Actor: Luca Bercovici

Birthday: 1957-02-22
Born in: New York City, New York, USA
Biography: A third-generation filmmaker, Luca Bercovici was born in New York and raised in such far-flung places as London, Rome, New York and California. Mr. Bercovici attended College of the Redwoods, Santa Monica College and Loyola Marymount University. In 1979, Mr. Bercovici spent six months in Japan, working on the miniseries, Shogun (1980), as Dialogue Director, specifically working with Japanese actress, Yôko Shimada (Golden Globe Winner, Emmy Nominee). Upon returning to the United States, he launched an acting career and has starred in many feature films including American Flyers (1985), (starring Kevin Costner, directed by John Badham), Clean and Sober (1988) (starring Michael Keaton, directed by Glenn Gordon Caron ), Pacific Heights (1990) (also starring Michael Keaton and Melanie Griffith, directed by John Schlesinger ), K2 (1991) (starring Michael Biehn, directed Franc Roddam), Drop Zone (1994) (starring Wesley Snipes, directed by John Badham ), The Big Squeeze (1996) with Lara Flynn Boyle , Flatland (2002), a series produced in Shanghai, starring Dennis Hopper , and recently, Stag Night (2008), starring Vinessa Shaw and Kip Pardue. Mr. Bercovici began his professional writing career in 1982, developing new series concepts for MGM, culminating in a pilot script for CBS and MGM, "The Storytellers". He has also written for 'Aaron Spelling Productions [us]', Trimark, Warner Bros., Tapestry Films and many others. In 1984, Bercovici co-wrote a feature film script "New Deal" which was subsequently purchased by 20th Century Fox. Also that year, Bercovici made his directorial debut with the hugely successful film Ghoulies (1984) , which he also co-wrote. _Ghoulies (1985_ was the top grossing independent film in 1985 and has spawned three sequels. In 1988, Bercovici directed his second feature, a musical comedy about a vampire, Rockula (1990) , which he also co-wrote. In 1993, Luca Bercovici directed his third film, Dark Tide (1994) for 'Trimark Pictures [us]' and 'Tapestry Films [us]', an action thriller starring Chris Sarandon , Richard Tyson and Brigitte Bako (#1 R.O.I, Showest 1994). In 1994, Bercovici made his fourth feature, directing a horror-comedy, which he scripted, entitled The Granny (1995) , starring Stella Stevens and Shannon Whirry for Tapestry Films and 'WarnerVision Films (production)' . The Chain (1996), an action drama starring Gary Busey, is Luca Bercovici's fifth feature film. The Chain sold exceptionally well at AFM and was picked up by 'Home Box Office (HBO) [us] (Distributor)' for a World Premiere. In addition to directing, Bercovici also co-wrote the script. In 1996, Bercovici directed his sixth film, Convict 762 (1997) for EGM International. In 1997, Mr. Bercovici directed his seventh feature, BitterSweet (1999) which starred James Russo , Angie Everhart , Brian Wimmer and Eric Roberts. Bercovici's eighth feature, Luck of the Draw (2000) stars William Forsythe , Dennis Hopper, Eric Roberts, Ice-T & Michael Madsen. In addition, Bercovici has recently finished writing a four-hour miniseries about an infamous WWII-era broadcaster, and has completed two documentaries and several music videos.