Vincenzo Natali

Early life and education

Natali was born in Detroit, to a nursery school teacher/painter mother and a photographer father. He is of Italian and English descent. His cinematic influences included Samuel Beckett, David Cronenberg, and Terry Gilliam.

Career

Natali's directing debut came in 1997, when he directed Cube which he also co-wrote. The film became a success worldwide, especially in Japan and France, grossing over $10 million in the latter country, and breaking box office records for a Canadian film. At the 19th Genie Awards, the film received five nominations, and also won the award for Best Canadian First Feature at the Toronto International Film Festival. After this success, Natali went on to direct Cypher (2002) and Nothing (2003).

Following the June 2010 release of Splice (2009), Natali's next efforts were expected to be an adaptation of J. G. Ballard's 1975 novel High Rise and a 3D adaptation of the Len Wein/Berni Wrightson comic book character Swamp Thing, for producer Joel Silver. A May 2010 item in The Hollywood Reporter, however, announced that Natali was to replace Joseph Kahn as director of the highly anticipated adaptation of cyberpunk author William Gibson's 1984 novel Neuromancer.

Natali was nominated for the 4th Annual Splatcademy Awards under the category "Best Director" presented by Cadaver Lab for his work Splice. In 2013 his series Darknet, an adaptation of the Japanese series Tori Hada, began airing on Super Channel in Canada. In 2014, he directed the episodes "Su-zakana" and "Naka-choko" of the second season of the crime drama series Hannibal and in 2015 the episodes "Antipasto", "Primavera" and "Secondo" of the third season of the same TV series. in 2015, he also directed the second episode (entitled "Simon") of the first season of the American supernatural drama television series The Returned. In 2016, he directed the fourth episode ("Dissonance Theory") of the HBO series Westworld. In 2017, he directed the fifth episode ("Lemon Scented You") of the Starz series American Gods. He directed a pilot for a new Tremors TV series starring Kevin Bacon reprising his role from the 1990 film but it was not picked up by SyFy as a series.

A television adaptation of William Gibson's The Peripheral was put into development in April 2018 by Amazon, with Natali among the executive producers. Natali directed the show's pilot, plus three other episodes of the first season.

He has directed the last 2 episodes of the first season for the Locke & Key TV series, distributed by Netflix.

In 2024, he was awarded the Trailblazer Award at the 28th Fantasia International Film Festival.

Filmography

Short film

Executive producer

• Eyes on the Road (2006)
• Cube (2021)

Feature film

Documentary

Television

References

References

1. Jarecki, Nicholas. (2001). "Breaking in: how 20 film directors got their start". Random House of Canada.
2. He moved to [[Toronto]], along with his family, at the age of one. During his time at [[Royal St. George's College]], Natali befriended British-born Canadian actor [[David Hewlett]], who has appeared in the majority of films that Natali has directed. Natali also attended the film programme at [[Ryerson Polytechnical Institute]]. He was eventually hired as a [[storyboard artist]] at the [[Nelvana Animation]] Studios.[http://www.northernstars.ca/directorsmz/natali_vincenzo.html Northern Stars: Vincenzo Natali] {{webarchive. link. (2007-08-05)
3. Riser, Troy. (21 October 2005). "Interview: Vincenzo Natali: Turtles All The Way Down". The Trades.
4. Stubbs, Phil. (2005). "Vincenzo Natali on the making of Tideland". Dreams – The Terry Gilliam Fanzine.
5. Gates, Anita. (September 11, 1998). "Cube (1997) FILM REVIEW; No Maps, Compasses Or Faith". [[The New York Times]].
6. (5 July 1999). "Canadian small film a huge hit in France". The Leader-Post.
7. (25 January 2010). "Sundance '10: Vincenzo Natali Talks 'Splice' With BD". BloodyDisgusting.
8. (19 January 2010). "Vincenzo Natali on Potential 'Splice' Sequels".
9. (19 January 2010). "Vincenzo Natali Constructs Terror on 'High Rise'".
10. (8 April 2010). "Vincenzo Natali Talks Dark Desires to Bring 'Swamp Thing' Back to the Big Screen".
11. "'Splice' Director Wants To Adapt Alan Moore's ''Swamp Thing'' Stories".
12. (October 2012). "Natali Confirmed for Neuromancer".
13. (14 December 2010). "Vote for the 4th Annual Splatcademy Awards".
14. [https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/94166/bryan-fuller-gives-the-scoop-on-hannibal-season-3/ Bryan Fuller Gives the Scoop on Hannibal Season 3]
15. (28 April 2018). "'Tremors' Reboot Pilot Starring Kevin Bacon Not Going Forward at SyFy".
16. Goldberg, Lesley. (November 13, 2019). "'Westworld' Creators' Futuristic Drama 'The Peripheral' Gets Amazon Pickup". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
17. Fingas, Jon. (November 11, 2019). "Amazon orders William Gibson series from the creators of 'Westworld'". [[Engadget]].
18. Maas, Jennifer. (November 13, 2019). "Amazon Greenlights Sci-Fi Series 'The Peripheral' From 'Westworld' Creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy". [[The Wrap]].
19. Foreman, Alison. (3 July 2024). "Fantasia Fest 2024 Announces Its Stellar Final Lineup with 'Ababouiné', 'In Our Blood', and More".