Raymond De Felitta

Raymond De Felitta (born 30 June 1964) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, musician, blogger and podcaster. Official Site Early life De Felitta was born in New York City. His father Frank De Felitta was Italian American and his mother Dorothy Gilbert De Felitta was of Polish Jewish descent. De Felitta graduated from Bard College in 1985 and the American Film Institute's directing program, class of 1990. Career The next year, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 63rd Academy Awards for his AFI thesis short, Bronx Cheers. Later in 1991, he was awarded a Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting for his screenplay "Begin The Beguine". In 1995 he wrote and directed Cafe Society starring Frank Whaley, Peter Gallagher and Lara Flynn Boyle. The film premiered in Director' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) section of the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and was shown on the Showtime Network in 1996. It was released theatrically in 1997. In 2000 De Felitta directed the indie film Two Family House which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival along with an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Screenplay. In 2003 he directed Paul Reiser's The Thing About My Folks which received the Audience Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The film was released in 2005 by Picture House. In 2006 De Felitta directed his first documentary 'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris, which won the Best Jazz Documentary at the Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee. The film was released in 2007 by Outsider Pictures. In 2009, De Felitta wrote and directed the independent film City Island, which received the First Place Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film opened in theaters 19 March 2010 and had a long theatrical run.