Ti West

American film director

Ti West

West in 2024

Born|

Timon C. West

(1980-10-05) October 5, 1980 (age 44)

Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.

Alma mater| School of Visual Arts
Occupations|

* Director
* writer
* producer
* editor
* cinematographer
* actor

Years active| 2001–present
Notable work| X
Spouse|

Alison Wonderland

(m. 2024)​

Children| 1

Timon C. West[1] (born October 5, 1980)[2] is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, and actor, best known for his work in horror films.[3][4] He directed the horror films The Roost (2005), Trigger Man (2007), The House of the Devil (2009), The Innkeepers (2011), the Western In a Valley of Violence (2016) as well as the X film series. He has also acted in a number of films, mostly in those directed by either himself or Joe Swanberg.[3]

## Early life

[edit]

West was born in Wilmington, Delaware, and attended Tatnall School, describing his background as "suburban middle class."[2][5] His given name Timon is his mother’s maiden name and the surname of his maternal grandfather.[1][6][7] He was inspired to create films after watching Peter Jackson's Bad Taste and Sam Raimi's Evil Dead.[5] He was featured in a 2001 fall issue of Teen People magazine.[8] West attended the School of Visual Arts.[9] There, one of his professors, screenwriter and director Kelly Reichardt, introduced him to Larry Fessenden, who became his mentor. Fessenden funded West's first two films, The Roost (2005) and Trigger Man (2007).[5]

## Career

[edit]

West's early directorial work includes the 2001 short The Wicked, and feature films The Roost (2005), Trigger Man (2007), The House of the Devil (2009),[10] The Innkeepers (2011), and The Sacrament (2013). He appeared in 2004's The Woman Who Split Before Dinner as Old Man Conrad. In 2009, West wrote, produced and directed the web series Dead & Lonely for IFC Films.[11] The first series run ended in October 2009.[12] West disowned the 2009 horror film Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, citing massive interference and re-editing as the reasons. He wanted to remove his name completely from the film and give directing credit to Alan Smithee, but his request was denied.[13]

West in September 2009

West was set to direct The Haunting in Georgia, the sequel to The Haunting in Connecticut, but left the project in March 2010.[14] In 2012, he worked with Adam Wingard, Simon Barrett, David Bruckner, Joe Swanberg, Glenn McQuaid and the Radio Silence Productions hosts Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Chad Villella on the anthology horror film V/H/S. He directed the segment "Second Honeymoon".[15]

In June 2015, it was reported that West would direct an episode of MTV's Scream television series. He directed the penultimate episode of the first season, titled "The Dance".[16] He has also directed an episode of Jason Blum and Eli Roth's We TV horror series South of Hell, titled "Take Life Now".[17] West wrote, directed, produced and edited the Western film In a Valley of Violence, starring Ethan Hawke, Taissa Farmiga, and John Travolta.[18] It premiered at South by Southwest in March 2016.[19]

In late 2020, it was announced that A24 would produce a horror film titled X, which would be directed by West and will star Mia Goth, Scott Mescudi, Jenna Ortega, and Brittany Snow. The film was released on March 18, 2022, to critical acclaim. While X was in production, filming in New Zealand was temporarily halted due to the country's lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to West spending the time writing a screenplay to a prequel. The film, Pearl, was filmed back-to-back with X once production started up again. Pearl was released in September 2022 to critical acclaim. West later confirmed he was working on a third installment in the series, a sequel to X titled MaXXXine.

