P.J. Pesce | |
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| Born | Paul J. Pesce[1] 1961 (age 63–64) |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation | Film director |
P.J. Pesce (bornPaul J. Pesce) is an American film director and writer.[2] He is also the co-creator of theMTV cartoonThe Adventures of Chico and Guapo, as well as the voice actor of Guapo and Mr. Angelo.
Pesce was born and raised inMiami, Florida, in 1961. After completing an undergraduate degree in bothEnglish literature andarchitecture atColumbia University. He entered thegraduate film school and studied directing underMartin Scorsese andBrian DePalma.
Pesce has worked as a musician, a film editor, a studio recording engineer, a film instructor atColumbia,UCLA, andUSC, and as a groom at Calder Racetrack. He studied editing withRalph Rosenblum and acting withBrad Dourif .
In 1994, Pesce and six other filmmakers includingdocumentary filmmakerMarco Williams andAcademy Award nominee Bernard Joffa (from the 1990 Best Live Action Short filmSenzeni Na?) were featured in movie journalistBilly Frolick's book calledWhat I Really Want to Do Is Direct: Seven Film School Graduates Go to Hollywood. The book followed the lives of seven young, would-be directors over three years as they struggled with the ups-and-downs of Hollywood.
Pesce was named Best Independent Director of the Year at theHamptons International Film Festival for his critically acclaimed filmThe Desperate Trail, which he wrote and directed.Entertainment Weekly called it "The bestWestern on any size screen sinceUnforgiven", andTom Shales ofThe Washington Post described it as "a new high point in the cable movie". It was the second highest rated cable movie of 1995, and in addition it sold over 60,000 home video units.
In his later career, Pesce directedFrom Dusk Till Dawn 3. Pesce received a Special Grand Jury Award for his short film,The Afterlife of Grandpa at theHouston International Film Festival, and Young Filmmaker of the Year from theEdinburgh Film Festival. He is the recipient ofGrey Advertising's Student Filmmaker Award and a Presidential Fellowship fromColumbia'sSchool of the Arts.
Pesce often collaborates with fellow screenwriter Tom Abrams; they wroteLost Boys: The Tribe (for which Pesce was also the director), a 2008 sequel to the 1987 filmThe Lost Boys, as well as the 2010 filmSmokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball.[2]
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