Artist Bio

(Bio as of October 2019)

Francis Ford Coppola (Film Director) is a six-time Academy Award-winning director, born in Detroit in 1939 and grew up in Queens. When paralyzed by polio at nine years old, he found solace in television and a toy 16mm movie projector. Having developed an interest in film and storytelling during this time, he was soon writing short stories and plays and went on to study theater and film at Hofstra College and UCLA. In 1970, Coppola won his first Oscar for best original screenplay for Patton. That decade he would go on to write, direct, and/or produce The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, American Graffiti, The Conversation and Apocalypse Now, resulting in two Cannes Palme d’Or Awards, twelve Academy Award nominations, and five Academy Awards, making the period arguably the most successful decade any filmmaker has ever had. In addition to his prolific film career, Coppola has been producing wine for over 35years at his Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley wineries, as well as his newly acquired Oregon winery, has luxury resorts in Central America, Argentina, and Italy and runs an award-winning short story magazine, Zoetrope: All-Story.