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Born in Ohio, filmmaker August Cinquegrana and his family moved to the West Coast when he was still a young boy. After a stint in the Army, he returned to California and earned a bachelor's degree from San Francisco State University in broadcast communications. He went on to become an editor with the CBS affiliate KPIX, which first broke the story about the kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst -- a story he was responsible for editing. The station earned an Emmy award for the coverage, in large part due to Cinquegrana. In 1977, the American Film Institute awarded him with the Independent Filmmakers Award, which carried with it a ten thousand dollar money award. With this money, he created the documentary Goodnight Miss Ann, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for short subject documentary. He went on to direct a number of documentaries and public service spots. Director Francis Ford Coppola chose Cinquegrana in 1981 for the First Directors program at the Coppola-founded Zoetrope Studios. Cinquegrana died in 1999, at the age of 58.