Ti West

Early life

West was born in Wilmington, Delaware, and attended Tatnall School, describing his background as "suburban middle class." His given name Timon is 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. 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. He also directed the music video for Neverland, a single from Kid Cudi's 2025 album, Free. Cudi had previously appeared in West's 2022 film X.

Prospective projects

In October 2025, it was reported West was directing a new adaption of A Christmas Carol for Paramount Pictures, with Johnny Depp finalizing talks to star.

Personal life

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

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. "Ti West". [[Rotten Tomatoes]].
2. (2011). "Ti West". [[The New York Times]].
3. Dyar, Amanda. (25 January 2010). "Ti West Talks House of the Devil, Cabin Fever 2, and More!".
4. Derakhshani, Tirdad. (2010-02-04). "A horror maestro from Wilmington".
5. "Obituaries: Violet A. West Stout". [[Legacy.com]].
6. Dawson, Nick. (October 30, 2009). "Ti West, The House Of The Devil". [[Filmmaker (magazine).
7. "Obituaries: Patrick J. Timon". [[Legacy.com]].
8. Hunt, Kristin. (April 23, 2012). "Ti West's Four Horror Movie Classics (and One That's Way Overrated)". [[Maxim (magazine).
9. Macauly, Scott. (March 11, 2016). "In a Valley of Violence DP Eric Robbins on Shooting Ti West's New Film in 35mm". [[Filmmaker (magazine).
10. Barton, Steve. (October 27, 2009). "The House of the Devil: Live Twitter Chat with Director Ti West".
11. Barton, Steve. (September 21, 2009). "IFC Explores Being Dead & Lonely in New Web Series".
12. (October 26, 2009). "Online Horror Goods: IFC's 'Dead & Lonely', Animated 'Dexter: Early Cuts'".
13. Turek, Ryan. (October 16, 2009). "EXCL: Ti West and the Cabin Fever 2 Experience".
14. Barton, Steve. (March 30, 2010). "Ti West Talks Haunting in Georgia Exit".
15. Gallagher, Brian. (December 5, 2012). "EXCLUSIVE: Ti West Talks 'V/H/S' Blu-ray".
16. Fischer, Russ. (June 29, 2015). "Ti West Directing Part of 'Scream' TV Series".
17. (November 11, 2014). "'South Of Hell' Adds Directors Ti West, Rachel Talalay, Jennifer Lynch & Jeremiah Chechik".
18. Kit, Borys. (March 18, 2014). "John Travolta, Ethan Hawke to Star in Western Film From Jason Blum".
19. McNary, Dave. (February 2, 2016). "SXSW Unveils Lineup With James Caan, Ethan Hawke, Keegan-Michael Key Movies".
20. (March 15, 2024). "Justin Timberlake - No Angels (Official Video)".
21. Avila, Daniela. (March 15, 2024). "Watch Justin Timberlake's Alter Ego — and a Dark Angel — Torture Him in the 'No Angels' Music Video".
22. Kroll, Justin. (23 October 2025). "Johnny Depp To Star In 'Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol' At Paramount With Ti West Directing; Andrea Riseborough Also Joins Movie Dated For November 2026".
23. (4 November 2024). "Alison Wonderland Ties the Knot with Ti West on Halloween in Las Vegas".
24. (20 June 2023). "Alison Wonderland Has Officially Given Birth To A Baby Boy".
25. [https://bloody-disgusting.com/music/3865300/neverland-music-video-ti-west-kid-cudi/ Kid Cudi and Ti West Reunite on "Neverland" Music Video Produced by Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw Productions]
26. locusmag. (2023-06-19). "2022 Stoker Awards Winners".