American Zoetrope building with the Transamerica Pyramid

American Zoetrope is a studio founded by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. Founded in 1969, American Zoetrope was an early adopter of digital filmmaking, including some of the earliest uses of HDTV. The studio has produced not only the films of Coppola (Apocalypse Now, The Black Stallion, Bram Stoker's Dracula, etc.) but also George Lucas's pre-Star Wars films, THX 1138 and American Graffiti, as well as many others by such cutting-edge directors as Jean-Luc Godard, Akira Kurosawa, Wim Wenders, and Godfrey Reggio (Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi). American Zoetrope's last release was the 2007 film Youth Without Youth, starring Tim Roth, and written, produced and directed by Coppola, marking his return to personal filmmaking. Coppola's next project, Tetro, began filming early 2008.

Four films produced by American Zoetrope are included in the American Film Institute's Top 100 Films. American Zoetrope-produced films have received 15 Academy Awards and 68 nominations. Lost in Translation (2002), written and directed by Sofia Coppola, won 2003's Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Coppola named the studio after a zoetrope he was given in the late 1960s by the filmmaker and collector of early film devices, Mogens Skot-Hansen. The company was also known as Zoetrope Studios from 1979 until 1990. "Zoetrope" is also the name by which Coppola's quarterly fiction magazine, Zoetrope All-Story, is often known.

The company's headquarters is in the historic Sentinel Building in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. In the building lobby Coppola operates a popular small Italian café featuring Rubicon Estate wine and memorabilia from his films. The neighborhood is well-known for its cafes and its writers. Coppola wrote much of the screenplay for The Godfather in the nearby Caffe Trieste, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights Books is located across the street from the Sentinel Building.

American Zoetrope is now owned entirely by Coppola's son and daughter, directors Roman Coppola and Sofia Coppola.^[1]

[edit] Selected filmography

• On the Road (TBA) (directed by Walter Salles)
• Somewhere (2010) (directed by Sofia Coppola)
• Tetro (2009) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• Youth Without Youth (2007) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• The Good Shepherd (2006) (directed by Robert De Niro)
• Marie Antoinette (2006) (directed by Sofia Coppola)
• Kinsey (2004) (directed by Bill Condon)
• Lost in Translation (2003) (directed by Sofia Coppola)
• Jeepers Creepers II (2003) (directed by Victor Salva)
• Assassination Tango (2002) (directed by Robert Duvall)
• Pumpkin (2002) (directed by Anthony Abrams and Adam Larson Broder)
• Jeepers Creepers (2001) (directed by Victor Salva)
• CQ (2001) (directed by Roman Coppola)
• Sleepy Hollow (1999) (directed by Tim Burton)
• The Virgin Suicides (1999) (directed by Sofia Coppola)
• The Rainmaker (1997) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• Buddy (1997) (directed by Caroline Thompson)
• The Odyssey (1997) (directed by Andrei Konchalovsky)
• Jack (1996) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) (directed by Kenneth Branagh)
• Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• The Godfather Part III (1990) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• Gardens of Stone (1987) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• The Cotton Club (1984) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• Rumble Fish (1983) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• The Outsiders (1983) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• One From the Heart (1982) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• The Black Stallion (1979) (directed by Carroll Ballard)
• Apocalypse Now (1979) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
• THX 1138 (1971) (directed by George Lucas)
• The Rain People (1969) (directed by Francis Ford Coppola)

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Zoetrope All-Story the website of the fiction magazine.
• Zoetrope Magazine

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