Benjamin A. Resella

Benjamin A. Resella

Benjamin A. Resella was born in Manilla, Philippines, and became an art director and motion picture scenic artist. He learned the art of scenic design from his grandfather, painter Juan Henson Abelardo. Resella began apprenticing as a scenic artist at age 15 and developed particular expertise in the principles of perspective, a skill that later became central to his Hollywood career.

Before coming to Hollywood, Resella worked as a set designer and scenic painter in the Philippines. After immigrating to the United States, he worked at the San Francisco Opera. There, Local 816 business agent Clayton Thompson recruited him to work with John H. Coakley on a difficult perspective problem involving a façade for 20th Century Fox’s ambitious production Hello, Dolly! (1969).

Benjamin A. Resella and Hollywood Scenic Art

Resella joined 20th Century Fox to complete Hello, Dolly! and became scenic art and design supervisor. From 1968 to 1987, he prepared drawings for the needs of Fox and J.C. Backings. Karen Maness and Richard Isackes also document Resella working with scenic artist Bob Oberbeck to lay out a drawing for an On a Clear Day You Can See Forever backing, illustrating the importance of perspective drawing within scenic-art production.

Karen’s research credits Resella with work on Earthquake (1974), The Towering Inferno (1974), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Battlestar Galactica (1978), Star Trek, History of the World Part I (1981), and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970). IMDb additionally documents him as a scenic designer or scenic-effects supervisor on productions including Foul Play (1978), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Poltergeist (1982), Gremlins (1984), Ghostbusters (1984), Spaceballs (1987), and The Indian in the Cupboard (1995). Many of these credits were uncredited on screen, which helps explain why scenic artists can be difficult to trace through conventional film credits alone.

Later Career

After his long career in motion pictures, Resella continued working with perspective painting and backings. IMDb records that from 1987 to 1993 he served as a scenic-art consultant on work connected with Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland in Anaheim, and Walt Disney World in Florida. He continued creating artwork after retirement.