Issa López

Issa López is a Mexican producer, writer and film director. Eleven Spanish language features have been produced from her scripts, four of them directed by herself. She has won several literary awards, including the National Novel Award granted by Mexico's Institute of Fine Arts and Literature in 2007.[1] Issa Lopez is a filmmaker with an interesting and successful career in the Mexican film industry that has been characterized by her particular style and participation in films and soap operas, where drama, romance and comedy are fundamental in the stories.

Issa López
Born
Issa Laura López

1971
Mexico City, Mexico
OccupationFilm director, screenwriter, producer
Years active1994–present

In 2017, Tigers Are Not Afraid (Vuelven in Spanish) premiered at Fantastic Fest, in Austin Texas. Written and directed by López, the film received the Best Horror Director Award, and went on to collect fifty-one awards in film festivals around the world, three Diosas de Plata (the Mexican equivalent of the Golden Globes), including Best Picture and Best Director, and received 10 nominations for the Ariel, (the Mexican Film Academy Award), of which it won two. The film earned multiple positive reviews by major trades and critics, and a "Certified Fresh" rating of 97% in Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently, López is developing projects with Guillermo Del Toro, Noah Hawley and Jason Blum.

Early Life

Issa Lopez was born and raised in Mexico City. Lopez was raised by her father because when she was eight years old, her mother died. Her father was a college professor. During her childhood she faced many challenges because in Mexico her father’s job was not paid well. This was an essential aspect of her life that inspired many of her stories, especially because her dad would try to keep her entertained in some way despite their economic situation. Lopez explained in one of her interviews that she and her dad would “go every weekend to road trip Mexico and go from small town to small town. Sitting to watch kung fu movies in the traveling cinemas on wheels in Mexico, and eating food in the depths of Veracruz, and visiting the most haunted bruja town in Veracruz.”2. Those memories were the inspiration for many of her stories.

Life and career

Issa López began building her career by studying Archeology Studies for about two years, however, she ended up pursuing a BA in Film Directing and Screenwriting, and obtained a BA in Film Directing and Screenwriting from Mexico's National University in 1995. After her BA, she completed a two-year graduate program for dramatic writing which was offered by one of the most popular and the biggest broadcasting network in the Spanish speaking world, Televisa. Issa López began working on playwriting; one of her works was called Parábola del Espárrago y la Mala Amiga which was selected to represent the school at the Metropolitan University’s Theater Festival. After she graduated from the program, she began working as a screenwriting professor at the Writing Studies Center of Televisa, from which she graduated. López began co-writing and producing telenovelas and TV shows at Televisa. In 2003, she wrote the film Ladies’ Night which was a success becoming the 5th biggest grossing Mexican film of 2003 and 2004. Furthermore in 2006, she had her first film Efectos Secundarios as a writer-director released.

López has won several literary awards, including the National Novel Award granted by Mexico's Institute of Fine Arts and Literature.[1] In addition to her literary work, she penned multiple TV shows, some of them reaching the highest audience ratings in Mexican prime-time TV, and wrote the scripts for several film features, three of them produced in Mexico by the Major Hollywood Studios, and two of those directed by herself; Efectos Secundarios (Warner Bros., 2006) and Casi Divas (Sony Pictures, 2008). In 2015, López shot her third feature as a director, and tenth as a writer, Tigers Are Not Afraid. Tigers premiered in September 2017 at Fantastic Fest. This film was a little different from her previous works, Lopez describes it as a pretty dark version of a fairy tale. This movie was very emotional and revealing. Even though it revealed a very serious and specific aspect of Latin America, she made sure to include some comedy, however, the humor throughout the story was not what made it so popular. Lopez describes her experience when she was part of the audience for her movie in different countries. This film was based on many different factors. Lopez implicitly shows some history, social problems as well as myths and legends that are very popular in Mexico throughout this film. In March 2018, Todo Mal, her fourth feature film as a director, 11th as a writer, opened in Mexico.

In 2005, López was selected as one of the 50 Latino Impact Players in Entertainment, by Variety.

In Mexico, López’ movies have ranked among the highest grossing local productions: Ladies' Night (Disney, 2003) ranked fifth, Niñas Mal (Sony Pictures, 2007) seventh, and Efectos Secundarios fifteenth. Casi Divas opened in first place in the box office and went on to a limited theatrical run in the U.S.

Casi Divas received enthusiastic reviews from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and the L.A. Times, among others. The film is the only Mexican movie to be scored by acclaimed Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer, who only charged $1 for his extensive work on the film.[2]

In 2015, 600 Millas, a film with a script co-written by López, was nominated for the Mexican Film Academy Ariel Award for Best Script.[3]

In September 2017, Tigers Are Not Afraid (Vuelven in Spanish) Premiered at Fantastic Fest, in Austin Texas, and received the Best Horror Director Award. Issa López directed, wrote, and was Executive Producer of the film, a dark fable about the children surviving the Mexican drug war, and the ghosts that haunt them.

Tigers Are Not Afraid collected a total of fifty-one awards in Film Festivals around the world, three Diosas de Plata (the Mexican equivalent of the Golden Globes), including Best Picture and Best Director, and has received 10 nominations for the Ariel, (the Mexican Film Academy Award), of which it won two, has earned a large amount of positive reviews by major trades and critics, and a "Certified Fresh" rating of 97% in Rotten Tomatoes. It also got a Best Latin American Director Award in 2019 from NALIP (National Association of Latino Producers) and Fangoria Magazine, specialized in Horror Cinema, awarded it Best Foreign Language Movie in 2020. Stephen King,[4] Neil Gaiman and Guillermo Del Toro manifested their enthusiasm for the movie via social media and interviews.[5]

Currently, López is working with Guillermo del Toro, who announced that he'd produce Lopez' next film,[6] a haunted western about the werewolf mythology,[7] Searchlight Pictures signed her to write and direct The Book of Souls,[8] to be produced by Noah Hawley, and Blumhouse is developing Our Lady of Tears,[9] written and directed by López.

