a cura di Ida Renzicchi
Biography of Brandon Cole
BRANDON COLE, Writers Guild of America East Lifetime Member
Born September 4, 1948, Chicago, Illinois. Raised in Westchester, County, New York, attended Yonkers public schools through the tenth grade.
1964-1966: Attended The Hackley School, Tarrytown, New York, on partial scholarship. Graduated 1966 with the shared prize in history.
1966-1968: Enrolled Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts to major in English.
1968-1970: Performed alternate military service as a conscientious objector, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
1970-1972: Enrolled Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York to take courses in creative writing. Graduated 1972, B.A. double major in literature and philosophy.
1974-1980: Traveled and worked a variety of jobs, one in a Haines, Alaska lumber mill as a mechanic’s helper; another outside Dammam, Saudi Arabia as a laborer in warehouse construction; drove a New York City taxi for two years and continued my studies and wrote plays.
1979: My play, “Jamie’s Gang,” performed Off-Off Broadway.
1980: Married my wife, the writer, Janyce Stefan-Cole.
1980-1990: Moved to Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, New York and then in 1984 bought and renovated our building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. Continued my studies and playwriting and worked in construction, first as a carpenter then as an electrician. During this period, my play, “Steel On Steel,” was performed twice Off-Off Broadway. “Steel On Steel” eventually became the film, “MAC.”
1986: My one-act play, “The Worker’s Life,” produced Off-Off Broadway at The Ensemble Studio Theater. I was paid $250, the first time I was paid as a writer.
1986 to present: Wrote screenplays, a teleplay, one-act and full length stage plays, a few short stories and three novels. With the success of the film, “MAC,” (Camera D’Or, Cannes, 1992) I was able eventually to stop construction work for the most part and concentrate on writing and reading and studying. I am currently rewriting a screenplay for Moonlit Wolf, LLC. titled “The Good Wolf” that is based on my screenplay, “Go Wild or Die”. “The Good Wolf” is scheduled to be shot in 2017, depending on financing, and I will direct.
In 1993, in preparation for the film, “Illuminata,” I began to study Italian and have become proficient in it. “Illuminata” is based on my stage play, “Imperfect Love,” that comes in turn from the life and work of the influential Italian actress, Eleonora Duse, particularly her nine-year relationship with the writer, Gabriele D’Annunzio. “Imperfect Love” has been translated into Italian and published in the Italian theatre magazine, “Primafila 2000.”
Film: Writer/Director
1996: OK GARAGE(aka ALL REVVED UP) Sedano Prods./MGM Video
Film: Co-Screenwriter/Producer
2011: PETE SMALLS IS DEAD Alexandre Rockwell/Blackhorse Films
2001: 13 MOONS Alexandre Rockwell/Gold Circle Films
Film: Co-Screenwriter
1998: ILLUMINATA John Turturro/Overseas
1996: PEPPERMILLS Isabel Hegner/Talana Prods.
1992: MAC John Turturro/Columbia Tri-Star
1989: SONS Alexandre Rockwell/Pacifica
1987: THE LIZARD’S TAIL Bruno Gantillon/Odessa films(France)
Screenplays
1997: GO WILD OR DIE
2000: THE UMBRELLA MAN (IL BAGNINO)
Screenplay Adaptations
1995: MY DOG STUPID (by John Fante) Peter Falk & John Turturro
Screenplays: Co-Screenwriter
2016: The GOOD WOLF Moonlit Wolf, LLC.
2004: TEXAS 1948 Steve Hoffman/Alex Matter
1999: BLACK BEANS & RICE Alexandre Rockwell
1998: SEX WRESTLING FROM AMERICA Alexandre Rockwell
1995: DIVINE MERCY Eric Schwab/Candelaria Prods.
1990: GET BACK Obie Benz
Theatre
2018: IMPERFECT LOVE Connelly Theatre in New York
2000: IMPERFECT LOVE (Writer\Director) N.Y. Performance Works
1980-1999: Plays performed at New York Performance Works, Teatro da Trindade,
Lisbon (Portugal), The Ensemble Studio Theatre, Edinburgh Festival (Scotland),
New York Stage and Film, West Bank Cafe, American Kaleidoscope Theatre,
Westbeth Theatre Center.
Television
1998: NOTHING WORKS Radiotelevisao Portuguesa S.A.
1988: SMOKE SCREENS “The Street”/Universal
Novels
2013: THE ROOTLESS Part Two: Deny your Flesh
2009: THE ROOTLESS Part One: Lust for Answers
2004: THE DIFFICULT ONES
2001: THE HOUSE OF SECRETS
EDUCATION
1966-1968: Tufts University
1970-1972: Sarah Lawrence College (B.A. Philosophy and Literature)
TEACHING
2013-14: Vermont College of Fine Arts, Screenwriting
Awards
1998: OK GARAGE Le Prix SACD for Screenplay
Rencontres Cinématographiques/Avignon France
1992: MAC Camera d’Or/Cannes Festival
1986: PLAYWRITING FELLOWSHIP New York Foundation for the Arts