Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which garnered a BAFTA Award nomination for Visual Effects. He has continued to do second unit direction throughout his career, including his father'sJack, The Rainmaker, Youth Without Youth, and Tetro; collaborator Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Darjeeling Limited; and his sister Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette.
In the 1990s, Coppola established himself as an influential music video and commercial director. Through his production company, The Directors Bureau, he directed all four music videos for The Strokes' 2001 debut album, Is This It, as well as "" for Room on Fire. His other music videos include clips for Daft Punk, Lilys, Moby, The Presidents of the United States of America, Ween, Green Day, and Fatboy Slim. His music video for Phoenix's "Funky Squaredance" was invited into the permanent collection at the New York Museum of Modern Art. He has also been a supporter of cousin Jason Schwartzman's musical side project, Coconut Records.
His first feature film, CQ, premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and was well-received critically. Set in Paris in 1969, CQ centers on a young film editor trying to juggle his personal and professional life while simultaneously juggling a science fiction adventure and his own personal art film. Coppola's second feature, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, debuted in 2012 at the Rome Film Festival. Charlie Sheen starred as the title character, a graphic designer dealing with a break-up. The cast also included Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman. Reviews for the film tended toward the negative.
Coppola is also an inventor and entrepreneur, responsible for the Photobubble Company, Pacific Tote Company, and a number of projects through the "Special Projects" arm of his production company.

Filmography

Filmography

YearTitleSecond UnitAssociateOtherDirector
1992Bram Stoker's DraculaVisual effects directorFrancis Ford Coppola
1996JackFrancis Ford Coppola
1997The RainmakerFrancis Ford Coppola
1999The Virgin SuicidesSofia Coppola
2003Lost in TranslationAdditional directorSofia Coppola
2004The Life Aquatic with Steve ZissouWes Anderson
2006Marie AntoinetteSofia Coppola
2007The Darjeeling LimitedWes Anderson
2007Youth Without YouthFrancis Ford Coppola
2009TetroFrancis Ford Coppola
2014The Grand Budapest HotelSpecial photography unitWes Anderson
2015A Very Murray ChristmasSofia Coppola

Television

Short films

Music videos

1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2006
2007
2009
2013
2014
2015
2017

Directors Bureau Special Projects

His company, The Directors Bureau Special Projects has several lines of business, including the Pacific Tote Company, a line of beach bags. The bags are handmade in California and known for their signature multicolor designs.