Luca Cioci is a Director of Photography born in Pavia, Italy, with a background in painting. His early interest in storytelling and moving images lead him to explore animation and filmmaking.

 

While attending the Experimental Animation program at CalArts, Luca specialized in stop motion and motion control. His thesis short film was screened at over 200 film festivals worldwide.

 

Since graduating, Luca has worked on a diverse range of projects, adapting to various productions scales and workflows. His technical expertise in in-camera work, coupled with a passion for storytelling, enables him to tackle both emotionally rich and technically demanding projects.

 

In 2019-2020, Luca worked at Laika, the animation studio behind Golden Globe-winning Best Animated Feature (2020). In 2022, his expertise in motion control contributed to restoring the Dykstraflex camera, developed for the original Star Wars, and operating its custom motion control rig at the Academy of Motion Pictures.

 

Luca’s commercial work spans brands such as Hermes, Honda, Red Bull, Nationwide, Disney, Mattel and Adult Swim. His latest project, the 16mm short ’It Must Be Because I Decided to Leave’, directed by Zhuoyun Chen, premiered at FIDMarseille, France, and will screen at the First Film Festival in China.

 

Luca is an active member of the Television Academy, ASIFA, Local 600, and works out of Los Angeles, where he is currently pursuing a Master’s at the American Film Institute.