- Born
- Nicknames
- Martini
- DM
- Height1.75 m
- Born in New York City, Martini made his feature film debut as co-writer, producer and actor in the award winning and critically acclaimed independent film, Goat on Fire and Smiling Fish (1999) which won the Discovery award at the Toronto International Film Festival and The Audience Award at The Milan International Film Festival. The film was made on a shoe string budget of 40,000 dollars and it was theatrically released through IDP/Stratosphere in 2000-01. His next screenplay, Lymelife (2008), was developed at Sundance Filmmaker's Lab and won the International Critic's Award, the (FIPRESCI), at The Toronto International Film Festival. "Lymelife" was released theatrically in early 2009 to International critical acclaim, earning Martini with a "Breakthrough Director" nomination from The Gotham Awards. Lymelife (2008) was produced by Martin Scorsese, a champion of Martini's work.- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous
- SpouseAmy Hathaway(2001 - 2003) (divorced)
- Reflection shots
- Graduated from the same Long Island high school as Natalie Portman.
- Was the writing partner of his brother Steven Martini.
- Was mentored by Scott Frank, Christopher McQuarrie, Stewart Stern, Robert Redford and Alfonso Cuarón among many others at the Sundance Filmmaker's Lab.
- The Martini brothers were invited to develop their film "Lymelife" at the Sundance Filmmaker's lab. During the summer long lab they were one of the focal points of the Robert Redford produced documentary Sundance 20 (2002), an inside look at the filmmaker's and screenwriter's lab.
- As well as appearing as an Executive Producer on "Lymelife", Martin Scorsese's name also appears on Steven and Derick's micro-budget film "Smiling fish And Goat On Fire" as Martin Scorsese Presents.
- We begged, borrowed, stole and racked up our credit cards to finish the film. - New York Times article on Goat on Fire and Smiling Fish (2000).
- In Queens, Brooklyn, all those places in the late '60s and early '70s, you had all this opportunity opening up for blue-collar guys. They were suddenly able to jump ahead in life. - New York Times interview on his film "Lymelife"
- I'm going to get married, I want to have kids. In my own life I'm going to slow down a bit. - The New York Times.
- It was very easy to select Rory Culkin. I don't know if you've seen You Can Count On Me, and Signs, and even in You Can Count On Me he was so young but I really loved that movie, it's one of my favorite movies. The understated performances he gave in both films, and the things he does with his eyes - just his eyes - I just knew that he felt, to me, like one of those actors...he reminds me of a young Paul Newman. When you see his eyes, he does so much with his eyes; when I was imagining shooting him I just thought I was going to get a lot out of his eyes. I don't need as many words in the script. I think that's better filmmaking in general. - Sundance Interview
- Who decides what the American dream is? This dogged pursuit that happened during the '70s and the '80s, that overindulgence, in essence created an environment that was paradise gone bad. - NY Newsday on "Lymelife"
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