Michael Di Jiacomo is a multifaceted creative force, residing in New York City, where he has built a career spanning both film and theater.
As a writer, he began his journey by collaborating with Martha Clark, a renowned dance theater and opera director who received the prestigious MacArthur Genius Award. Together, they worked on projects that combined circus performers, acrobats, and ballerinas.
In the realm of film, Di Jiacomo has written and directed two feature films, with his debut, "Animals", premiering at the Sundance Film Festival and garnering multiple award nominations, including the Special Jury Prize at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Japan and the Best Director award at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain.
His second feature, "Somewhere Tonight", premiered at Karlovy Vary and won several accolades, including Best Film at the American Film Festival in Poland and Best Actor at the San Diego Film Festival.
As a screenwriter, Di Jiacomo has contributed to a diverse range of projects, including "The Revenge of the Green Dragons", which was executive produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by Andrew Lau; the Italian war epic "Castlenuovo", which Roman Polanski commissioned; "Prince Jack", which John Turturro asked him to write, with Spike Lee producing; "The Light Princess" for director Gore Verbinski and Twentieth Century Fox; "Sunset" for Ben Barenholtz; "Salvatori" for Vision Pictures Australia; "1961"; "Citizen X" for Mark Cuban's 2929 Productions; and a loose adaptation of James Ellroy's novel "Clandestine" for TBS.
Michael attended the prestigious New York University's Tisch School of the Arts graduate film program, where he won several awards, including a Student Academy Award, the W.T.C. Johnson Fellowship, and a Mobile Award.
He was also a writing and directing fellow at the Sundance Institute, where he was mentored by renowned directors and actors such as Terry Gilliam, Volker Schlondorff, Stanley Donen, and Glenn Close. During his time at the Sundance Institute, he received a grant from the Aaron Diamond Foundation.
In the realm of theater, Di Jiacomo's play "The Happiest Day/The Man Who Isn't There" enjoyed a critically acclaimed four-month run in Holland in 2015. He also directed Brandon Cole's play "Imperfect Love" in New York in 2018.
