My name is Glenn, my big Italian family calls me Glennuccio, and my friends call me Nooch!

I’ve been a filmmaker my whole life, falling in love with it when I still thought booby traps were traps meant to catch boobies. Even before I ever picked up a camera, I was always relating every experience to making a movie. I remember drawing comic strips as though they were storyboards, not knowing what a storyboard was, and sketching original characters who would eventually star in my films. Whenever I played with my action figures, I’d create plots for them, giving each character a story, a voice and a personality. I choreographed each fight as if my eyes were the camera, filming from all different angles.

Movies and music were constantly opening doors to new passions for me; The Wizard of Oz (first movie I ever saw) got me into performing and doing impressions. Phil Collins (my first concert) began my love for playing the drums. The Three Stooges, Laurel & Hardy, and Looney Tunes ignited my obsession with comedy. The 1990 Ninja Turtles movie is why I became a fighter, took up Tae Kwon Do, became a black belt and became the ’97 Junior Olympics Champ. And… Star Wars is what made me want to be a director and all-around filmmaker. I was 9 when I knew that making movies was no doubt going to be my career.

I’ll never forget the first lesson I ever learned in filmmaking; I was around 7 or 8, and my mom and dad had just bought their very first camcorder (which shortly became my camcorder). We went over my aunt and uncles for pizza, and my Uncle David showed me how stop motion animation worked. He took red playdough, made it into the shape of a snake, pressed record then pause quickly, moved it a bit, pressed record then pause again, and repeated that about several more times. When we watched it back, my jaw dropped to the floor, my mind exploded, and from that moment on I was forever obsessed with this new magic.

For the most part I am self-taught, having relentlessly watched and studied hundreds of movies, behind-the-scenes documentaries/featurettes, taking courses, and reading as much as I possibly can- learning something new every day. I’ve always been able to relate to movies and how they’re made, instinctively noticing all of the little details that make up a great scene. To me, what defines a filmmaker is his/her ability to take a camera, whatever is in front of them, create a story about it, then effectively bring it to life on screen. I’ve learned to always test myself; it’s the best way to stay true and know exactly what you’re capable of.

The most important lessons of my life came from my parents. My mom was a singer, an actress and a model, and my dad played the guitar… so you see where I get it from. They remain my heroes and biggest inspirations, always teaching me how to be confident, a leader, and to never stop. You stick with those 3 lessons and, as Coach Bobby Finstock from Teen Wolf says, “Everything else is cream cheese.”