Gianluca Balla

Gianluca was born in 16 July 1985 in Tivoli, a little town near Rome. Since childhood he showed a natural inclination to creativity and storytelling. Gianluca spent most of his youth writing, drawing comics, painting and creating stories in role playing games as a continuous exercise for his creativity. Investigating all the aspects of human behaviour and subsequently telling interesting stories about them is almost an obsession for the young director. After a BA and a MA combined in Architecture and Civil Engineering at 'Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata' and a theatre experience as assistant director and actor, Gianluca moved in York in 2012 to start a PhD programme at the Department of Theatre, Film and Television at the University of York. Here Gianluca became passionate about digital technologies applied in films and, subsequently, about their connection with the directorial method. As a PhD student he is developing a research on the influence of visual effects on director's methodology. In November 2013 he founded 'Whip Ma Whop Ma Film', a production company based in York, and started to produce and direct silent short films. Gianluca is particularly interested in the relationship between director's methodologies and innovative technologies but he never hides to adore early cinema films and the silent era above everything. He also self trained himself as a digital painter, studying compositing and matte painting, anatomy and perspective. To him, directing a film is like painting on a canvas.