Biography
Italian born and raised Production Designer Ermanno DiFebo-Orsini was drawn at a young age to conceptual design and performing art. Sketchbooks and early projects reflected his interest in industrial design and fantasy environments with a surreal mindset. His conceptual art has largely been inspired by Dadaism and Marcel Duchamp's "Ready Made" approach to traditional form, enriched with video and computer art elements.
Modern art and love of nature, archaeology, architecture and mechanisms in general, came together to help form his base of interest. Such interests were fed by his education: after a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Rome, he attended classes at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara and the Art Institute of San Francisco.
While in school, he was part of a think tank for IBM, providing advanced research in consumer products packaging design, and later, as a designer for Amdahl Corporation's telecommunication division. His freelance career began by providing concept development and production design to theaters, art galleries and museums in Europe and the U.S. His early clients included the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Ballet, Life on the Water Theatre and Archangels Video and Films Productions.
In 1998, he relocated to Los Angeles and brought his talents to the film industry. He created concepts for scenic development, illustrations and graphics for local and international clients, as well as set decoration, prop design, custom fine art, miniature and interior design.
Ermanno became a sought after production designer for TV commercials and music videos working with directors like: the Hughes Brothers, Roman Coppola, Jim Sonzero, Richard Davies, Steve Ramser, and Sean Thonson. His first feature film, Pulse, came in 2003, followed by Joe Otting's Already Dead, Frank Cappello's He Was a Quiet Man, John Gulager's Feast Trilogy, Joel Soisson's Invasion and Afterlife, Marcus Dunstan's The Collector, followed by Circle of Eight, Hellraiser: Revelations, Children of the Corn: Genesis, White Frog, Piranha 3DD, A Haunted House 2, Fifty Shades of Black, Within, Naked and Why We're Killing Gunther. His production design has included diverse locations, from California, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Louisiana, Texas, North and South Carolina, to Canada, Mexico, Italy, France, Germany and Romania.
Ermanno continues to work on feature films, TV, music videos, commercials and independent projects as an artist and production designer. He is in constant pursuit to expand his many skills and design methodologies. As one of the very eclectic designers in the L.A. area, he continues to strive to express original spaces and proportions not yet explored.
