Hello! I'm Lionel.

I was born and raised in Paris, France, by an American father and a French mother. I have been in the film business for 30+ years. I was an assistant director for 22 years, and, since 2010, a film director/scriptwriter of several feature films, commercials, and daytime soaps.

I now teach film production, script writing, and assistant directing at several renowned film schools in Paris (FEMIS, ESRA, and EICAR).

I founded YourFilmMentor to empower college applicants and future filmmakers with both technical and artistic guidance in all aspects of film production.

Career highlights

  • MFA in film production at Boston University.

  • First assistant director on many feature films, including Hotel Rwanda (with Don Cheadle and Joaquin Phoenix), Lost in Space (with Gary Oldman and Matt LeBlanc), Animal Farm among others (IMDb).

  • Worked on 250+ commercials and music videos, assisting great directors such as world-renowned Hong Kong-based Wong Kar Wai. 

  • My first feature film as a director, Case Départ (Back to Square One), was the 7th highest-grossing French movie of the year and won many awards. It was a comedy -- I love a good comedy!

  • Directed three other French films and wrote several scripts for movies and documentaries.

  • My last film, Alad'2, was the 5th highest-grossing French movie of the year.

  • Worked all over the world, including Europe, North and South America, China, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa.