CINEFILER

Dan Perri

Born
August 11, 1945
Daniel Richard Perri (born August 11, 1945) is an American film and television title sequence designer. He has worked in film title design since the 1970s, and has been responsible for the main titles of several notable films including The Exorcist (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Star Wars (1977), Raging Bull (1980), Airplane! (1980),[1] and Suspiria (2018). Perri made contact with the film graphics designer Saul Bass and began to pester him for work at his studio on Sunset Boulevard. Eventually, Perri found work with Bass through his illustrator, Art Goodman. During his service in the US Navy, Perri served on the USS Repose and designed an on-board newspaper, entitled The Repose Reprise. After serving in the Navy, Perri went to work with Cinefx alongside Phill Norman, Wayne Fitzgerald Don Record, and a former school friend, Steve Smith. After a year, both Perri and Smith quit and went on to form their independent design studio, Perri & Smith. The pair worked together from 1969 to 1973, mostly on small, low-budget television features, but their credits also included films such as Electra Glide in Blue and several of Gene Corman's blaxploitation films. The designers were often exploited and clients sometimes failed to pay, and eventually, the business folded. Perri's big break came in 1973 when he was commissioned by Billy Friedkin to produce the main titles for The Exorcist, his first solo project. With a blockbuster film in his portfolio, Perri was now able to attract more work and soon found himself working on high-profile titles. For Nashville (1975), Robert Altman commissioned a main title sequence and a logo to be used in marketing. Perri produced an unusual, kitschy sequence inspired by low-budget K-Tel Records television commercials, complete with a loud, brash voiceover by Johnny Grant. In 1976, Martin Scorsese brought Perri in to design the titles for Taxi Driver. Perri took second unit footage and color-treated the film through a process of film copying and slit-scan, resulting in a highly stylized graphic sequence that evoked the "underbelly" of New York City through lurid colors, glowing neon signs distorted nocturnal images and deep black levels, accompanied by Bernard Herrmann's jazz soundtrack. Possibly Perri's best-known title sequence project came about in 1976 when his friend James Nelson was working on post-production for a new space fantasy film, Star Wars. Nelson recommended Perri to director George Lucas, who invited Perri to Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm's post-production operation at Van Nuys, California. Lucas briefed Perri to take inspiration from old 1930s cinema serials such as Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers that had inspired Lucas to write much of his Star Wars story. After struggling to come up with a concept that Lucas liked, Perri eventually developed a concept for presenting a textual introduction based on the opening credits of the 1939 Cecil B. DeMille film, Union Pacific, in which the credits are shown distorted by a sharp perspective and rolling along a railroad track towards a distant vanishing point. Lucas approved of the idea and Perri produced sketches and prototype mechanical artwork, supported by storyboard artwork drawn by the production artist Alex Tavoularis. This gave birth to the now-familiar opening crawl sequence that appears in the Star Wars films.
Known For
Dead for a Dollar
(2022)
Title Designer
Star Wars
(1977)
Title Designer
Taxi Driver
(1976)
Title Designer
The Exorcist
(1973)
Title Designer
Platoon
(1986)
Title Designer
Gangs of New York
(2002)
Title Designer
Airplane!
(1980)
Title Designer
There Will Be Blood
(2007)
Title Designer
Congo
(1995)
Title Designer
A Nightmare on Elm Street
(1984)
Title Designer
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
(1993)
Title Designer
She's All That
(1999)
Main Title Designer
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
(1988)
Title Designer
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
(1993)
Title Designer
Species
(1995)
Title Designer
The Warriors
(1979)
Title Designer
Full Filmography
Art
The Out-of-Towners
(1970)
Title Designer
Rio Lobo
(1970)
Title Designer
The Grissom Gang
(1971)
Title Designer
Plaza Suite
(1971)
Title Designer
Fritz the Cat
(1972)
Title Designer
Cool Breeze
(1972)
Title Designer
The Concert for Bangladesh
(1972)
Title Designer
FTA
(1972)
Title Designer
Hit Man
(1972)
Title Designer
Time to Run
(1973)
Title Designer
Heavy Traffic
(1973)
Title Designer
Electra Glide in Blue
(1973)
Title Designer
I Escaped from Devil's Island
(1973)
Title Designer
The Exorcist
(1973)
Title Designer
California Split
(1974)
Title Designer
Flesh Gordon
(1974)
Title Designer
The Swinging Cheerleaders
(1974)
Title Designer
Freebie and the Bean
(1974)
Title Designer
Lepke
(1975)
Title Designer
The Day of the Locust
(1975)
Title Designer
The Hiding Place
(1975)
Title Designer
Las Vegas Lady
(1975)
Title Designer
Nashville
(1975)
Title Designer
Once Is Not Enough
(1975)
Title Designer
Russian Roulette
(1975)
Title Designer
Mr. Sycamore
(1975)
Title Designer
Lucky Lady
(1975)
Title Designer
King Arthur, the Young Warlord
(1975)
Title Designer
Love Among the Ruins
(1975)
Title Designer
The Four Deuces
(1976)
Title Designer
The Legend of Bigfoot
(1976)
Title Designer
Taxi Driver
(1976)
Title Designer
Griffin and Phoenix
(1976)
Title Designer
All the President's Men
(1976)
Title Designer
The River Niger
(1976)
Title Designer
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
(1976)
Title Designer
Paco
(1976)
Title Designer
Marathon Man
(1976)
Title Designer
Welcome to L.A.
