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]
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]
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]
2019-present: Breakthrough
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]
