ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

CECILIA MINIUCCHI (Writer, Director and Producer) makes her first fiction feature directing and writing debut with “Expired” following an accomplished body of work in a multitude of mediums.  She has made a variety of documentaries and music videos, is an exhibition-quality still photographer and writes songs, short stories, poetry and screenplays.  In 1990, she wrote and directed a 60-minute feature called “Normality,” featuring Domiziana Giordano, Darrell Anderson, Del Samora and Roberta Basin.

Born and raised in Italy, Miniucchi was educated at Rome’s LUISS (Free University of International Social Sciences), where she focused on political science.  The program took her to the Sorbonne, Oxford and finally to Harvard for a graduate degree in literature.  She completed an apprenticeship with famed director Lina Wertmuller and also worked with The Taviani Brothers (“Good Morning, Babylon”) and Federico Fellini. 

After Harvard, she studied at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.  Following the AFI, she interned at Francis Coppola’s Zoetrope Studios in Hollywood and has made Los Angeles her primary home ever since.

Miniucchi’s documentaries have cast an eye upon cinema titans such as Robert Altman, Francis Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Paul Verhoeven; musicians; composers; writers — even an American financial genius.  “Charles Merrill:  An American Tycoon” was commissioned by and shown on PBS in 2001. 

The entirety of Miniucchi’s oeuvre otherwise is about art and artists. “Peggy’s Skylight” (2001) features Andy Summers of the Police interpreting Charles Mingus on guitar; “Terry Riley’s Musical Rainbow” (2004) looks at American minimalism and contemporary composers including Philip Glass; “I Drink, I Gamble And I Write” (1997), about cult novelist Charles Bukowski, who wrote “Barfly,” was re-released on DVD in 2002 by Warner Bros. as part of a package which also includes Barbet Schroeder’s cinematic adaptation.  “Nitsch 98” (2000), a documentary about contemporary performance art, premiered at MOCA and screened at the Rotterdam Film Festival.  “Selena Remembered” is about the assassinated Mex-Tex music star whom Miniucchi knew well because she had directed all of her music videos.    

Miniucchi has made dozens of music videos for stars such as Gloria Estefan, White Zombie, Ricky Martin, Devo and Andy Preboy, and her first, titled “President,” for Jeffrey Coulter’s group called American Martyrs, received an MTV award. 

JEFFREY COULTER (Producer and Composer)has collaborated and produced most of the films, music videos and documentaries directed by his longtime colleague Cecilia Miniucchi.  The music artists include White Zombie, Devo, Andy Preboy, Selena, Ricky Martin and Andy Summers (of the Police).  Their documentaries centered on cinema titans such as Robert Altman, Francis Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Paul Verhoeven; musicians such as Terry Riley and Philip Glass; and authors like Charles Bukowski.   He composes for features films, commercials and short films.

FRED ROOS (Producer)

Academy Award®-winning producer Fred Roos (“The Godfather, Part II”) is currently involved with four new films.  In addition to “Expired,” they include Francis Coppola’s new film “Youth Without Youth” and “5 - 25 - 77,” directed by Patrick Read Johnson.

A graduate of UCLA Film School, Roos began his career as a casting director.  His success in that arena led to a producing partnership with Francis Coppola that endures to this day and includes all three “Godfather” films as well as other Coppola-helmed pictures, such as “The Conversation,” “Apocalypse Now,” “One From The Heart,” “The Outsiders,” “Rumble Fish” and “The Cotton Club.”

Roos co-produced Sofia Coppola’s debut film, “The Virgin Suicides,” and served as Executive Producer for “Lost In Translation” (nominated for four Academy Awards®, winning for Best Original Screenplay) as well as last year’s Oscar® winner “Marie Antoinette,” starring Kirsten Dunst.  His other credits include “The Black Stallion,” Wim Wenders’ “Hammett,” Jack Nicholson’s “Drive, He Said,” Barbet Schroeder’s “Barfly” and Agnieszka Holland’s “The Secret Garden.”

ANTONI STUTZ (Executive Producer) began his career in the entertainment industry as an actor having studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York and Los Angeles under the direction of Anna Strasberg.

Still in his teens, Stutz soon appeared in numerous commercials for companies, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, Kodak, Coors, Eveready Batteries, Hyundai and Budweiser. 

Stutz starred in a variety of movies and television series.  He won critical acclaim for his role in the U.S. TV series “Tour of Duty” and worked with directors such as Michael Mann, John Frankenheimer and Bob Giraldi.

In his mid-20s, Stutz turned his attention to directing.  His commercial-directing resume includes clients such as Nike, BF-Goodrich, The San Diego AIDS Foundation, Rock the Vote, as well as various music videos.  Stutz recently made his feature directorial debut with “You’re Killing Me” (aka “The Killing Club”).  The Showtime film, a contemporary thriller/comedy, stars Julie Bowen, Traci Lords and Neal McDonough.

Stutz will next direct and produce the feature film “Rushlights,” which is due to go into production in South Carolina this summer.

