 |
Elio Zarmati |
|
| Biography |
Elio Zarmati is a former magazine publisher and editor, a reporter, a screenwriter and television director, and a successful entrepreneur, most notably in the field of subtitling and dubbing motion pictures for DVD and home video distribution. He is based in Los Angeles and Ojai, California. He is currently putting the finished touches on Goodbye, Tahrir Square, a memoir of childhood as a European Jew in Egypt, then as now a country torn apart by war and revolution. In 2010, Elio wrote the screenplay for Dreaming Heaven, a feature-length documentary about a spiritual journey through the temples and pyramids of Teotihuacán, Mexico, which in the Toltec tradition was the place where “one awakens to God.” Editor-Publisher
Entrepreneur Prior to his work as magazine editor, publisher and bookseller, Elio Zarmati was an international dubbing and subtitling consultant, advising film studios and producers on the distribution of programs in foreign languages in movie theaters, home video, DVD, and streaming video.
Until July 2000, Mr. Zarmati was President and CEO of Gelula & Co., Inc., a small film subtitling company he purchased in 1992 and turned into the world's largest provider of subtitles and dubbing services for motion pictures, DVD and home video releases, with titles translated into some 34 languages.
During his tenure at Gelula & Co., Elio Zarmati was instrumental in developing industry-wide processes, standards and software for the release of subtitled and dubbed films in the theatrical and home video fields, particularly in the emerging DVD format. Recommendations: “Elio Zarmati is one of the smartest guys I know. I first met him a dozen years ago when I went to work for him at Gelula & Company (now SDI Media), which was then a film documents company with 23 employees. Within 18 months he grew the company to over 200- strong, due to his prescience concerning the then-fledgling DVD format and the impact it was to have on the entertainment sector. Under Elio’s guidance, Gelula was the first company to create multi-language subtitling for the first DVDs released to the marketplace, and maintained and grew the company as the industry leader in providing such services. Back then, in the mid-1990’s, it was the Wild West in terms of devising technologies to accommodate work flow and deliver the goods. Elio was the man with the game plan, the one who conceptualized all the software tools and the leader who guided the Gelula ship through these then-uncharted waters. Elio possesses vision, drive and the uncanny ability to parse challenges and solve puzzles. And, I couldn’t have worked for a nicer guy. After he sold Gelula, when he asked me to join him in another venture, I jumped at the chance. And I’d gladly work for him again at the drop of a hat.” Harlan Collins, Creative Director “I joined Gelula & Co. at the onset of the DVD format as a Translation Coordinator for the subtitled language streams. Elio was a great leader. Although I didn't report to him directly, his door was always open and he was always making himself available for his staff. I enjoyed very much being part of the Gelula & Co. team and felt that my contributions were valued and appreciated, and therefore it was always a pleasure to go the extra mile.” Elodie Brulere-Powers, Translation Coordinator
Journalist, Writer, Director, Producer While still a student at the University of Paris (Sorbonne), Elio Zarmati joined the staff of the NBC News Paris Bureau as a reporter and covered the student uprisings of the Sixties in Western Europe. Upon graduation, Elio Zarmati went on to enjoy a successful career as a director, writer, producer and editor of motion pictures and television films in Europe and the United States. His credits include producing the award-winning feature film Winter, directing a Duke Ellington Special for French television, and creating documentaries and public affairs programs such as JTN’s Washington Journal. He served as editor of the NBC miniseries A Woman Called Moses and as supervising editor of the CBS feature, Badge of the Assassin.
He was also a contributing writer on TV Book: The Ultimate Television Book for Workman Publishing and reported for several film trade magazines such as Millimeter magazine. Elio Zarmati is a member (emeritus) of the Writers Guild of America, West, the Motion Pictures Editors Guild, and the Ojai Chamber of Commerce. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Levantine Cultural Center, a non-profit peace organization he co-founded, and has been active with the International Rescue Committee and other humanitarian organizations. He won the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award in 2007.
Education Born in Egypt and raised in France and England, Elio Zarmati received a bilingual education in English and French. He is a graduate of the French Lycée in London, England, and of the University of Paris-Sorbonne, majoring in History, and French and English Literature. He studied journalism at the Paris-based Centre de Formation des Journalistes.
Links www.dmzpublishing.com Contact Elio Zarmati
|
He is also drafting his first novel, a saga that spans three generations on the political and art scenes in America, Europe and on the front lines of the wars of the 21st-century.
