Loris received a Philosophy and Letters degree at the Roman University, Roma Tre, after completing his thesis on the work of Orson Welles and the aesthetics of editing. He then studied experimental filmmaking in Los Angeles at UCLA. Loris' work at UCLA earned him the Henry Luce Fellowship, the Sloan Fellowship in Film Directing and Screenwriting, and the Zaki Gordon Fellowship from which he received an award for excellence in screenwriting.