Nicolas Cage a nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and of actress Talia Shire, and the cousin of directors Roman Coppola and Sofia Coppola, film producer Gian-Carlo Coppola, and actors Robert Carmine and Jason Schwartzman. Cage's two brothers are New York radio personality Marc "The Cope" Coppola and director Christopher Coppola. He attended Beverly Hills High School, which is known for its many alumni who became entertainers. He aspired to act from an early age and also attended UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a school production of "Golden Boy". He said he started
Francis Ford Coppola These discussions led to negotiations for Coppola to both produce and direct the "Pinocchio" project for Warners, as well as "The Secret Garden" (which was made in 1993 and produced by American Zoetrope, but directed by Agnieszka Holland) and "Hoover", which never came to fruition. (A film was eventually to be made by Clint Eastwood in 2011 as "J. Edgar", which was distributed by Warners.) But, in mid-1991, Coppola and Warners came to disagreement over the compensation to be paid to Coppola for his directing services on "Pinocchio". The parties deferred this issue and finally a settlement was reached in