Alice Waddington
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Alice Waddington (born July 31, 1990) is a Spanish film director, writer, photographer and costume designer having developed most of her work in the field of modern cinema. Her directing style is defined by a contemporary approach to the golden era of large-scale-studio genre films (1920s1970s) in production companies such as
Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...
or
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...
's Creature Features; mixed with current
surreal humor Surreal humour (also called surreal comedy, absurdist humour, or absurdist comedy) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, thus producing events and behaviors that are obviously illogical. Portrayals of s ...
and sometimes including musical cinema.


Early life

Born as Irene on July 31, 1990, in
Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...
, Spain to a Catalan forensic psychiatrist and a Galician teacher. She grew up in the blue-collar neighborhood of San Mamés, known for it
working-class pride
and industrial surroundings pre-gentrification. During the 1990s, Bilbao was experiencing significant changes and facing various socio-economic challenges, such as terrorism and a heroin crisis, an awareness Alice credits with her first contacts with the abstract ideas of horror. Waddington adopted her stage name at sixteen, while assisting director of photography Quique López. At 18, she studied advertising at UPV-EHU University where she started capturing promotion stills and directing fashion films as a photographer and assistant of photography for the Spanish editions of ''
Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...
'', ''Neo2'' and others. Waddington currently lives and is based in Los Angeles.


Career

At 20 and for three years, she worked as an advertising creative, a producer and an advertising video editor at the agencies Leo Burnett Iberia and Social Noise also specializing as a digital storyboard artist. In 2014, with the help of Mexican executive producer Yadira Ávalos, Waddington took a year off advertising agency work to write and direct a short movie. She found sponsors to help her produce her first narrative 11-minute film, ''Disco Inferno'' (2015), which received nominations in 63 international film festivals including genre fan favorites such as
Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...
,
Fantasia Fantasia may refer to: Film and television * ''Fantasia'' (1940 film), an animated musical film produced by Walt Disney ** '' Fantasia 2000'', a sequel to the 1940 film * ''Fantasia'' (2004 film), a Hong Kong comedy film * ''Fantasia'' (201 ...
,
Sitges ; , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, renowned worldwide for Sitges Film Festival, its film festival, Carnival, and LGBTQ culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is know ...
(Noves Visions Short award) or
Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas, focused on fantasy, horror, sci-fi, action and cult films, the largest genre festival in the United States. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse. Lisa Dreyer ...
, which first awarded her as Best Director in her category, and second best feature project of the Fantastic Market for her movie ''Paradise Hills''. Eleven other international festival wins ensued, with a considerable comparative presence of the short picture in American and Canadian festivals. Waddington entered pre-production of her first full-length feature, '' Paradise Hills'' in 2017 with Spanish production company Nostromo Pictures. The film is a science-fiction thriller written by Brian DeLeeuw and
Nacho Vigalondo Ignacio "Nacho" Vigalondo Palacios (born 6 April 1977) is a Spanish filmmaker. Career Vigalondo's first film was the 2003 Spanish-language short film '' 7:35 in the Morning'', about a suicide bomber who terrorizes a cafe, which was only eight m ...
. It was released in 2019. Waddington has pointed out in interviews that after ''Paradise Hills'' she desires to direct biopics, dark comedies, socially metaphorical fantastic horror about minorities and terror stories that have taken place. In June 2019, it was announced that Waddington is developing her second film ''Scarlet'', from a script written by her and Kristen SaBerre. The film will be distributed by Orion/MGM. In September 2021, Waddington was tapped to direct adaptation of comic book series '' Dept. H'' for Netflix. In October 2022, Waddington premiered her first episode of television, in which she personally cast Álvaro Morte and Mina El-Hammani, co-written with Spanish legacy writer Rocío Martínez Llano. An adaptation of heritage Spanish IP Historias para no Dormir based on a vampiric story.


Social activism

Waddington is a proactive demander for progressive social change regarding causes related to female cooperation and sorority within the arts. In the context of film, she has been vocal about the need for both more female-led and more diversely-cast films worldwide and about motivating young women to enroll into filmmaking programs. She has also often mentioned the need for film studios around the world to hire more women, with an accent on women of color.


Personal life

Waddington is fluent in
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
and English and conversational in Basque,
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
and Catalan.


Filmography


Film


Awards


Disco Inferno (2015)

Alice Waddington's short film ''Disco Inferno'' was showcased at 63 genre and conventional film festivals globally, including Sitges, Fantastic Fest, and Palm Springs International ShortFest. The film received multiple awards, such as Best Short Film at Sitges and Fantastic Fest, and was qualified for the Academy Awards.


Paradise Hills (2019)

Waddington's debut feature film ''Paradise Hills'' premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was screened at over 30 international festivals, including Sitges, Fantasia Film Festival, and Toronto After Dark. Prior to its release, the project won the Silver Award for Best Feature Project at Fantastic Fest in 2015. The film received various nominations, including Best Fantasy Film at the Saturn Awards and a nomination for Best New Director at the Goya Awards. It was also qualified for the Academy Awards.


La Pesadilla (2022)

The IP-based TV episode ''La Pesadilla'' was presented at the Sitges Film Festival in 2022 as part of its Midnight Series lineup. The episode earned critical acclaim for its unique blend of horror and social commentary.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waddington, Alice 1990 births Living people Film directors from the Basque Country (autonomous community) People from Bilbao Spanish film directors 21st-century Spanish women artists Spanish women film directors Spanish women screenwriters Spanish people of Catalan descent Spanish people of Galician descent Spanish activists Spanish women activists Spanish feminists University of the Basque Country alumni