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Mexican filmmaker (born 1990) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gigi Saul Guerrero (born February 27, 1990) is a Mexican filmmaker and actress.[1] She is known for creating and directing the 2017 horror web series La Quinceañera,[2] and for her work on the 2019 series The Purge and Into the Dark.[3]
Gigi Saul Guerrero | |
|---|---|
Guerrero at Comic-Con 2019 | |
| Born | February 27, 1990 Mexico City, Mexico |
| Education | Earl Marriott Secondary School |
| Alma mater | Capilano University |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2011-present |
| Website | Luchagore Productions |
Guerrero was born in Mexico City, Mexico. She immigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at the age of 13.[4] She grew up in White Rock, British Columbia, and later earned a B.A. in Motion Picture Production from Capilano University, graduating with honors.[1]
While studying at Capilano University in 2009, Guerrero met her future collaborators, cinematographer Luke Bramley and producer Gordon Cheng.[5] Together, they worked on her directorial debut, the short film Dead Crossing (2011), which explored themes of immigration and horror.[6] In 2013, she co-founded the production company Luchagore Productions with Bramley, Cheng, and producer Raynor Shima.[5]
In 2014, Guerrero contributed to the horror anthology México Bárbaro with her short film Día de los Muertos.[7] which premiered at the 2014 Etheria Film Night.[8] She later directed El Gigante (2015),[9] an adaptation of Shane McKenzie’s novel Muerte Con Carne.[10] El Gigante was distributed in partnership with Raven Banner Entertainment and later adapted into a graphic novel.[11][12]
A development executive at Warner Bros contacted Guerrero upon viewing El Gigante, which led to Luchagore pitching several ideas, one of which became La Quinceañera.[13] Two of her shorts, Slam and Testament, created as entries in film competitions Dead on Film and Phrike Film Fest respectively, picked up awards for Best Death (Testament) and Best Picture (Slam).[14]
Her music video, Paloma, was the opening video for 2015 Morbido Fest.[15] El Gigante featured at Melbourne's 2015 Monster Fest and Sydney's 2015 A Night of Horror International Film Festival, and won the Jury Award at the 2016 Macabre Faire Film Festival.[16] Her next short, Madre de Dios, starring Tristan Risk, received praise for its design and screened at the 2015 Fantasia International Film Festival.[17][18]
In 2016, she won the Artistic Innovation Award from Women in Film and Television Vancouver.[19] Later that year, she directed a segment, M is for Matador, for the horror anthology film ABCs of Death 2.5.[20] In 2017, her short film Bestia, was praised for its style and psychological horror.[21] It won Best Short Film at the Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival.[22]
Guerrero's next production was announced as "Project Lucha".[23] The story emerged from talks between McKenzie and Guerrero, which centred around a girl becoming a strong woman.[24] In October 2017, the project was revealed as La Quinceañera, a launch title for Stage 13, the digital content division for Warner Bros. Digital Networks.[25] It features Mia Xitlali and Bertila Damas and held its world premiere at the Morbido Film Festival on October 28.[2] It won the Golden Skull Award for Audience Favourite at the festival.[26] In 2018, La Quinceañera debuted on the Studio+ app for Canal+ territories.[27] In June 2018, it screened at Grauman's Chinese Theatre for the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.[13] Dread Central praised La Quinceañera for its characters, noting its depiction of strong women as leaders.[28]
Guerrero wrote a video game for Capcom, which was to be announced in 2018.[22] In January 2018, she hosted the Vancouver Short Film Festival, which closed with a screening of Bestia.[29] She teaches directing at Vancouver Film School.[30]
In 2019, Variety selected her as one of the "10 Latinxs to Watch."[31] She directed an episode of the horror anthology series Into the Dark for Blumhouse, and voiced Vida in Super Monsters.[32] Guerrero received the job for the latter from Blumhouse after criticizing the original script for not being authentically Mexican.[33] Guerrero insisted upon casting actors who were of Mexican descent and would switch between directing in English and Spanish while on set.[34] To create a greater intensity for the finale, most of the episode was shot in chronological order.[35] Guerrero's episode for Into the Dark, titled Culture Shock, premiered at the 2019 Etheria Film Night.[36] Culture Shock addressed themes of immigration and cultural identity, receiving critical acclaim with a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, albeit based on a limited number of reviews. However, it holds a more modest audience rating of 5.9 and has garnered mixed critic reviews on IMDb.[37][38][39]
In October 2019, Guerrero signed a first-look deal with Blumhouse and was attached to direct an untitled project for Screen Gems, based on the mythology of Santa Muerte.[40] In January 2020, it was announced Guerrero was hired by Orion Pictures to direct the horror thriller 10-31, to be produced by Eli Roth, however Orion decided not to move forward shortly after.[41][42] In March 2021, Guerrero was announced to direct Oscar-nominated actress Adriana Barraza in the film Bingo Hell for Amazon Studios.[43]
Guerrero stars and voices Mischa Jackson/Lebron in the animated Peacock series Supernatural Academy based on the Young-Adult fantasy books by Jaymin Eve.[44]
Guerrero's work often draws on her Mexican heritage, particularly the cultural relationship with death.[16][45] She has cited filmmakers Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino as major influences.[46]
| Year | Film | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | México Bárbaro | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Segment: "Día de los Muertos" |
| 2016 | ABC's of Death 2½ | Yes | No | No | Yes | Segment: "M is for Matador" |
| 2018 | Bloody Bits: Shorts Compilation Vol. 2 | No | Yes | No | No | Segment: "Madre De Dios" |
| 2021 | Bingo Hell | Yes | Yes | No | No | Feature film |
| 2023 | V/H/S/85 | Yes | Yes | No | No | Segment: "God of Death" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Shooting: The Musical | Mia | |
| 2018 | The Perfect Pickup | Biker Girl | |
| 2019 | Puppet Killer | Brooke | |
| 2019 | Funhouse | Ximena Torres | |
| 2023 | God of Death | Gabriela Maldonaldo | Segment from V/H/S/85 |
| Year | Film | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Choose Your Victim | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Boom Op | 8 episodes |
| 2017 | La Quinceañera | Yes | Yes | No | No | Stripper #1 | 7 episodes |
| 2019 | Into the Dark | Yes | Yes | No | No | Paola | Episode: "Culture Shock" |
| 2019 | The Purge | Yes | No | No | No | — | Episode: "Hail Mary" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Untold Stories of the E.R. | Bree | Episode: "Cop Shocker" |
| 2015 | Average Dicks | Party Girl | Episode: "Rap Culture" |
| 2015 | Diagnose Me | Young Mother | Episode: "Covered in Bugs" |
| 2015–2018 | Nina's World | Rosita / Senorita Arana / Rosie (voices) | 8 episodes |
| 2016 | The Switch | Isabelle | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | The Wilding | Spanish Teacher | Television film |
| 2017 | Inconceivable | Britney | 3 episodes |
| 2019 | Siren | Petty Officer Nina Lopez | 2 episodes |
| 2018 | Take Two | Carlina Del Rio | Episode: "Smoking Gun" |
| 2018–2019 | Marvel Super Hero Adventures | Spider-Girl (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2018–2019 | Super Monsters | Vida (voice) | 7 episodes |
| 2022 | Supernatural Academy | Mischa Jackson/Lebron (voice) | 16 episodes |
| 2022 | Angry Birds: Summer Madness | Stella (voice) | 36 episodes |
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