West directed the music video to Justin Timberlake’s single "No Angels", which was released March 15, 2024, as the second single from the latter’s sixth studio album Everything I Thought It Was.[20][21]

## Personal life

[edit]

On Halloween 2024 West married Australian DJ Alison Wonderland in Las Vegas.[22] The previous year they welcomed their first child together, a son named Max.[23]

## Filmography

[edit]

Feature films by Ti West  Year  | Title  | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Notes

|
|
|
|
|
|

2005  | The Roost | Yes  | Yes  | No  | Yes  | Also composer
2007  | Trigger Man | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Also cinematographer
2009  | The House of the Devil | Yes  | Yes  | No  | Yes  |
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever | Yes  | Story  | No  | No  |
2011  | The Innkeepers | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  |
2012  | V/H/S | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Segment "Second Honeymoon"
The ABCs of Death | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | Segment "M is for Miscarriage"
2013  | The Sacrament | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  |
2016  | In a Valley of Violence | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  |
2022  | X | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  |
Pearl | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  |
2024  | MaXXXine | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  |
Short films  Year  | Title  | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Notes

|
|
|
|
|
|

2001  | Prey | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Also cinematographer
Infested | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes
The Wicked | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes
2008  | Christmas Decay | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | Produced for Glass Eye Pix as part of their
2008 Creepy Christmas Online Film Festival
2013  | Box | Yes  | Yes  | No  | No  | Segment of The 3:07 AM Project, a short anthology
produced to promote The Conjuring
2022  | The Farmer's Daughters | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Chronological compilation of the porn film that was shot in X.
Released as an extra on the home media releases of the film.
Web series by Ti West  Year  | Title  | Director | Writer | Producer

|
|
|
|

2009  | Dead & Lonely | Yes  | Yes  | Yes
Acting roles by Ti West  Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

2005  | The Roost | Professor  |
2009  | The House of the Devil | Favorite Teacher  |
2011  | You're Next | Tariq  |
Silver Bullets | Ben  |
2012  | Marriage Material |  | Also cinematographer
All the Light in the Sky | Director  |
2013  | Drinking Buddies | Dave  |
Television work by Ti West  Year  | Title  | Episode(s)

|
|

2015  | Scream | "The Dance"
South of Hell | "Take Life Now"
2016  | Wayward Pines | "Exit Strategy" and "Bedtime Story"
2017  | Outcast | "The Common Good"
The Exorcist | "Unclean"
2019  | The Passage | "You Are Not That Girl Anymore"
Chambers | "Bad Inside" and "Heroic Dose"
The Resident | "Belief System"
Soundtrack | "Track 3: Sam and Dante" and "Track 5: Dante and Annette"
2020  | Tales from the Loop | "Enemies"
2021, 2024  | Them | "Day 7: Night", "Day 10" and "The Box"
2025  | Poker Face | "The Day of the Iguana"
Music videos by Ti West  Year  | Title  | Artist

|
|

2024  | "No Angels"  | Justin Timberlake
2025  | "Neverland"  | Kid Cudi[24]

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Year  | Award  | Work  | Result

|
|
|

2001  | NYIIFVF Short Film Award for Best Director – Student Film  | The Wicked | Won
2005  | Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best with Less | The Roost | Nominated
2009  | Best of Puchon | The House of the Devil | Won
Gold Hugo for After Dark Competition | Nominated
2011  | Toronto After Dark Film Festival Fan's Choice Award for Scariest Film | The Innkeepers | Won
SXSW Spotlight Premiere Audience Award | Nominated
2012  | Fright Meter Award for Best Director  | Nominated
Gold Hugo for After Dark Competition | The ABCs of Death (shared with Kaare Andrews, et al.) | Nominated
SXSW Midnight Audience Award | V/H/S (shared with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, et al.) | Nominated
Sitges Film Festival Maria Award for Best Motion Picture | Nominated
2013  | Gold Hugo for After Dark Competition | The Sacrament | Nominated
Venice Horizons Award for Best Film | Nominated
2014  | Fright Meter Award for Best Editing  | Nominated
Gérardmer Film Festival Syfy Jury Prize | Won
Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Limited Release/Direct-to-Video Film | 3rd Place
2015  | Fangoria Hall of Fame | Himself  | Won
2022  | Sitges Film Festival for Best Director | Pearl | Won
Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Screenplay[25] | Nominated

