# Ti West

Timon C. West (born October 5, 1980) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, and actor, best known for his work in horror films. 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.

## Early life

West was born in Wilmington, Delaware, and attended Tatnall School, describing his background as "suburban middle class." His given name Timon was the surname of his maternal grandfather. He was inspired to create films after watching Peter Jackson's Bad Taste and Sam Raimi's Evil Dead. He was featured in a 2001 fall issue of Teen People magazine. West attended the School of Visual Arts. 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).

## Career

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), 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. The first series run ended in October 2009. 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.
West was set to direct The Haunting in Georgia, the sequel to The Haunting in Connecticut, but left the project in March 2010. 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".
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". He has also directed an episode of Jason Blum and Eli Roth's We TV horror series South of Hell, titled "Take Life Now". West wrote, directed, produced and edited the Western film In a Valley of Violence, starring Ethan Hawke, Taissa Farmiga, and John Travolta. It premiered at South by Southwest in March 2016.
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.

## Personal life

West is engaged to Australian DJ Alison Wonderland. On June 13, 2023, they welcomed their first child together, a son named Max.

## Filmography

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 | |
| 2009 | 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" |
| 2012 | 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 | |
| 2022 | 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 |
| 2001 | Infested | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also cinematographer |
| 2001 | The Wicked | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also cinematographer |
| 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 | |
| 2011 | Silver Bullets | Ben | |
| 2012 | Marriage Material | | Also cinematographer |
| 2012 | All the Light in the Sky | Director | |
| 2013 | Drinking Buddies | Dave | |
Television work by Ti West :
| Year | Title | Episode(s) |
| 2015 | Scream | "The Dance" |
| 2015 | South of Hell | "Take Life Now" |
| 2016 | Wayward Pines | "Exit Strategy" and "Bedtime Story" |
| 2017 | Outcast | "The Common Good" |
| 2017 | The Exorcist | "Unclean" |
| 2019 | The Passage | "You Are Not That Girl Anymore" |
| 2019 | Chambers | "Bad Inside" and "Heroic Dose" |
| 2019 | The Resident | "Belief System" |
| 2019 | 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" |
Music videos by Ti West :
| Year | Title | Artist |
| 2024 | "No Angels" | Justin Timberlake |

## Awards and nominations

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