Raymond Edwards

RAYMOND ANTHONY EDWARDS was born in what used to be called Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and has worked in the industry since 1980, in Commercial Television and Stage Theatre. He’s a multi-faceted artist. Started painting and sculpting at an early age. Exhibited internationally as a contemporary artist. He was Theatre Director and founder of Gondo Arts Centre, Southern Africa and was actively involved in theatre film and television during the 80’s. But it was his original creation, “Vanished Civilization” — a theatre production, written, produced, directed, acted, and composer of the soundtrack — which demonstrated his multifaceted talents to an echelon of exceptional achievement; lastly performed before a private audience of international dignitaries at the 8th Conference for The Non-Aligned Movement, 1986. Edwards also, sang, choreographed the dance sequences for his musical dramas, with his original soundtracks later released on vinyl, through Gramma Records. Most of his prominent works have not received international acclaim, as Rhodesia-Zimbabwe was undergoing political changes. Recognized for his excellence, Edwards was offered to further his passion for filmmaking, through private sponsorship. He moved to the USA in 1988. He studied at the California Institute of the Arts, California under the mentorship of Jules Engel (the “godfather” of Experimental Animation) and Kris Malkiewicz (author of "Cinematography - a Guide for Filmmakers" and “Film Lighting”). He received his BFA degree in Film/Video, 1994. In his Summer Breaks, he worked at Hollywood’s Electric Filmworks and Stargate Digital (aka Stargate Films) on Camera Effects Operations. He also worked at Rijn & Reisman as a sculptor/Model Maker, for the Dr. Seuss Theme Attraction, Universal Studios. Edwards further explored the film process with a focus on cinematography and motion graphics. He received his MFA degree in Film/Video, 1996 at the Californian Institute of the Arts. Edwards produced and directed the film Shadow Rising, 1996, a 16 mm Animation-cum-Live Action film, which showed at the Academy of Animation, in North Hollywood. Shadow Rising recently received an award for best Short at the DV Awards in Spring 2005. He went on to work at Centropolis Effects1997-2000, as a CGI Animator/Technical Director; Centropolis being notorious for it’s Twentieth Century Fox blockbuster, Independence Day. Here he worked on Sony TriStar's Godzilla, Stuart Little and The Patriot. During this time, Edwards studied at the Joanne Baron/DW Brown Studios, in their Acting program, 2000-2002. He moved to London to work as a CGI artist (2003-2004) to work on the Pride, 2004 at the Jim Henson Creature Shop (renowned for their "The Muppet Show”). He founded his own film company, along with Maks Naporowski, Blinding Films, 2006 and they're now in development with their own film projects for which Edwards has written some of the screenplays. Edwards has directed/produced shorts; produced the cinematic short, “Dawn of Darkness", 2009; is Edwards is now, in development with three feature films that can showcase talent outside of the Hollywood mainstream and interested in European Co-Producers to help actualize these projects.