A native of Brooklyn, New York, John Coppola is a multi-talented director and acting coach, whose clients have starred on HBO, Showtime, ABC, CBS, NBC, CW, Netflix, FX, AMC, USA, Lifetime, Fox, WB, TNT and Showcase.
As a director, John has helmed more than 100 theatrical productions in New York, Los Angeles and abroad. His credits include groundbreaking productions of Shakespeare, Brecht, John Patrick Shanley and Caryl Churchill, as well as critically acclaimed adaptations of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Cabaret. Reviews available upon request.
As a film director, John’s accolades include the award for Best Director at the New York International Film & Video Festival for his film, Possibility, which also took the Grand Jury Prize for short film In Los Angeles. Then, he directed Bourbon Street, a New Orleans television pilot for Rampart Entertainment. Most recently, he directed In the Basement, a short film that is scheduled for screening at festivals across the country.
John began his career as an actor, whose career took him from the footlights of Broadway to the soundstages of Hollywood. After attending Yale’s prestigious drama program, John first appeared on Broadway in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, followed by Biloxi Blues, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, American Buffalo, and the European revival tours of Hair and West Side Story.
John’s television acting credits include Fox TV’s Herman’s Head, NYPD Blue, and Chicken Soup for the Soul, among others. On film, John starred in Into the Paradise and has also appeared in Last Exit to Brooklyn, Out of Gas on Lover’s Leap, and Terry Southern’s You Gotta Leave Your Mark. John also produced and starred-in his award-winning one-man show entitled The DeVivo Variation, which premiered at the prestigious HBO Workspace in Los Angeles, and successfully ran for more than two years on both coasts, garnering two Critic’s Choice Awards and a Dramalogue Award.
John currently lives in Los Angeles, where he is in demand as one of Hollywood’s top acting coaches. He offers his unique style of teaching and private coaching to a thriving group of students, established actors and movie stars.
John Coppola – Director’s Resume