Francis Ford Coppola

One of the most influential movie makers of our time, Francis Ford Coppola is a true renaissance man. Not only a master storyteller but also an astute businessman, Coppola’s is one of the most innovative minds of our time. As the maverick founder of his company American Zoetrope, he personally initiated and nourished the careers of talents such as George Lucas, Carroll Ballard, John Milius, his daughter, Sofia Coppola, and actors including Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfus, and Diane Keaton. Zoetrope-produced films have received sixteen Academy Awards and seventy nominations. As a writer, director, producer, and technological pioneer, Francis Coppola has created a body of work that has helped to shape contemporary American cinema.

Making films since he was a young boy, Coppola quickly rose to prominence as a screenwriter. Each decade of Coppola’s 40 year filmmaking career is marked with innovation and success. In the 1970s, Coppola wrote Patton, which won 7 Academy Awards, directed the career-changing smash-hit The GodFather, and Wrote, Directed and Produced Apocalypse Now, influencing generations of directors across the globe. The 1980s was marked by technical innovation for Coppola, and he incorporated a range of revolutionary techniques and technologies into his filmmaking, including “previsualization," electronic editing, and experimentation with high definition. The 1990s was again filled incredible box office and critical success. In this decade Coppola produced, to name a few, The Godfather, Part III, winner of 7 Oscar nominations, and Bar Stoker’s Dracula, winner of 3. After a ten year hiatus from Coppola began filmmaking again in 2007. Throughout the rest of the 2000s, he has acted as a producer on a string of successful films.

Coppola’s passions go far beyond filmmaking, and his keen business mind allowed him to find success in all of his different ventures. His studio, American Zoetrope, is extremely successful in finding creative, fast, and economic approaches to film. Coppola’s quarterly magazine of short fiction, Zoetrop: All Story, has won nearly every major story award. Coppola has also opened world-class and famous resorts, wineries, restaurants and estates around the world. He is also the owner of Francis Ford Coppola Presents, a lifestyle brand which encompasses all of these companies he owns and controls. Coppola’s incredible attention to detail makes everything he creates a masterpiece

An event with Francis Ford Coppola is one to remember. As a speaker, Coppola captivates his audiences with his humor and intelligence. A true inspiration for anyone with a dream, Coppola is one of those rare people who determinedly has turned his dreams into reality. With the imagination of a child and an ever-curious mind, he continues to pursue his conviction that the magic combination of talent and technology, which was the basis of the birth of the motion picture, can continue to combine in ever new ways. Through his wide range of expertise, he can engage with audiences of all types and interests, young and old. A true legend, Coppola leave his audiences excited to go out into the world and leave their mark.