(1976)
Title Designer
The Late Show
(1977)
Title Designer
3 Women
(1977)
Title Designer
The White Buffalo
(1977)
Title Designer
Exorcist II: The Heretic
(1977)
Title Designer
New York, New York
(1977)
Title Designer
Sorcerer
(1977)
Title Designer
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
(1977)
Title Designer
Capricorn One
(1977)
Title Designer
Star Wars
(1977)
Title Designer
The Betsy
(1978)
Title Designer
Blue Collar
(1978)
Title Designer
Coming Home
(1978)
Title Designer
House Calls
(1978)
Title Designer
F.I.S.T.
(1978)
Title Designer
FM
(1978)
Title Designer
I Wanna Hold Your Hand
(1978)
Title Designer
The Last Waltz
(1978)
Title Designer
Girlfriends
(1978)
Title Designer and Main Title Designer
Days of Heaven
(1978)
Title Designer
Stony Island
(1978)
Title Designer
The Double McGuffin
(1979)
Title Designer
The Warriors
(1979)
Title Designer
Norma Rae
(1979)
Title Designer
Dreamer
(1979)
Title Designer
Hanover Street
(1979)
Title Designer
Players
(1979)
Title Designer
Bloodline
(1979)
Title Designer
Americathon
(1979)
Title Designer
Promises in the Dark
(1979)
Title Designer
An American Christmas Carol
(1979)
Title Designer
Going in Style
(1979)
Title Designer
American Gigolo
(1980)
Title Designer
The Long Riders
(1980)
Title Designer
The Stunt Man
(1980)
Title Designer
Airplane!
(1980)
Title Designer
My Bodyguard
(1980)
Title Designer
Caddyshack
(1980)
Title Designer
Why Would I Lie?
(1980)
Title Designer
Blood Beach
(1980)
Title Designer
Times Square
(1980)
Title Designer
The Idolmaker
(1980)
Title Designer
Raging Bull
(1980)
Title Designer
First Family
(1980)
Title Designer
Cutter's Way
(1981)
Title Designer
The Hand
(1981)
Title Designer
The Fan
(1981)
Title Designer
Honky Tonk Freeway
(1981)
Title Designer
Threshold
(1981)
Title Designer
If You Could See What I Hear
(1982)
Title Designer
White Dog
(1982)
Title Designer
An Officer and a Gentleman
(1982)
Title Designer
The King of Comedy
(1982)
Title Designer
Curtains
(1983)
Title Designer
Spring Break
(1983)
Title Designer
Star 80
(1983)
Title Designer
Streamers
(1983)
Title Designer
A Night in Heaven
(1983)
Title Designer
Against All Odds
(1984)
Title Designer
Beat Street
(1984)
Title Designer
Blood Simple
(1984)
Title Designer
The Goodbye People
(1984)
Title Designer
A Nightmare on Elm Street
(1984)
Title Designer
Circus
(1984)
Title Designer
Grace Quigley
(1985)
Title Designer
The Last Dragon
(1985)
Title Designer
Key Exchange
(1985)
Title Designer
Compromising Positions
(1985)
Title Designer
Beer
(1985)
Title Designer
After Hours
(1985)
Title Designer
White Nights
(1985)
Title Designer
Dream Lover
(1986)
Title Designer
Quicksilver
(1986)
Title Designer
Nine 1/2 Weeks
(1986)
Title Designer
Wise Guys
(1986)
Title Designer
Where the River Runs Black
(1986)
Title Designer
Tough Guys
(1986)
Title Designer
The Color of Money
(1986)
Title Designer
Deadly Friend
(1986)
Title Designer
Quiet Cool
(1986)
Title Designer
Willy/Milly
(1986)
Title Designer
Streets of Gold
(1986)
Title Designer
Platoon
(1986)
Title Designer
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
(1987)
Title Designer
Raising Arizona
(1987)
Title Designer
The Allnighter
(1987)
Title Designer
In the Mood
(1987)
Title Designer
La Bamba
(1987)
Title Designer
Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise
(1987)
Title Designer
Chuck Berry - Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll
(1987)
Title Designer
Wall Street
(1987)
Title Designer
Leonard Part 6
(1987)
Title Designer
The Seventh Sign
(1988)
Title Designer
A Time of Destiny
(1988)
Title Designer
The Beat
(1988)
Title Designer
Bull Durham
(1988)
Title Designer
Midnight Run
(1988)
Title Designer
Vibes
(1988)
Title Designer
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
(1988)
Title Designer
1969
(1988)
Title Designer
Miracle Mile
(1988)
Title Designer
Mystic Pizza
(1988)
Title Designer
Everybody's All-American
(1988)
Title Designer
Fresh Horses
(1988)
Title Designer
Tequila Sunrise
(1988)
Title Designer
Talk Radio
(1988)
Title Designer
Out Cold
(1989)
