Ray Santilli (born 30 September 1958) is a British musician, record and film producer. He is best known for his exploitation in 1995 of the controversial "alien autopsy" footage and subject of the Warner Bros. film Alien Autopsy.[1][2][3]
Ray Santilli | |
|---|---|
| Raymond Santilli | |
| Born | 30 September 1958 Marylebone, London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Television producer, Musician, Film producer, and Record producer |
| Years active | 1982 – Present |
| Known for | Founder of Orbital Media |
| Website | www |
Early life
editBorn in London, Santilli was the son of Italian immigrants. He spent his childhood in Islington London.
Career
editRay Santilli started his professional career in 1974 as a session musician, record producer and music distributor.[4] In 1982, Santilli founded AMP Entertainment, where he produced and promoted acts of the day.[4][5]
In 1981, Santilli produced The Tweets album which featured "The Birdy Song".[citation needed] In 1985 he founded Music Broadcasting Services Ltd, an independent record label which handled the exclusive rights to the Walt Disney Audio Soundtrack Catalogue in the United Kingdom.[6][7]
In 1987 Santilli produced the charity record "The Wishing Well" featuring Boy George, Dollar and Grace Kennedy for Great Ormond Street Hospital. In 1991, Santilli founded the Merlin Group. The company specialised in the re-recording of hits with original artists. Merlin also produced and marketed a number of television specials.[8] In 1994 Santilli formed Orbital Media Ltd where he produced a succession of TV documentaries and films for television.[4]
Santilli is best known for his claim to have discovered footage which depicted the autopsy of an alien creature.[9][10] The Alien autopsy footage, supposedly of extraterrestrial corpses from the so-called Roswell UFO incident, was broadcast to a worldwide audience on 28 August 1995.[11][12][13] The film and those who took part in the making of it have all admitted it is a hoax, although Santilli still maintains it is real despite him changing his story numerous times. He also claims Kodak have analysed the film and confirmed its date, but when asked to resubmit the film with the images, Santilli has always refused.[14]
In 2006 the story of Ray Santilli and the autopsy was the subject of a Warner Bros. film Alien Autopsy featuring the British double act Ant & Dec.[15][16] Dec plays Ray Santilli with Ant as Santilli's real life business partner and friend Gary Shoefield.[17][18][19] That same year, Ray Santilli claimed that sections of the autopsy footage had been 'restored'.[20][21]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The Beatles, The Long and Winding Road: The Life and Times | Co-producer | TV movie documentary |
| 1994 | The Life of Bruce Lee | Executive producer | TV movie documentary |
| 1994 | Batmad | Producer, writer | TV movie |
| 1995 | Alan Shearer: Sheer Magic | Producer | Video documentary |
| 1995 | Alien Autopsy: (Fact or Fiction?) | Producer-uncredited, Actor | TV movie documentary |
| 1995 | The Doctors, 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond | Executive producer | Video documentary |
| 1999 | Bruce Lee: The Legend Lives On | Producer, writer, Director | TV movie |
| 2001 | Elvis: The Missing Years | Producer, director | Video documentary |
| 2001 | The Beatles... Off the Record: Newsreel Footage 1964-1966 | Producer, writer, Director | TV movie documentary) |
| 2002 | John Lennon: The Messenger | Producer, writer, Director | TV movie documentary) |
| 2002 | Beckham Mania: The Kick Off | Producer | TV movie documentary) |
| 2002 | George Harrison: The Quiet One | Producer, writer, Director | Video documentary) |
| 2002 | Irish Tenor Trio: A Classic Irish Christmas | Producer, writer | TV movie |
| 2003 | Alien Signs: Undeniable Evidence - The Message | Executive producer | TV movie documentary |
| 2003 | Elvis: The Journey | Co-producer, Writer, Director | TV movie |
| 2004 | Bob Marley: Spiritual Journey | Co-executive producer, Writer, Director, Editor | TV movie |
| 2004 | Benny Goodman: Legends in Concert - The Last Performance | Producer, director | TV movie |
| 2004 | Jimi Hendrix: The Last 24 Hours | Executive producer, Writer | TV movie documentary |
| 2005 | Elvis: The Last 24 Hours | Producer | TV movie |
| 2005 | Nat King Cole: For Sentimental Reasons | Co-producer, Writer, Director | TV movie |
| 2005 | Viva Joe Strummer: The Clash and Beyond | Producer, writer | Video documentary |
| 2005 | Marc Bolan: Ride On | Producer | Video documentary |
| 2005 | Tom Jones: Up Close and Personal | Co-producer, Writer, Director | TV movie |
| 2005 | Johnny Cash: The Man in Black - His Early Years | Executive producer | Video documentary |
| 2005 | Frank Sinatra: A Reflection | Producer, writer | TV movie documentary |
| 2006 | Clash: The Joe Strummer Story | Producer | TV movie |
| 2006 | Dean Martin: A Reflection | Producer, writer | TV movie documentary |
| 2006 | Alien Autopsy | Executive producer, Cameo as himself | Film |
| 2006 | Thin Lizzy: Outlawed - The Real Phil Lynott | Executive producer | TV movie documentary |
| 2006 | Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash: The Road Show | Executive producer | Video documentary |
| 2007 | Bob Marley Freedom Road | Executive producer | Documentary |
| 2008 | Blue Rendezvous | Producer, writer, Director | TV movie |
| 2012 | One Direction: All for One | Executive producer | Documentary |
| 2013 | Hendrix on Hendrix | Executive producer | Documentary |
References
edit- ^ Nathalie, Lagerfeld (24 June 2016). "How an Alien Autopsy Hoax Captured the World's Imagination for a Decade". Time. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ Dan, Gunderman (25 August 2016). "As we remember the 'Great Moon Hoax,' the Daily News examines the most notorious hoaxes in history". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ Philip, Mantle (23 December 2009). "Alien Autopsy End Game". openminds.tv. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ a b c "Ray Santilli Biography". imdb.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "Telefishion and the ATV broadcasts that made history for all the wrong reasons". scmp.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "MBS Records". discogs.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "Roswell and the world's other great conspiracy theories". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "Alien Autopsy Part I: The Shroud of Ufology". openminds.tv. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "Zapped review – a comedy, although you'd be hard-pressed to find evidence of it". theguardian.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "History's Greatest Hoaxes". whatsontv.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ Jason, McClellan (2 February 2015). "'Legitimate' film allegedly shows Roswell alien at Area 51". openminds.tv. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "Santill's Controversial Autopsy Movie". v-j-enterprises.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "Garden fairies to Adolf Hitler's diaries: 5 biggest hoaxes of all time after 'Gollum' fake". mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ Garland, Piers (director) (2020). Alien Autopsy: The Search for Answers (Television production). United Kingdom: EM Productions UK.
- ^ Ken Drinkwater, Neil Dagnall. "Here's How Scientists Explain Peoples' Obsession With UFOs and 'alien Abductions'". sciencealert.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "The Definitive Ranking of Netflix's Alien Documentaries". inverse.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "Looking back at Ant & Dec's Alien Autopsy". denofgeek.com. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ Georgia, Aspinall (13 December 2016). "Ant & Dec: Everything you need to know about the comedy duo". lifestyle.one. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "FILM, TV AND ANIMATION". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ Mark, Olsen (10 November 2006). "A fresh stab at 'Alien Autopsy'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ Nick, Redfern (13 March 2013). "The "Other" Alien Autopsy Films". mysteriousuniverse.org. Retrieved 19 April 2017.