Biography

Cianfrance earned a B.F.A.

Bachelor of Fine Arts

In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...

 in Film Production from the University of Colorado

University of Colorado

The University of Colorado system is a system of public universities in Colorado consisting of three universities in four campuses: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and University of Colorado Denver in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in...

, studying under avant-garde filmmakers Stan Brakhage

Stan Brakhage

James Stanley Brakhage , better known as Stan Brakhage, was an American non-narrative filmmaker who is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th century experimental film....

 and Phil Solomon

Phil Solomon

Phil Solomon is an American experimental filmmaker noted for his work with both film and video. Recently, Solomon has earned acclaim for a series of films that incorporate machinima made using games from the Grand Theft Auto series...

. At 23, he wrote, directed and edited his first feature film, Brother Tied, which was well-received at festivals including Sundance

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

.

His second feature, Blue Valentine

Blue Valentine (film)

Blue Valentine is a 2010 romantic drama film written and directed by Derek Cianfrance. The film premiered in competition at the 26th Sundance Film Festival. Derek Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis wrote the film, and Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling played the lead roles...

, starred Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling

Ryan Thomas Gosling is a Canadian actor and musician. He first came to public attention as a child star on the Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club and went on to appear in other family entertainment programmes including Are You Afraid of the Dark? , Goosebumps , Breaker High and Young Hercules...

 and Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams (actress)

Michelle Ingrid Williams is an American actress. After starting her career with television guest appearances in the early 1990s, Williams achieved recognition for her role as Jen Lindley on the WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek, which she played from 1998 to 2003...

. The two actors became familiar with their roles several years before filming but never met in person. The project was originally slated to shoot in California, but Cianfrance relocated to Brooklyn so that Williams could be with her daughter. There were no rehearsals and Cianfrance rarely shot more than one take per shot. The film was originally given an NC-17 rating, despite having little nudity and no violence. It has since been changed to R after an appeal was filed by the Weinstein company.

Cianfrance's next written feature is Metalhead, which centers on a metal drummer whose eardrums become ruptured and he becomes deaf. The film will feature the members of the band Jucifer

Jucifer

Jucifer is a two piece sludge metal band signed to Relapse Records. The band's members include Gazelle Amber Valentine on lead guitar and vocals, and her husband Edgar Livengood on drums. They travel in an RV and are "nomadic in nature", preferring to tour constantly, living in their tour vehicle,...

 portraying themselves.

Blue Valentine star Ryan Gosling is confirmed to work with Cianfrance again on The Place Beyond the Pines

The Place Beyond the Pines

The Place Beyond the Pines is an upcoming crime drama film directed by Derek Cianfrance, written by Cianfrance, Ben Coccio, and Darius Marder. The film reunites Cianfance and Ryan Gosling, with whom he worked on Blue Valentine...

, which follows a motorcycle stunt rider (Gosling) who becomes a bank robber to support his newborn son. Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...

 has been confirmed for a supporting role as a rookie police officer who crosses paths with Gosling’s character. Principal photography is set to begin in the summer of 2011.
Filming is being done in upstate New York in Schenectady, Niskayuna area in 2011.

Other work

Cianfrance is also known for his TV documentary work, which includes portraits of musicians Sean Combs

Sean Combs

Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...

 and Run DMC and the Battleground basketball series. He is currently working on a television series called Muscle, for HBO, which he says will be a comedy series with a unique take on "character development".

Writer/director

• Metalhead (2011)
• Cagefighter (2011) (Documentary)
• Blue Valentine
  Blue Valentine (film)
  Blue Valentine is a 2010 romantic drama film written and directed by Derek Cianfrance. The film premiered in competition at the 26th Sundance Film Festival. Derek Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis wrote the film, and Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling played the lead roles...
  
  (2010)
• Brother Tied (1998)

External links