Perri Gorrara - Bio

When it comes to choosing a career, the offspring of artists often face two opposing choices; , follow in their parents' footsteps, or pursue an occupation that has little to do with hands-on creative expression. Before she was twenty-five, award-winning Production Designer and emerging Producer, Perri Gorrara, had done both.

Born and raised in London, England, Gorrara's mother was a renowned Sculptor and her Italian father, a Master Carpenter working in London's West End theatres. Gorrara grew up backstage at The Royal Opera House and Scala Theatre and in the gallery scene in London. She dreamed of working for the United Nations, in the Third World, and continued to pursue that avenue when she married a Canadian and relocated to Canada. To help pay for her studies at York University in Toronto, Gorrara drew on her artistic background and worked in Toronto's emerging production scene in the late 1970's - She was swiftly side-tracked by the demand for her services in the art department, as the industry started to expand in the 1980's.

Starting as an Assistant Designer, Gorrara quickly moved up the ranks to become an Art Director and, within a few short years, a Production Designer. A consummate researcher and passionate history buff with a highly-stylized sensibility, she came to specialize in Period Pieces and Science Fiction. Her Film and Television work has taken her around the world, with recent feature film credits that include: STEEL TOES; ETERNAL; SCREAMERS; TANGLED; AIRSPEED; CAPTIVE; FREE OF EDEN; SWEETWATER REDEMPTION; ONE TOUGH COP; MY VERY BEST FRIEND; MR. & MRS. LOVING; MARIETTE IN ECSTACY; LA FLORIDA; DEADBOLT; PSYCHIC; CLEARCUT; THE LAST WINTER and LANTERN HILL.

Television credits for Gorrara include the Lifetime Network shows JUST A WALK IN THE PARK, SCARED SILENT, AFTER AMY, THEIR LAST CHANCE and QUADROON BALL, plus WHAT MAKES A FAMILY for Columbia/Tri-Star and MADONNA: THE EARLY YEARS for Fox Television. She has won Gemini Awards for Design on CBC Television's I'LL NEVER GET TO HEAVEN and GLORY ENOUGH FOR ALL and a New York Film Award for her work on the series ROBOCOP. Gorrara was nominated for a Genie Award for SCREAMERS and has half a dozen Gemini nominations to her credit. Series that Gorrara has designed include:: LITTLE MEN; EMILY OF NEW MOON; MATRIX, ROBOCOP and ROAD TO AVONLEA.

Having relocated to Canada's West Coast with partner Louis De Ernsted (an awardwinning Director of Photography, who she met thirteen years ago, on a shoot in Florida), Gorrara continues her pursuit of challenging projects as a Production Designer, while also exploring a growing interest in developing and producing projects for the Entertainment Industry. Tri-lingual (English, French, Spanish), she is currently working on a Feature Film and Television Series, loosely based on her recent experiences as a transplanted Eastern urbanite, building a new life in a tiny rural fishing community..HBO and Vancouver-Based. Tag Entertainment are currently reviewing these projects. A Documentary on the Travails of Daily Life in Cuba is heading to the editing room in 2006.

"I have spent a career witnessing how shows are put together. Now that my kids have grown up, it is the perfect time for me to put all that I have learnt, from observation and ongoing studies in business management, to use. Conventional wisdom is that you start with what you know. Our 'adventure' in moving to British Columbia and settling into a totally different milieu, has been rather a culture shock. Interestingly, it has also touched a chord with many of our contemporaries, who are searching for a different kind of meaning and balance to their lives. It's the backdrop that we intend to use for a classic mystery and a series spin-off."

Gorrara, with De Ernsted, is busy expanding their joint venture - Bay Islands Film Company Inc. (www.bayislandsfilmco.com) A Full Service Film and Video Production House that specializes in liasing with other Production Companies to facilitate all aspects of the production of entertainment projects, shooting around the world, with special emphasis on Honduras, The Bay Islands, Cuba, the Bahamas, and now B.C.'s Gulf Islands.

Gorrara anticipates moving into the preproduction stage on the feature film THE BAY ISLAND CHRONICLES by Spring 2007. Gil Bellows, of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and ALLY McBEAL fame is slated to star in the film, which is designed to be shot on Denman Island in British Columbia, Canada.