Izzy Lee
Izzy Lee | |
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![]() Lee in 2014 | |
Alma mater | Massachusetts College of Art and Design |
Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, director, producer, actor, writer |
Izzy Lee is an American filmmaker and writer, known for her short films Re-Home (2019),[1] The Obliteration of the Chickens (2019),[2] My Monster (2018), and Innsmouth, which she produced through her company Nihil Noctem.[3][4] She has written for multiple outlets such as Birth.Movies.Death,[5] Rue Morgue,[6] TwitchFilm, and Fangoria and has also helped program and curate film festivals like the Boston Underground and the Boston Sci-Fi Fest.[7][8]
Lee began showing an interest in horror in kindergarten and later attended the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where she received a BFA in illustration.[7][8] She initially started as an actor and writer, but branched out into filmmaking in order to "see if I could do it".[8]
Lee started her filmmaking career in Massachusetts, where she was featured on WCVB Channel 5’s news show, Chronicle. in 2021.[9] Lee has gained a following leading up to articles which shine a light on her talent as an up-and-coming director, such as "one of 10 female horror directors Blumhouse should hire" from The A.V. Club,[10] as well as from author and film festival programmer Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, who stated that "...Izzy Lee... is going to be massive once she gets the break that she deserves" in Entertainment Weekly.[11]
Lee often works with socio-political themes in horror and thrillers, as well as cult or weird genres.[12][13] Lee's first short film, Legitimate, was released in 2013 and was partially inspired by Representative Todd Akin's comments about "legitimate" rape.[7] The following year, Lee directed a trailer, Come Out and Play, for Christopher Golden's 2014 novel Snowblind.[14] In 2015 Lee released Innsmouth, which was inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft, particularly The Shadow over Innsmouth.[15][16] The short received some media attention for Lee's choice to feature a predominantly female cast, which she did in order to "make [Lovecraft] roll over in his grave a little by having the cast 98% female and switching the gender roles.”[17] Her short film Re-Home (2019) started as a reaction to the promise of a wall built between the United States and Mexico.[18] Lee has also tackled abuse within the Catholic Church with Rites of Vengeance (2017)[19] and revenge porn with For A Good Time, Call... (2017).[20]
In 2023, her short film, Meat Friend[21] starring Marnie McKendry[22] (daughter of fellow horror filmmakers Rebekah and David McKendry),[23] Megan Duffy, and Steve Johanson, was nominated for Best Short by Fangoria for their annual Chainsaw Awards.[24]
The filmmaker often casts other directors in her short films, such as: Gigi Saul Guerrero[25] in Re-Home; Brea Grant and Daniel Isn't Real director, Adam Egypt Mortimer in My Monster; Silvia Graziano and The Ranger producer Heather Buckley in Rites of Vengeance; and Sophia Cacciola in Innsmouth. The author Bracken MacLeod[26] provided the voiceover for the experimental, Werner Herzog-influenced The Obliteration of the Chickens (2019),[27] while Lee herself narrated Disco Graveyard (2020).[28]
Filmography
Year | Film | Director | Writer | Producer | Actor | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Legitimate | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film, as Masked Woman[7] |
2013 | Ave Maria | No | No | No | Yes | Short film |
2014 | Come Out and Play | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
2014 | Picket | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
2014 | Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling: Episode 15 - The Girl Who Was Death | No | No | No | Yes | Video short, as Barfly |
2015 | Bring Us Your Women | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Segment "Arya Tara", Actress in segment "Sirens", as Persephone |
2015 | Invisible Friend | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
2015 | A Favor | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Short film[29][30][31][32] |
2015 | Innsmouth | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film, as Izzy[33] |
2015 | Postpartum | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Short film[34][35] |
2016 | Grindsploitation | Yes | Yes | No | No | Segment "John Smith" |
2016 | 60 Seconds to Die | Yes | No | No | No | Segment "Necrosis" |
2016 | Trinity | No | No | No | Yes | as Tarot Card Reader Two |
2017 | For a Good Time, Call… | Yes | No | Yes | No | Short film, written by Chris Hallock, shot by Bryan McKay, co-produced with Severin Films |
2017 | Rites of Vengeance | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Short film, co-produced with Mary McDonagh and Paul Furio |
2018 | My Monster | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Short film, co-produced with Richard Stringham |
2019 | Clickbait | No | No | No | Yes | as Biology 433: Plant Taxonomy and Human Dissection student, Halloween Partier |
2019 | The Obliteration of the Chickens | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
2020 | Disco Graveyard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film |
2020 | Consider the Titanic | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Music Video |
2022 | Meat Friend[36] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
2022 | Memento Mori[37] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film |
References
- ^ "Cinepocalypse 2019: Izzy Lee's 'Re-Home' – Short Film Review". Pop Horror.
