He was accepted to the directing program of the prestigious Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome and was awarded his diploma in 2005 with his thesis film Thermae.

[2] Subsequently, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship[3] and completed MFA studies at the American Film Institute (AFI)[4] in 2008.

Mr Filippella won twice the Philip Morris Cinema Award, the Panavision, Arri and Fuji grants and the Sergio Corbucci Prize.

[5] His first feature film Silver Case stars Academy Award nominees Seymour Cassel and Eric Roberts in the lead role of the Senator, and features Shalim Ortiz, Chris Facey, Brian Keith Gamble, Vincent De Paul (actor), Fernanda Romero, Scarlett Chorvat and Claire Falconer.

[7] The Los Angeles Times reviewed the film as "brisk, good-looking and never dull" Mr Filippella has since then produced and shot several other feature films, documentaries and TV shows including Nandor Fodor and The Talking Mongoose, distributed by Paramount, starring Academy Award actress Minnie Driver, Christopher Lloyd and Simon Pegg, Hellfire starring Academy Award Nominee Harvey Keitel, Stephen Lang and Dolph Lundgren, Mafia Wars starring Tom Welling and Cam Gigandet, the award winning documentary The Genius of Gianni Versace about the life and career of fashion designer Gianni Versace,[8] the multiple Emmy Award Winning series The Bay,[9] Swifty & Veg with Tommy Flanagan and Mark Boone, the holiday films Christmas Couples Retreat, This is Our Christmas and Beverly Hills Christmas starring among others Dean Cain, Academy Award Nominee John Savage, Ronn Moss and Academy Award Winner Margaret O'Brien.