Action man Vin Diesel spent last month (Jun06) running a film school in the Dominican Republic, where he personally tutored 19 wannabe local directors. The Fast And The Furious star taught his students skills such as scriptwriting, editing and camera operation.He was accompanied on the four-week course by his stepfather Irving Vincent, who teaches film production to underprivileged students in New York City.Diesel tells American magazine People, "This is giving these kids a passion to do something great and the tools to use to do it." Diesel, real name Mark Vincent, began his movie career as a film maker, as opposed to an actor, shooting short film Multi-Facial which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995.In 1997 he released Strays, his first feature length picture, which he wrote, directed, and produced.Diesel then went in front of the camera appearing in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. But it was for his role as Richard B.Riddick in Pitch Black that was his breakthrough role.

Vin went on to consolidate his hard man role appearing in Fast and the Furious, xXx, and The Chronicle of Riddick.

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