- ^ "THE SHORT FILMS OF IZZY LEE #2 (2019)". Cinedump.
- ^ "INTVW: A SIX PACK OF NEW ENGLAND FILM-MAKING MASTER MINDS, PT.1". Icons of Fright. 2016-04-28. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
- ^ "Interview with 'Innsmouth' Director Izzy Lee". Tom Holland's Terror Time. 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
- ^ "Izzy Lee". Birth. Movies. Death.
- ^ "Izzy Lee". Rue Morgue.
- ^ a b c d "NO-BUDGET NIGHTMARES: SHORT FILM ROUNDUP (IZZY LEE'S LEGITIMATE)". Daily Grindhouse. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ^ a b c Torretti, Barbara (2015-08-14). "Interview with actress, writer and director Izzy Lee". DarkVeins. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
- ^ "New England native Izzy Lee takes on the strange and unusual in her short films". WVCB5.
- ^ Rife, Katie. "We rounded up 10 female horror directors for Jason Blum, who seems to have trouble finding them". The A.V. Club.
- ^ "1000 Women in Horror author says book could have been ten times longer". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ "Writer/Directory Izzy Lee once again defies the "Genre Box" with the experimental short film, 'The Obliteration of the Chickens'". Hellbent for Horror.
- ^ "THE SHORT FILMS OF IZZY LEE (2017)". Cinedump.
- ^ Lee, Izzy (January 5, 2014). "Come Out and Play". YouTube. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
- ^ "Travel to Innsmouth for a Teaser and Some Stills". Dread Central. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
- ^ "INNSMOUTH (Short Film)". Starburst Magazine. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
- ^ "Izzy Lee puts a New Spin on Lovecraft with Short INNSMOUTH". Diabolique Magazine. 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
- ^ "Cinepocalypse 2019: Izzy Lee's 'Re-Home' – Short Film Review". Pop Horror.
- ^ "RITES OF VENGEANCE: Short Film Review". SCREAM.
- ^ "Short Film, Short Review: FOR A GOOD TIME, CALL..." Screen Anarchy.
- ^ Malone, Stephanie. "13 Stellar Shorts From Genreblast 2022". Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ Melanson, Angel. "A Sentient Pile Of Murderous Hamburger Meat: Watch The MEAT FRIEND Teaser Now". Fangoria. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ Fassel, Preston. "[review] With 'memento Mori' And 'meat Friend,' Izzy Lee Ups Her Short Game- And Shows She Needs A Feature". Daily Grindhouse. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ Gilchrist, Todd (27 January 2023). "Jordan Peele's 'Nope,' Ti West's 'Pearl' Lead Fangoria's Chainsaw Award Nominations". Variety. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ "Gigi Saul Guerrero To Direct Orion Horror Thriller '10-31′". Deadline. 14 January 2020.
- ^ "BRACKEN MACLEOD". Macmillan Publishers.
- ^ "The Obliteration of the Chickens' (2019) Short Review". Pop Horror. 2 March 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ Danielle, Tori. "[Short Film Review] DISCO GRAVEYARD". Nightmarish Conjurings. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ Dolan, Patrick. "Review: Izzy Lee's new short A FAVOR". Rue Morgue. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ^ Unsworth, Martin. "A FAVOR (Short Film)". Starburst. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ^ Muller, Stuart. "FrightFest 2015 Review: A FAVOR Engenders Favour". Twitch Film. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ^ Villalpando, Tiffany (17 July 2015). "Favor, A (Short)". Dread Central. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ^ Hallam, Scott (8 September 2015). "Innsmouth (Short, 2015) (review)". Dread Central. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ^ Mueller, Stuart. "Review: POSTPARTUM. So, Speaking Of Six-Minute Emotional Roller Coasters". Twitch Film. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ^ Lidstone, David. "We review Izzy Lee's short horror film POSTPARTUM". Rue Morgue. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ^ XIII, Daniel (5 February 2022). "Short Film Review: Meat Friend (2022)". Horror Fuel.
- ^ XIII, Daniel (5 May 2022). "Short Film Review: Memento Mori (2022)". Horror Fuel.