American director, writer, and cinematographer. He was born in North Carolina, United States, to an Italian father and an American mother. He studied creative writing at Old Dominion University in Virginia, United States. He then studied film directing and obtained a master's degree from New York University alongside a number of prominent directors, such as Jim Jarmusch and Howard Brookner. He is known for working with Jim Jarmusch on Stranger Than Paradise (1984) and Coffee and Cigarettes (2003). He also directed Living in Oblivion (1995), among other works.