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Obituaries: Violet A. West Stout". Legacy.com. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
2. ^ a b "Ti West". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022.
3. ^ a b "Ti West". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2011. Archived from the original on March 1, 2011.
4. ^ Dyar, Amanda (January 25, 2010). "Ti West Talks House of the Devil, Cabin Fever 2, and More!". Dread Central. Archived from the original on January 30, 2010.
5. ^ a b c Derakhshani, Tirdad (February 4, 2010). "A horror maestro from Wilmington". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
6. ^ Dawson, Nick (October 30, 2009). "Ti West, The House Of The Devil". Filmmaker. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
7. ^ "Obituaries: Patrick J. Timon". Legacy.com. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
8. ^ Hunt, Kristin (April 23, 2012). "Ti West's Four Horror Movie Classics (and One That's Way Overrated)". Maxim. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
9. ^ Macauly, Scott (March 11, 2016). "In a Valley of Violence DP Eric Robbins on Shooting Ti West's New Film in 35mm". Filmmaker. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
10. ^ Barton, Steve (October 27, 2009). "The House of the Devil: Live Twitter Chat with Director Ti West". Dread Central.
11. ^ Barton, Steve (September 21, 2009). "IFC Explores Being Dead & Lonely in New Web Series". Dread Central.
12. ^ "Online Horror Goods: IFC's 'Dead & Lonely', Animated 'Dexter: Early Cuts'". Bloody Disgusting. October 26, 2009.
13. ^ Turek, Ryan (October 16, 2009). "EXCL: Ti West and the Cabin Fever 2 Experience". Shock Till You Drop.
14. ^ Barton, Steve (March 30, 2010). "Ti West Talks Haunting in Georgia Exit". Dread Central.
15. ^ Gallagher, Brian (December 5, 2012). "EXCLUSIVE: Ti West Talks 'V/H/S' Blu-ray". MovieWeb.
16. ^ Fischer, Russ (June 29, 2015). "Ti West Directing Part of 'Scream' TV Series". /Film.
17. ^ "'South Of Hell' Adds Directors Ti West, Rachel Talalay, Jennifer Lynch & Jeremiah Chechik". Deadline Hollywood. November 11, 2014.
18. ^ Kit, Borys (March 18, 2014). "John Travolta, Ethan Hawke to Star in Western Film From Jason Blum". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
19. ^ McNary, Dave (February 2, 2016). "SXSW Unveils Lineup With James Caan, Ethan Hawke, Keegan-Michael Key Movies". Variety.
20. ^ "Justin Timberlake - No Angels (Official Video)". YouTube. March 15, 2024. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
21. ^ Avila, Daniela (March 15, 2024). "Watch Justin Timberlake's Alter Ego — and a Dark Angel — Torture Him in the 'No Angels' Music Video". People. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
22. ^ Cameron, John (November 4, 2024). "Alison Wonderland Ties the Knot with Ti West on Halloween in Las Vegas". EDM Identity. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
23. ^ "Alison Wonderland Has Officially Given Birth To A Baby Boy". EDM Maniac. June 20, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
24. ^ Kid Cudi and Ti West Reunite on "Neverland" Music Video Produced by Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw Productions
25. ^ locusmag (June 19, 2023). "2022 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus Online. Retrieved June 25, 2023.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ti West.

* Ti West at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Ti West

Films directed|

* The Roost (2005)
* Trigger Man (2007)
* The House of the Devil (2009)
* Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)
* The Innkeepers (2011)
* V/H/S (segment "Second Honeymoon", 2012)
* The ABCs of Death (segment "M Is for Miscarriage", 2012)
* The Sacrament (2013)
* In a Valley of Violence (2016)
* X (2022)
* Pearl (2022)
* MaXXXine (2024)

Related|

* X (film series)
* Maxine Minx
* Pearl

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Poland

Other|

* IdRef
* Yale LUX

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