Carlos Durbán

In spite of a pair of frustrated attempts of survival as student in the academic field (Ciencias de la Imagen Visual y Auditiva- roughly translated, Sciences of the Visual and Aural Image; CEU San Pablo, Moncada; 1993-1995; and Photography Studies at the same School), related to the moving and the static image (the learning system in Spain is mostly outdated and much more theoretical than practical, awfully conceived to confront the real life), Carlos Durbán found a way to initially explore his real love for cinema (that passion was clearly revealed and born in a spontaneous way during his last 4/5 years previous to his entrance to the high school), through several contributions from a self-taught point of view to different kinds of media (basically press and radio) from 1988 till 2003, a perfect excuse to get access to the movies world, interviewing several filmmakers and performers and visiting some sets, and also generating another type of info and reviews. Among those media should be highlighted "2000 Maniacos" (2000 Maniacs), one of the most old (1989-present) and important Spanish zines devoted to horror, fantasy and porn; "Seqüencies de Cinema" (Sequences) (1995-1996) the first magazine about films written in Catalan, a totally independent publication;"Rosebud, Banda Sonora" (Rosebud, Film Soundtracks) (1996-2002); "Klartelera" and "Cinema Fil Overt" radio programs including, respectively, reviews from the movies released every week in our town, and dealing with film scores, both broadcasted by the libertarian Radio Klara station (1982-present). Besides that he parcipated in the organization of the film festival, Mostra de Valencia - Cinema del Mediterrani, programming some sections devoted to the children and to the fantasy and horror fans, in 1992 and 1997, having to become resigned to the interferences of some of their lazy and conservative managers, directly linked to the right wing local government. In 1996 he was co-founder and president of the Tafanera Juvenile Cultural Association, devoted to promoting cinema basically through the viewing and post-discussion of movies, and funding some shorts in which he worked as producer, boom-operator, sound designer, music supervisor, sound editing supervisor, assistant director and publicist. His fascination for the world of sound was born from his attendance in April of 1996 to the seminar "The Process of Creation and Production of Film Soundtracks" given by the prestigious film and TV composer José Nieto, who was the author of a book dealing with the key role of sound (not just music) in relation to the image, "Música para la Imagen: La Influencia Secreta" (Music for the image: The Secret Influence") In 2008 he produced along with the film animation designer Daniel Díez, "Dissecting Fantasies - The Secrets of Guillermo del Toro", a digital exhibition dealing with the creative process at the movies of the renowned Mexican filmmaker, with his approval, and touring through Guadalajara (the native city of the "Pan's labyrinth" director), Mexico D.F. and Thessalonica, (where it was introduced by Eugenio Caballero - the Oscar winner PL's production designer , Theo Angelopoulos and George Corraface). At this moment, he's passionately involved as an associate producer to "Alice", a film-noir written, produced and directed by the very talented and experienced FX wizard, Mark Shostrom.