We recently connected with Gabriele Di Sazio and have shared our conversation below.
Gabriele, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
In recent years, I’ve had the privilege of working as a Dubbing Director, directing English dubs for over 40 films and series, including “All of Us Are Dead,” which became one of the most successful shows in Netflix history.
This project is particularly close to my heart because we all enjoyed the material so much. The voice actors involved were deeply passionate about the story and felt anxious about the destiny of the characters they were playing. I myself became completely invested in the project; before working on it, I watched the whole season in just one day and was captivated by its gripping storyline and character dynamics.
The tremendous success of “All of Us Are Dead” made me extremely proud of our collective effort, knowing that we contributed to its triumph and that millions of viewers had enjoyed our work.
Another project that holds great significance for me is “A Cuore Chiuso,” a short film shot in Sicily a few years ago. Returning to shoot in my homeland after years of experience in London and Los Angeles, I was able to bring together a team of talented individuals from both California and Palermo, Sicily, to collaborate on this beautiful project. We worked in a bilingual environment with a great atmosphere, sharing lunch over lasagna and embracing the unhurried pace of Sicilian life.
I had the pleasure of collaborating with an incredible cast of Sicilian actors, including Simona Sciarabba, who made her debut in this film, as well as seasoned professionals like Simona Malato and Serena Barone, both of whom are winners of the Pasinetti Prize for “Best Cast” for their work in “Macaluso’s Sisters” at the Venice Film Festival. Additionally, Luigi Rausa and the legendary Sicilian theatre actor Melino Imparato made invaluable contributions to the film.
“A Cuore Chiuso” went on to win the Best Narrative and Best Actress awards at the Chicago Indie Awards, a testament to the quality that arises from such wonderful collaborations.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
At nineteen, I left Italy and moved to London to study filmmaking while working on music videos and ads for local brands. Five years later, I had the opportunity to become a Directing Fellow at the American Film Institute, and so I packed my bags and moved to Los Angeles, where I’ve been residing for nearly six years now.
Throughout my career, I have worked on numerous short films that have been showcased in film festivals worldwide and have won several awards. In 2020, during the pandemic, when there was a scarcity of work in the industry, Horseless Cowboy LLC, a dubbing company, approached me. This became a wonderful opportunity as it allowed me to collaborate with hundreds of exceptional voice actors and be involved in films and shows from Netflix, Disney, and Amazon Studios.
As a Dubbing Director, my main responsibility is to guide and direct the voice actors to maintain the intentions and emotional intensity of the original actor. I also ensure that the rhythm and speed of the lines match the original and make necessary changes to the adaptation to ensure it works well in English. Casting is, obviously, a fundamental part of the process, and choosing the wrong person will affect the quality of the dubs.
In terms of those elements that set me apart from others, to be honest, I am not entirely sure of that answer, as I think that whoever is watching my work is a better judge than me. However, there are a couple of elements that are very important to me, not only as a Dubbing Director but also as a Film Director. I always try to be as sincere as possible in my work, and I think that’s something people perceive when watching my movies. What I’m looking to find through my projects are fragments of authenticity, which – I think – is all we get even in our everyday lives: just fragments of authenticity.
I also care tremendously about what I do, regardless of the nature of that particular job. I have a deep-seated passion for my craft and an unwavering dedication to doing my best. At times, this passion can be overwhelming, causing me to become anxious and unable to watch my own films. Whenever I do, my mind gets drawn to every detail – no matter how small – that I wish I could have improved.
However, despite the anxiety, I have come to accept it as a small price to pay. It motivates me to always strive for excellence and put my all into every task and goal that I set out to accomplish. Dubbing Directing is no exception. It was a new challenge for me, despite my prior experience in directing. The technical side of the job was foreign to me, so when I first started, I would watch the movies or shows I was working on at least twice to be sure that my understanding of the characters and the storyline was complete. This allowed me to make informed decisions quickly when directing the actors, while inevitably having to go a little slower for the most technical side of the work.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
In my experience, non-creatives tend not to understand how difficult it is to have your career match with the most personal part of yourself. It is beautiful to do so, and I wouldn’t want to do anything else, but it can be pretty difficult at times. Rejections tend to feel much heavier, because if the rest of society looks for a job and fails to get one, there are a number of reasons behind that. It could be because there isn’t enough work in general, maybe they need more experience in a certain field, or perhaps they need another degree, need to learn more, or improve certain skills and gain new ones. But when, for example, you present a script or pitch an idea – something you profoundly love and put months or years of your time into – and you stayed up until 4 am working on it after your day job, and you cried over it because it represents so much of your experience, maybe even your childhood or your traumas. If you present that script to ten people, and all of them say “no, thank you” (if you’re lucky enough to get a reply), then it feels like it wasn’t the script that got rejected. It was you and all you were able to give.
That is obviously not entirely true. Creatives can improve their skills, evolve, and improve their art. But it’s undeniable that your journey through the tough moments of your career and your life feels a bit more personal and difficult to navigate.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I recently read “The Moral Landscape” by Sam Harris. It’s the first and currently the only book I’ve read by him, even though I was familiar with his seminars and Ted Talks. It was an inspiring read because of the way he talks about the concept of morality.
Sam Harris, in fact, disagrees with the common idea that science should not deal with evaluating whether something is moral or not. In this case, he uses the term “science” quite broadly to refer to a scientific method based on logic and evidence.
I appreciated the book so much because, in the course of my life, I’ve been feeling increasingly opposed to any kind of dogma, both religious and cultural. An approach to morality that is scientific, meaning that it’s based on the best evidence available, seems to me like the right journey for us in order to find a type of morality that is as universal as it can be. It would be a morality that evolves and, hopefully, improves as we evolve and improve our understanding of ourselves as human beings and the environment we live in. And, of course, it would struggle with some answers, but at least that struggle would come from a genuine desire to find the right answer, instead of settling for a belief whose source and reasons are questionable and have long been forgotten.
This is a subject that fascinates me, so if any of the readers decide to read the book and would like to discuss it, please feel free to reach out! 
Contact Info:
- Website: gabrieledisazio.com
- Instagram: @gabrieledisazio
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriele-di-sazio/
Image Credits
Erica Arroyo