Grown in Livorno, where his mother was born, he started his career in 1991, with the screenplay of the movie Condominio by Felice Farina. From 1994 he contributed to the screenplay of the movies by the director Paolo Virzì (La bella vita, Ferie d’agosto, Ovosodo, Baci e abbracci, My Name Is Tanino, Caterina va in città, N – Io e Napoleone, Tutta la vita davanti, La prima cosa bella, Tutti i santi giorni e Il capitale umano) and, from 1995 to 2003, also those of the movies by the director Mimmo Calopresti (La seconda volta, La parola amore esiste, Preferisco il rumore del mare, La felicità non costa niente).

He also worked with Franco Bernini (script and screenplay of the movie Sotto la luna), David Riondino (Cuba libre – Velocipedi ai tropici), Francesca Comencini (Le parole di mio padre) and with the comedians Ficarra e Picone (Nati stanchi, Il 7 e l’8, La matassa). He contributed to the screenplay of I Viceré by Roberto Faenza, adapted from the novel of the same name by Federico De Roberto, and to the movie Miracolo a Sant’Anna, by Spike Lee. He also contributed to the script of the feature film in four episodes 4-4-2 – Il gioco più bello del mondo, produced by Paolo Virzì.

He adapted, for the TV series of Commissario Montalbano, the tales and novels of Andrea Camilleri and, for the series Il commissario De Luca, those of Carlo Lucarelli. He also dramatized the TV movie Il tunnel della libertà, for the direction of Enzo Monteleone. As an actor he played a small part in the movie La guerra degli Antò by Riccardo Milani (1999).
He is teaching screenplay in the Experimental Cinematography Center in Rome.

In 2011 he made his debut as a Director with Scialla! (Stai sereno) shown in Venezia Festival 2011, where he wins the prize Controcampo for the narrative feature films. For this film, which is the most awarded in 2011 he wins the David of Donatello 2012 as the Best Debuting Director the Nastro d’argento 2012 as the Best Debuting Director. In September 2012 he was appointed President of the jury of the section Prospettive Italia of the 2012 edition of the International Film Festival of Rome. In March 2013 he has been elected President of 100 Autori, the main Italian Association of the authors of the audiovisual sector.