RAFAEL MAMAN is a French writer, director and producer freshly graduated from the Film & Television Production programme at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Driven since childhood by a passion for film telling dark stories of characters bigger than reality, Rafael has written and directed over 10 short films and produced a variety of films at USC over the last two years including the LA Shorts award-winning Surrender and the student feature The Optimist, exploring themes of dreams, self-belief and grief through thriller and drama genres. 

Prior to his filmmaking career, Rafael graduated from a Bsc in Management at the City University of London and a Masters in Global Management from the London School of Economics, with a specialization in Entrepreneurship fostered during his exchange at Chicago Booth’s MBA programme. Over the course of his studies, he developed a keen interest in managing teams from diversified background, and developed communication, financial management and creative problem-solving skills, that he applied as a consultant for the Zoological Society of London’s and SEO London and as financial analyst for the media focused M&A boutique consultant Stella EOC (now GCA Altium).

This first experience in the media industry convinced Rafael to pursue a content-focused career in this space, which led him to become a production coordinator for Alef One in Paris, where he spent a year overseeing the development of TV series and documentaries such as MH 370 and CARLOS GOHSN: THE LAST FLIGHT in partnership with the Middle Eastern company MBC. He later became director Gilles Bannier’s assistant for a year, shadowing him during the preproduction of the show The Beautiful Game. This first insight into the creative side of the business turned out to be a one way ticket towards his directing passion.