Heather Cappiello made her film directorial debut with Ruby’s Tuesday, a narrative short film exploring the interior fantasy life of a woman embarking on an adulterous affair. Written and directed by Heather and filmed on location in San Francisco, the film garnered considerable attention during the festival circuit throughout the United States. Most notably, Ruby’s Tuesday was selected to accompany Sofia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette as part of the Gen Art Screening Series and Heather was chosen as one of Gen Art’s Filmmakers in Focus.
An accomplished theater director, Heather has worked professionally in San Francisco, London and Paris. After completing her Bachelor’s Degree from UC Berkeley, Heather co-founded the Bay Area’s Jawbone Theatre Ensemble and began a four-year tenure as actor, director and company producer.
Heather moved to London to attend graduate school at Mountview Theatre Academy and was chosen after graduation to assist the Tony Award-winning Irish director Garry Hynes at the Manchester Royal Exchange Theater. In London, Heather wrote and directed a stage adaptation of French novelist George Bataille’s My Mother at the Judi Dench Theater and was selected to spearhead the Director’s Showcase at The Theater Museum in Covent Garden. She apprenticed with The Royal Shakespeare Company, Almeida Theatre and BBC Radio and has directed theatrical premieres in London, San Francisco and Berkeley. Heather directed the US premiere of Rodrigo and Ariel Dorfman’s play Mascara with the acclaimed Bay Area theater troupe, The Shotgun Players. The Oakland Tribune critic, Chad Jones, noted Heather’s filmmaking sense in his review of the play: “Director Heather Cappiello tackles the Dorfman’s script as if it were a screenplay and gives the play’s 46 scenes a cinematic fluidity.”
Heather’s foray into filmmaking began when she returned to California and co-authored the feature screenplays Big Girl and Between Two Worlds. Additionally, Heather earns her filmmaking stripes as a professional film script supervisor on dozens of feature films and television productions including NBC’s current hit comedy Up All Night, HBO’s award-winning series Six Feet Under and Carnivale, Showtime’s hit drama HUFF, and TNT’s award-winning series Saving Grace starring Academy Award winner Holly Hunter. Heather’s debut directing episode of Saving Grace was chosen as the submission piece for both Ms. Hunter’s SAG and Golden Globe award nominations for 2010.
Currently, Heather is seeking a venue for her screenplay, The Sweet Life, a feature film adaptation commissioned by The Griffin Group.