Raised in Lindenhurst, Long Island, NY

After his mother's death, went to live with various relatives

Left art school in Boston; made eight super-8 films before enrolling in the film department at SUNY, Purchase

Completed his student thesis film, "Kid"

Began freelancing on commercials and feature films

Made feature directing, screenwriting, producing and editing debut with "The Unbelievable Truth"

Short films, the 10-minute "Ambition" and the 17-minute "Theory of Achievement", broadcast on PBS' "Alive From Off Center"

"Surviving Desire", his first work made expressly for TV, broadcast on "American Playhouse" on PBS

Made short film "Flirt"; later incorporated into the 1995 feature of the same title

Wrote and directed "Amateur"

Helmed the tripartite "Flirt", which incorporated the 1993 short of the same name

Garnered critical acclaim for "Henry Fool"; screened at Cannes where it won the screenplay award

Made the short "The Book of Life"

Directed and wrote and the short "Kimono"

Debut as playwright with "Soon", produced in Los Angeles

Wrote and directed "No Such Thing", an adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast"

Helmed the feature "The Girl From Monday" about a time in the near future when citizens are happy to be property traded on the stock exchange

Helmed "Fay Grim," a sequel to his 1997 film "Henry Fool" starring Parker Posey as a single mom thrown into a world of international espionage