Raúl daSilva
File:RauldaSilva.png
Height6'
AwardsGold Medal, New York International Film and TV Festival
1975 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Gold Venus Award, Virgin Island International Film Festival
1975 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Motion picture producer-writer-director Raúl daSilva (born June 12 1953) is best known as a TV commercial and business documentary filmmaker but his greatest accomplishment is the achievement of a very high level of expertise and aesthetic craft-work in the field of photoanimation. His work using the Oxberry Master Series in highly complex movements and shot sequence planning is unparalleled. He is considered one of the last great masters of photoanimation, since the technology has since moved to digital rendering and there is no program in existence that matches the physical, three dimensional movement capabilities of the Oxberry Animation Master Series stand.

Biography

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daSilva was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and was raised in the Lower East Side. He was educated at Adelphi University and later attended Hofstra University’s PhD program in clinical psychology. After discontinuing this program, he began to delve into graphic arts at Paramount's Creative Property Development Group. After a brief stint in the navy, he joined the Jamison Handy Organization in Michigan, where he worked under the renowned Max Fleischer. There, he developed skills in every aspect of the film craft, including cinematography editing, art direction, stage management, post production and audiovisual production.

Raúl left Michigan to join Cessna Aircraft, where he used his experience in the US Navy to market their line of aircraft. He then began a lengthy experience as an advertising and public relations agency film producer-director for a number of important firms, including Burson-Marsteller.

Raúl then began freelancing, and returned to work in entertainment films and as a creative consultant to organizations such as Time-Life Films, Xerox, and Warner Bros. His film work is critically acclaimed on an international level. He is the author of seven books (one on aviation and six on filmmaking) and has lectured on screenwriting and directing at several universities. He taught screenwriting at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY. Along the way he met the legendary director Frank Capra who became his mentor for some years and he befriended and was a co-worker of Rod Serling. His friend Sterling Hayden motivated Raúl to create his magnum opus, a visualization of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, with Sir Michael Redgrave. In this effort he brought back much interest in the United States for this 1798 epic poem that speaks to the sanctity of all life on Earth.

Filmography

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As Director

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As Miscellaneous Crew

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  • Fear No Evil (1981) (creative consultant)
    ... aka Lucifer (Philippines: English title)
    ... aka Mark of the Beast
  • Standing Tall (1978) (TV) (script consultant)

As Writer

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As Producer

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Camera and Electrical Department

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As Production Manager

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As Editor

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Category:1933 births Category:American documentary filmmakers Category:Documentary film directors Category:Living people Category:People from Brooklyn