The Salton Sea

Background:

American producer and director D.J Caruso has demonstrated a unique combine of noir conventions and dark, almost strange scaffold humor, in his films. Starting out as a producing assistant, he made a career switch in the mid-1990s and soon caught the attention with his promising behind-the-scene-effort in the short film Cyclops...Baby (1997), penned by Scott Rosenberg. Several years later, Caruso gained even more notice with his moody thriller, The Salton Sea (2002), which earned positive feedback for its stylish direction and arresting cinematography. He also has directed thrillers Taking Lives (2004), Two for the Money (2005), and the forthcoming Disturbia (2007).

In addition to film, Caruso, who aspired to a career in the entertainment industry from an early age, also has dotted his directorial resume with a number of television projects. Among them are Black Cat Run (1998), “Buddy Faro” (1998), “Martial Law” (1998), “Going to California” (2001) and “The Shield” (2002, 2006).

In 2004, the Connecticut native founded Tall Pine Productions, along with producer Ken Aguado. He is married to Holly Kuespert and has four children with her.


Lifelong Film Fan

Childhood and Family:

In Norwalk, Connecticut, D.J. Caruso was born on January 17, 1965. He relocated west to play tennis and study Television Production at Pepperdine University. Upon completing his studies, an ongoing film lover, Caruso began his career in showbiz, first in producing and later progressed to directing.

Caruso is the husband of Holly Kuespert, whom he married on July 6, 1991. The two have four children.


Disturbia

Career:

Connecticut-born D.J. Caruso wanted to pursue a career in entertainment industry from a very young age. With a degree in Television Production under his belt, he got his professional career start in the Product Placement department at Disney Studios. Serving as a production assistant, Caruso received his first credit with the Michael J. Fox/ James Woods vehicle The Hard Way (1991), an action/comedy film helmed by John Badham. It was Badham that later tutored Caruso into a second unit director after he lost his 2nd unit director Rob Cohen to a first unit directing career.

After his debut, Caruso served in varying production capacities on such movies as the Bridget Fonda/Gabriel Byrne action/crime Point of No Return (1993), Drop Zone (1994) and the Johnny Depp starring vehicle Nick of Time (1995), all directed by Badham. 1995 saw Caruso step into the director’s chair with an episode of the brief sci-fi series “VR.5.” He went on to direct episodes of television shows like “High Incident” (1996), “Buddy Faro” (1998) and “Martial Law” (1998). However, it was when he teamed up with writer Scott Rosenberg that the confident Caruso had his first taste of directing short film with the 1997 comedy/thriller Cyclops...Baby. The film helped establish Caruso’s directing career.

Next up for Caruso was 1998’s television film Black Cat Run (1998), a mystery starring Patrick Muldoon and Peter Greene, before he directed and produced another television thriller, John Sanford’s Mind Prey (1999). Following work in episodes of “The Strip” (1999), “James Cameron’s ‘Dark Angel’” (2001), “Going to California” (2001) and “Smallville” (2002), the director made the leap into film territory with the neo-noir crime/drama The Salton Sea (2002). Starring Val Kilmer as ex-jazz musician who drifts into a world populated by thugs and speed junkies to discover his wife’s slaughterer, the film earned positive reviews for its classy direction and remarkable cinematography despite doing only moderately well at the box office.

Retuning to TV, Caruso helmed episodes of “Robbery Homicide Division” (2002) and “The Shield” (2002). Two years later, he revisited the cinematic industry to direct Angelina Jolie in the haunting thriller Taking Lives. This was followed by the 2005 thriller Two for the Money, starring Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey.

Recently, in 2006, Caruso returned to “The Shield” to helm the episodes of “Extraction “ and “Kavanaugh.” The 41-year-old filmmaker now has a post-production project titled Disturbia under his wings. Starring Kurt David Anderson, David Morse and Carrie-Anne Moss, the thriller film is scheduled to be released in 2007.


Awards:
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