Tony E. Valenzuela

Tony Edvard Valenzuela (born June 3, 1972) is an American director, producer and writer widely known for creating BlackBoxTV, a YouTube channel dedicated to short horror films and series.[1] He also directed The Axe Murders of Villisca (2017),[2] for IFC[3] and Fight of the Living Dead.[4]

Tony E. Valenzuela
Born (1972-06-03) June 3, 1972
Fontana, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Director
  • producer
  • writer
Years active2008 - present
Children1
Websiteblackboxtv.com

Career

In 2008, Valenzuela wrote and directed 2009: A True Story, a thirteen-episode dystopian web series that was nominated for Best Dramatic Web Series at the first-annual Streamy Awards[5] and was featured by director Wes Craven during his Halloween 2008 YouTube Takeover.[6] In 2009, Valenzuela directed Harper's Globe,[7] a thirteen-episode web series companion to the CBS television drama, Harper's Island[8] and the mixed reality series Green Eyed World for Sprite,[9] which won the Webby Award for Best Use of Social Media in 2010.[10]

Valenzuela is the creator of BlackBoxTV Presents,[11] a horror anthology series that debuted on YouTube on August 17, 2010 and is the longest-running online drama, according to Variety.[12] The first season, which featured a cast of YouTube creators including Philip DeFranco, iJustine and Shane Dawson, was financed by Valenzuela.[13] In 2012, Valenzuela created, co-produced and directed Silverwood[14] and collaborated with CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker to create Anthony E. Zuiker Presents as part of Google's YouTube Original Channel Initiative.[15] For BlackBoxTV Presents, Valenzuela has won Streamy Awards for Best Writing: Drama[16] and Best Drama Series.[17]

In 2014, Valenzuela directed and co-wrote Versions of Elloise in collaboration with Legendary Entertainment as part of “YouTube Space House of Horrors: A Legendary Halloween”[18] and was selected as one of ten finalists by Guillermo del Toro.[19]

In 2015, Valenzuela directed the pilot episode of the reality competition Fight of the Living Dead,[20] which he executive produced and distributed through BlackBoxTV [21] from 2015-2016 for YouTube Red. Also in 2015, Valenzuela was recruited by New Form - the digital studio co-founded by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, to create, write and direct The Fourth Door,[22] a supernatural good versus evil drama series starring Joey Graceffa and Monique Coleman from High School Musical. The Fourth Door debuted on October 27, 2015 on go90[23] and received honors at Marseille Web Fest[24] and Raindance Film Festival.[25] Beginning in 2016, Valenzuela directed nine episodes of the virtual reality series BlackBoxTV Presents: 360\Horror and won the Best Immersive Storyteller Streamy Award[26] in 2017 for excellence in VR and 360 filmmaking.

Valenzuela's feature-length directorial debut, The Axe Murders of Villisca[27] premiered at the LA Film Festival on June 7, 2016.[28] In his December 7, 2016 review, Austin Chronicle critic Richard Whittaker wrote, "Villisca has heart and horror, creating an elegant melding of teen angst and supernatural horror that is as much The Breakfast Club as Sometimes They Come Back.”[29]

References
  1. Young, Aaron (March 17, 2016). "Tribeca Film Festival Unveils Digital-Content Marketplace Event". Variety. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via Variety Media, LLC.
  2. Young, Aaron (January 13, 2017). "This movie shows how creepy Iowa's Villisca Axe Murder House is". USA Today. Retrieved August 15, 2018 – via Gannett.
  3. Miska, Brad (November 18, 2016). "IFC Tells the Story of 'The Axe Murders of Villisca". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via Bloody Disgusting.
  4. DeSimone, Evan (April 7, 2015). "Fight Of The Living Dead: It's YouTubers Vs. Zombies In Tony Valenzuela's Latest Live Action Video Game". New Media Rockstars. Retrieved August 15, 2018 – via New Media Rockstars.
  5. "Nominees 1st Annual Streamy Awards Winners". Streamy Awards. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  6. "Wes Craven Takes Over YouTube for Halloween". Tubefilter. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  7. "Web Series Harper's Globe will Intertwine with CBS' Island". SyFy Wire. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  8. "CBS and EQAL announce as a Multi-Platform Social Show Collaboration". CBS. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  9. "Coca-Cola Europe Launches Green Eyed World, A Unique Social Interactive Music Show For The Youtube Generation". Web Wire. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  10. "2010 Webby Award Winners". Webby Awards. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  11. Weiss-Roessler, Josh (August 18, 2010). "BlackBoxTV: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid of Phil DeFranco's Dark Side". Tubefilter. Retrieved June 18, 2018 – via Tubefilter, Inc.
  12. Young, Aaron (March 17, 2016). "Tribeca Film Festival Unveils Digital-Content Marketplace Event". Variety. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via Variety Media, LLC.
  13. Miller, Liz Shannon (August 17, 2010). "Sxephil, iJustine and Shane Dawson Spill Secret Fears for Black Box TV". GigaOm. Retrieved June 18, 2018 – via Knowingly, Inc.
  14. Baldwin, Drew (April 13, 2012). "Anthony E. Zuiker Debuts Original Series on BlackBoxTV". Tubefilter. Retrieved June 18, 2018 – via Tubefilter, Inc.
  15. Lyons, Dan (November 7, 2011). "Google Plans to Turn Existing TV Industry Upside Down". The Daily Beast. Retrieved June 18, 2018 – via The Daily Beast Company.
  16. "Winners 3rd Annual Streamy Awards Winners". Streamy Awards. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  17. "Winners 5th Annual Streamy Awards Winners". Streamy Awards. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  18. Graser, Marc (September 2, 2014). "Legendary, YouTube Launch Halloween Film Contest with Guillermo del Toro". Variety. Retrieved August 18, 2018 – via Variety Media, LLC.
  19. Yamato, Jen (October 27, 2014). "Guillermo Del Toro To Pick Finalists In YouTube Horror Hunt: Video". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 18, 2018 – via Deadline.
  20. DeSimone, Evan (April 7, 2015). "Fight Of The Living Dead: It's YouTubers Vs. Zombies In Tony Valenzuela's Latest Live Action Video Game". New Media Rockstars. Retrieved August 15, 2018 – via New Media Rockstars.
  21. Robinson, Will (August 9, 2016). "YouTube: Fight of the Living Dead trailer features YouTube stars, zombies". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via Meredith Corporation.
  22. Brown, Robert (September 25, 2015). "Banning: Downtown Gets its Star Turn". Press-Enterprise. Retrieved August 17, 2018 – via Meredith Corporation.
  23. Coggan, Devan (October 25, 2015). "YouTube: The Fourth Door web series trailer starring Joey Graceffa". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via Meredith Corporation.
  24. Gutelle, Sam (July 12, 2016). "New Form Digital's 'The Fourth Door' Among Selections For Marseille Web Fest". Tubefilter. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via Tubefilter, Inc.
  25. Wise, Damon (October 3, 2016). "Raindance Film Festival Reveals Winners of Web Fest Competition". Variety. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via Variety Media LLC.
  26. "Winners 7th Annual Streamy Awards Winners". Streamy Awards. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  27. Miska, Brad (November 18, 2016). "IFC Tells the Story of 'The Axe Murders of Villisca". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via Bloody Disgusting.
  28. Wolfe, April (May 26, 2016). "What to See at the L.A. Film Festival". L.A. Weekly. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via LA Weekly, LP.
  29. Whittaker, Richard (December 7, 2016). "Other Worlds Austin Review: The Axe Murders of Villisca". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via Austin Chronicle Corp.
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