Selected filmography
Year Project Type Cast Details
1994Tan callandoShort filmGerardina Martínez, Carmina MartínezWriter, Director
2000Primer amor... a mil por horaTelenovelaKuno Becker, AnahíWriter
2003Ladies' NightFilmAna Claudia Talancón, Ana de la Reguera, Luis Roberto GuzmánWriter
2006Efectos secundarios (Side Effects)FilmMarina de Tavira, Alejandra Gollás, Arturo BarbaWriter, Director, Associate Producer
2007Niñas mal (Charm School)FilmMartha Higareda, Camila Sodi, Blanca GuerraWriter
2008Casi DivasFilmPatricia Llaca, Julio Bracho, Maya ZapataWriter, Director
2010Sucedió en un día (Segment "Siete")Short filmGustavo Sánchez Parra, Luis Gerardo MéndezWriter, Director
2012Viaje de GeneraciónFilmDanny Perea, Esmeralda PimentelWriter
2013 Pulling Stings Film Jaime Camil, Laura Ramsey, Stockard Channing, Tom Arnold Writer
2015 A la Mala Film Aislinn Derbez, Mauricio Ochmann Writer
2015 600 Millas Film Tim Roth, Kristyan Ferrer Writer
2017 Tigers Are Not Afraid Film Paola Lara, Juan Ramón López, Tenoch Huerta, Ianis Guerrero Writer, Director, Executive Producer
2018 La Boda de Valentina (Valentina's Wedding) Film Omar Chaparro, Marimar Vega, Ryan Carnes. Writer, Executive Producer
2018 Todo Mal Film Osvaldo Benavides, Martín Altomaro, Alfonso Dosal, Marcela Guirado Writer, Director, Producer

Awards

Issa Lopez faced several challenges to get her work recognized, especially because Mexico is a country where women have been fighting against machismo for so many years and being a woman in the film industry during the 1990s was something that wasn't considered traditional. During the 90s, Mexican women who work generally hold jobs considered traditional. Jobs that fit this description include housekeeping, caring for children, teaching, and all types of secretarial work.The late 1990s was the time in which women were gaining more participation in different industries, however, stereotypes about what a person was capable of doing or the opportunities they were given was mainly based on their sex. Lopez began her career in an environment in which there weren't many female directors to look up to and the opportunities to become one were scarce. The events of the 1990s shaped women's involvement over the next 20 years. Issa Lopez became a role model for many women entering the film industry.

Fiction Writer awards

  • Mexico's National Institute of Fine Arts Novel Award, 2007.
  • Efraín Huerta Short Story Award, 1995.
  • Punto de Partida Short Story Award, 1995
  • Alica Short Story Award, 1994.
  • Finalist, Ricardo Pozas Short Story Award, 1996.
  • Finalist, Efren Hernández Short Story Award, 1994.
  • Finalist, New Writers Plaza y Valdes Award, 1992.

Movie awards

References

[12][13][14][15][10][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][11]

  1. "Premio Bellas Artes de Novela José Rubén Romero". literatura.inba.gob.mx. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  2. de la Fuente, Anna Marie (2008-01-19). "Hans Zimmer opens heart for 'Divas'". Variety. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  3. http://www.premioariel.com.mx/images/Franjas/NominadosPorPelicula.pdf
  4. "https://twitter.com/stephenking/status/917924578772611072". Twitter (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-05-11. External link in |title= (help)
  5. "https://twitter.com/realgdt/status/925936863508029440". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-05-11. External link in |title= (help)
  6. de la Fuente, Anna Marie (2018-03-13). "Guillermo del Toro to Produce Issa Lopez, Karla Castaneda's Next Films (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  7. Topel, Fred (2019-03-29). "Guillermo del Toro Teases Upcoming Horror Projects With Jennifer Kent and Issa Lopez". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  8. Fleming, Mike Jr. (2020-01-22). "Issa López To Write/Direct Searchlight Adaptation Of Matthew Baker Short 'Lost Souls;' Noah Hawley Producing". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  9. D'Alessandro, Anthony (2020-05-20). "Blumhouse Developing 'Our Lady Of Tears' With Issa López Adapting & Directing". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  10. "" Best Screenplay Award for Ladies' Night, CYIIF, 2006, Accessed Nov 5 2013
  11. ""Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-05-14. Retrieved 2012-05-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)" Casi Divas Best Screenplay Award at Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, 2008, Accessed Nov 7 2013
  12. ""Issa López National novel award, Accessed 5 Nov 2013
  13. "" Music Hans Zimmer for Casi Divas, Variety, Accessed Nov 5 2013
  14. "" Arieled Members of Mexican Motion Picture Academy, 1994, Accessed Nov 7 2013.
  15. "" Rotten Tomatoes rating and info, Rotten Tomatoes, 2013, Accessed Nov 7 2013
  16. " Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine" Ladies Night, Miravista Films, 2003, Accessed Nov 5 2013
  17. "" Casi Divas review by Variety, 2009, Accessed Nov 5 2013
  18. " Casi Divas Review by Los Angeles Time, 2009, Accessed nov 5 2013
  19. "" Efectos Secundarios, Warner Bros., 2006, Accessed Nov 5 2013
  20. "" Charm School, Sony Pictures, 2007, Accessed Nov 5 2013
  21. ""Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-05-14. Retrieved 2012-05-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)" Best Screenplay Award, Los Angeles Latino Film Festival, 2008, Accessed Nov 5 2013
  22. "" Efectos Secundarios, Awards on IMDb, Accessed Nov 5 2013
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