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Roman Coppola

Writing

Born April 22, 1965 · Neuilly-sur-Seine, France

Also known as Roman François Coppola

Biography

Roman François Coppola (April 22, 1965) is the son of Francis Ford Coppola and an 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 the founder and owner of The Directors Bureau, a commercial and music video production company. 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's Jack, 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 "12:51" 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.

Awards & recognition

  • Academy AwardBest Writing, Original Screenplay · 2013 · nominated

Filmography46 titles

The Godfather

1972as Boy on Street Who Attended Funeral (uncredited)

The Godfather Part II

1974as Sonny Corleone as a Boy (uncredited)

Apocalypse Now

1979as Francis de Marais

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

1991as Self

Isle of Dogs

2018as Igor (voice)

Fantastic Mr. Fox

2009as Squirrel Contractor (voice)

Moonrise Kingdom

2012Writer

Mozart in the Jungle

2014Creator, Executive Producer

Dracula

1992Second Unit Director, Visual Effects

Lost in Translation

2003Other, Thanks

The Darjeeling Limited

2007Producer, Second Unit Director, Writer

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

2004Second Unit Director

The Virgin Suicides

1999Second Unit Director

Lumière, Le Cinéma!

2024as Self

The French Dispatch

2021Executive Producer, Story

The Rainmaker

1997Second Unit Director

Rumble Fish

1983Associate Producer

The Swan

2023Director of Photography

Priscilla

2023Executive Producer, Second Unit Director

Tetro

2009Second Unit Director

Marie Antoinette

2006Second Unit Director

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

1999as Senate Guard (uncredited)

The Linguini Incident

1991Thanks

The Phoenician Scheme

2025Executive Producer, Story

MegaDoc

2025as Self

Asteroid City

2023Executive Producer, Story

The Black Stallion Returns

1983Production Assistant, Sound Recordist

The Last Showgirl

2024Thanks

Jack

1996Second Unit Director

Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special

2020Director, Executive Producer

On the Rocks

2020Executive Producer

Somewhere

2010Producer

Youth Without Youth

2007Second Unit Director

Clownhouse

1989Executive In Charge Of Production

Marc by Sofia

2026Director of Photography, Executive Producer

Fairyland

2023Executive Producer

The Beguiled

2017Executive Producer

Paris Can Wait

2016Thanks

CQ

2001Director, Writer

Lick the Star

1998Second Unit Director of Photography

On the Road

2012Producer

The Bling Ring

2013Producer

Megalopolis

2024Second Unit Director

A Very Murray Christmas

2015Assistant Director, Executive Producer

The Spirit of '76

1990Executive Producer, Story

A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III

2012Director, Producer, Writer