Sylvain Despretz

In the tradition of budding filmmakers, Sylvain Despretz as a boy in Paris, France, knew that he would do two things: 1. extend his life experience to the United States and 2. Work in the motion picture industry. His road was interesting. He became a High School exchange student in Rochester, New York, and during a summer break, went to work on a feature film being shot in the region as a concept artist. He studied Anthropology as a university major, but remained focused on his desire to return to his chosen field: Filmmaking. He had to elevate his profile in the graphics field at reasonably available jobs. He worked as an artist, then an art director for a top Madison Avenue agency then moved on to illustrating Graphic Novels in California under the mentoring of the internationally famed artist Moebius. There, Sylvain refined his skills at rendering sequential art with the use of fresh, imaginative designs that although aesthetic and stylish were not self indulgent. His objective awareness of audience remained primary among his goals. With the impressive portfolio that he developed during this period he then began his inroads into film craft in Concept, Storyboard and Design. The quality level of his craft launched him to the very top in less than a decade. Typically, his work has been international in nature from Los Angeles to Tokyo, to East Europe and beyond. Most of the features on which he has worked just prior to this writing have been budgeted at well above the $100+ million range. Thus, the directors with which he has worked have been often among the "A-Listers", the top five to ten in the industry - a rare and highly significant experience, sort of an elite grooming with the masters. During these years as a concept artist for high profile directors Sylvain continued his studies in music, screenwriting, cinematography and production craft. This of course led to his final objective, directing feature films.