Title Designer
Field of Dreams
(1989)
Title Designer
Internal Affairs
(1990)
Title Designer
Stella
(1990)
Title Designer
Men Don't Leave
(1990)
Title Designer
Lord of the Flies
(1990)
Title Designer
The First Power
(1990)
Title Designer
RoboCop 2
(1990)
Title Designer
Pacific Heights
(1990)
Title Designer
The Rescuers Down Under
(1990)
Title Designer
Prison Stories: Women on the Inside
(1991)
Title Designer
Guilty by Suspicion
(1991)
Title Designer
Palomino
(1991)
Title Designer
The Taking of Beverly Hills
(1991)
Title Designer
The Player
(1992)
Title Designer
Deep Cover
(1992)
Title Designer
Original Intent
(1992)
Title Designer
Traces of Red
(1992)
Title Designer
Night and the City
(1992)
Title Designer
The Distinguished Gentleman
(1992)
Title Designer
Alive
(1993)
Title Designer
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
(1993)
Title Designer
Iron Monkey
(1993)
Title Designer
Mr. Wonderful
(1993)
Title Designer
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
(1993)
Title Designer
Color of Night
(1994)
Title Designer
Safe Passage
(1994)
Title Designer
Picture Bride
(1995)
Title Designer
Congo
(1995)
Title Designer
Species
(1995)
Title Designer
Separate Lives
(1995)
Title Designer
Dazzle
(1995)
Title Designer
Mallrats
(1995)
Title Designer
Rainbow
(1996)
Title Designer
Freeway
(1996)
Title Designer
Mulholland Falls
(1996)
Title Designer
Curdled
(1996)
Title Designer
House Arrest
(1996)
Title Designer
Harvey
(1996)
Title Designer
Love Jones
(1997)
Title Designer
Gridlock'd
(1997)
Title Designer
This World, Then the Fireworks
(1997)
Title Designer
Traveller
(1997)
Title Designer
Cold Around the Heart
(1997)
Title Designer
Soul Food
(1997)
Main Title Designer
Tinseltown
(1997)
Title Designer
Playing God
(1997)
Title Designer
A Price Above Rubies
(1998)
Title Designer
Since You've Been Gone
(1998)
Title Designer
The Very Thought of You
(1998)
Title Designer
Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights
(1998)
Title Designer
54
(1998)
Title Designer
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
(1998)
Title Designer
A Night at the Roxbury
(1998)
Title Designer
The Road to 'Dracula'
(1999)
Main Title Designer
She's Alive! Creating 'The Bride of Frankenstein'
(1999)
Main Title Designer
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
(1999)
Main Title Designer
Varsity Blues
(1999)
Title Designer
Freak City
(1999)
Title Designer
Thick as Thieves
(1999)
Title Designer
East Is East
(1999)
Title Designer
In Too Deep
(1999)
Title Designer
Vendetta
(1999)
Title Designer
She's All That
(1999)
Main Title Designer
Luckytown
(2000)
Title Designer
Bartleby
(2001)
Title Designer
15 Minutes
(2001)
Title Designer
James Dean
(2001)
Title Designer
Speaking of Sex
(2001)
Title Designer
Sorority Boys
(2002)
Title Designer
Insomnia
(2002)
Title Designer
American Gun
(2002)
Title Designer
The 'Frankenstein' Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster
(2002)
Title Designer
Gangs of New York
(2002)
Title Designer
The Battle of Shaker Heights
(2003)
Title Designer
Mojave
(2004)
Title Designer
The Aviator
(2004)
Title Designer
Tropix
(2004)
Title Designer
Pizza
(2005)
Title Designer
Santa's Slay
(2005)
Main Title Designer
Eight Below
(2006)
Title Designer
Even Money
(2006)
Title Designer
Hoot
(2006)
Title Designer
The House of Usher
(2007)
Title Designer
Spinning Into Butter
(2007)
Title Designer
In the Valley of Elah
(2007)
Title Designer
There Will Be Blood
(2007)
Title Designer
Have Dreams, Will Travel
(2007)
Title Designer
Spread
(2009)
Title Designer
The Warm-Up Guy
(2010)
Title Designer
The Beaver
(2011)
Title Designer
Pound of Flesh
(2011)
Title Designer
Sharkskin
(2015)
Title Designer
Internet Famous
(2016)
Title Designer
All Saints
(2017)
Title Designer
First House on the Hill
(2017)
Title Designer
Suspiria
(2018)
Title Designer
The Public
(2019)
Title Designer
Lake of Death
(2019)
Title Designer
Mosquito State
(2020)
Title Designer
Dead for a Dollar
(2022)
Title Designer
Acting
Directing
Production
Writing
Costume & Make-Up
Data provided by TMDB