MELITTA FITZER (Co-Producer) met Cecilia Miniucchi when they were both directing fellows at the American Film Institute.  From an auspicious beginning, she made her way up through Hollywood’s trenches, working as a 1st AD or 2nd unit director on several Roger Corman productions as well as on indie films directed by Carl Franklin and Gary Winnick and on some of Oliver Hirschbiegel’s German films.  Her first two jobs during film school in Austria were as a 2nd 2nd assistant director for Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Clint Eastwood.  Fitzer moved on to direct commercials, music videos and a German soap, “Such Is Life — The Wagenfelds.”

Fitzer also wrote screenplays, among them an episode for the internationally successful Austrian TV series “Kommissar Rex.”  She produced commercials and documentaries about music, politics and psychology, as well as several episodes of the French/German ARTE reality show “Through the Night” that filmed all over the U.S.  She also headed the U.S. office of a European music-video and documentary production conglomerate. 

DAVID FRATTO (Associate Producer) earned a bachelor’s degree in literature from Harvard University and studied at the New York University School of Film and Television.  He helmed several short films and developed a number of screenplays before embarking on a career as a writer, designer and producer of award-winning computer games, video games and interactive web projects.  He continues to develop and produce interactive media while returning to his interest in narrative filmmaking. 

ZORAN POPOVIC (Director of Photography) graduated from the American Film Institute and was the most honored cinematographer in his class.  He has collaborated with some of the most influential directors of our time, including Ken Russell, Joe Dante and Gary Oldman. 

Popovic also shot the forthcoming “Reggaeton,” which was produced by Sony BMG and Jennifer Lopez, and “Brand Hauser:  Stuff Happens,” starring John Cusack, Marisa Tomei and Hilary Duff.  He is a native of Serbia.

NATALIE LYNN SANFILIPPO (Production Designer) has worked as a freelance designer, muralist and painter since graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1999.  Having studied graphic design, upon graduating she realized she was unsure of her professional direction. 

Opportunities in Atlanta, Denver and San Francisco were intercepted by European travel until a chance meeting with Francis Coppola led to a mentoring relationship and later commissions to paint murals in two of Coppola’s Belize resorts, two at Turtle Inn and another at Blancaneaux which was featured on the cover of the New York Times Sunday Travel Section.  Coppola arranged an introduction to his longtime associate, Fred Roos, who, in turn, recommended her to Cecilia Miniucchi.  “Expired” was preceded by two indies, “The Still Life  And Cook-Off” and “The Village Barbershop.” 

ANNE GOURSAUD, A.C.E. (Editor), has worked on a multitude of acclaimed motion pictures dating back to the early ’80s, including “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia,” “One From The Heart,” “The Outsiders” and “American Dreamer.”  She also cut “Idlewild,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” “The Two Jakes,” “Ironweed” and “Crimes Of The Heart.”  Goursaud’s most recent work includes “KTO NIGDY NIE ZYL, Streets Of Legend,” Janusz Kaminsky’s “Lost Souls” and “San Tiao Rens.”  She plans to direct “La Petite Americaine,” based on her original script about actress Jean Seberg for producer Anne Francios (“Nine Months”).

FRITZ FEICK (Editor) previously edited David Ocanas’ “Between,” a Sundance Film Festival selection starring Poppy Montgomery and Danny Pino.  He also edited the Slamdance Grand Jury Prize-winning “Better Housekeeping” as well as the dance scenes for the box-office hit “Save The Last Dance.”  His credits also include the documentaries “Ground Zero — The New World Trade,” “Mr. Gehry Goes To Washington” and “Rhino Chasers.”  For television, he edited “Hack.”  He also edited music videos for Tony Bennett, Clint Black, Cheap Trick, Placido Domingo, Goo Goo Dolls and Sting.

Feick is founder of Aftershock Digital, the commercial edit house in Los Angeles where he has cut scores of award-winning spots for the likes of Reebok, Toyota and Nintendo.  His music-video work is in the Museum of Television, his trailers have won awards at Promax, and his recent doc, “Ground Zero — The New World Trade,” was made part of the National Archives in Washington, D.C. 

  

SWINDA REICHELT (Costume Designer) hails from the former East German Republic and ventured into costume and fashion design in the late 1980s.

The collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 opened a new world of design and creativity for Reichelt.  She was the lead designer at the avant-garde fashion show “Off-line Berlin ’90,” featured by MTV, German news channels and magazines.  She worked as a costume designer for theatrical companies, including the Komische Opera-Berlin and Opera-Gasteig-Munich.  The recognition she received quickly led to work in television, opera, theater, dance and fashion/art.  

Her credits as a costume designer also include the Sundance competition entry “How The Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer” by Georgina Riedel and the forthcoming independents “American East,” “Pirate Camp” and “The Tribe.”  In 2001, Reichelt relocated to Los Angeles and continues to design costumes for feature films and exhibit art installations.  She also serves as guest lecturer at UCLA.