 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling.(September 2023) |
Leigh Janiak | |
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| Born | Leigh Anne Janiak [1] February 1, 1980 Ohio, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago New York University |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2005–present |
| Spouse | |
Leigh Anne Janiak (born February 1, 1980) is an American film director and screenwriter. She is best known for directing the horror films Honeymoon (2014) and the Fear Street Trilogy (2021).
Janiak was born on February 1, 1980, in Ohio. [2] She graduated from Mentor High School in Mentor, Ohio, [3] where she was heavily involved in theater. She did an undergraduate course in comparative religion at New York University, before studying at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study and then at a graduate school at the University of Chicago, where she was studying for a PhD in Modern Jewish Literature but left without earning the degree. [4] [5]
Janiak moved to Los Angeles in 2005, where she worked for two production companies. [4] Her first industry job was at Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way, as a producer's assistant. Prior to directing Honeymoon , Janiak turned down an opportunity to direct a network television show as one of the conditions of the directing job required her to shadow a veteran director. [6] Janiak was afraid that shadowing a veteran director would affect her career as a female filmmaker as she did not want to be stigmatized. [6] Janiak made her directorial debut with the horror film Honeymoon, starring Rose Leslie and Harry Treadaway, debuting the film at the South by Southwest in 2014. The film's development started in 2010, [7] and Janiak began writing the script together with Phil Graziadei in 2012. [4] The film shot in 2013 in North Carolina on a limited budget. It received positive reviews from critics, with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes' critics' consensus stating that it "packs more slow-building horror than many bigger-budget productions." [8]
In May 2015, Sony Pictures announced that Janiak would be writing and directing a remake of the 1996 horror film The Craft. [9] In 2017, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Janiak was no longer attached to the project. [10] Janiak also directed some episodes of the horror TV shows Scream and Outcast. [10] [11] She directed season 1, episode 7, "In the Trenches" and season 2, episode 9, "The Orphange" for Scream . For Outcast , she directed season 1, episode 7, "The Damage Done". She also directed season 1, episode 1 of Amazon Studios' 2021 teen drama series Panic. All of her entries in television were received well by fans.
In July 2017, a trilogy of films adapting R. L. Stine's Fear Street series of novels was announced by 20th Century Fox, with Janiak set to direct and rewrite the scripts with Graziadei. [10] The first film began filming at Atlanta and East Point, Georgia, in March 2019, [12] [13] and filming wrapped in September 2019. [14] The three films were shot in succession throughout a 106 day shoot. [15] The trilogy was released in July 2021 on Netflix. [16] Natalia Winkelman described the trilogy as " Scream meets Stranger Things built on a supernatural premise sturdy enough to sustain interest and suspense over nearly six hours", in a review for The New York Times . [17] Fear Street includes three films, and Janiak plans to continue with the franchise and create a larger Fear Street Universe. [18]
On July 19, 2021, it was announced that Janiak was set to direct two episodes of the upcoming crime drama miniseries The Staircase. [11] Antonio Campos began developing the project in 2008, and it was announced in 2019 that Annapurna Television was bringing it into development. The series shot in 2021 in Atlanta, GA, and Janiak was brought on to direct two episodes. She directed episode 5, "The Beating Heart", and episode 6, "Red in Tooth and Claw". On May 5, 2022, the series premiered on HBO Max. The series was well received by audiences and critics, earning nominations from the Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards, the Primetime Emmy Awards, and Television Critics Association Awards.
Janiak's directing style differs from film to film. In Honeymoon, the film is steeped in sepia tones and all colors are desaturated. The idea and tone for the film were inspired by Invasion of the Body Snatchers . [19] The film heavily relies on body horror and subverts traditional horror gender roles.
Fear Street: Part One - 1994 paid homage to 90s slasher films like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer . [20] The film mirrors the tone of these films with its sense of humor and cinematography as the film is shot in a studio style similar to 90s slasher films. The murder of Maya Hawke as the character of Heather in Fear Street: Part One - 1994 is a nod to Drew Barrymore's death as Casey in the original Scream Film. There is also a recreation of a scene in Scream where students make jokes about the murder that in Fear Street: Part One - 1994 where a student dons a skull-mask killer mask rather than a ghost-face killer mask. The film also employs some of the graphic violence that is portrayed in 90s slasher films. The film also adopts a 90s aesthetic in its settings through the use of the soft glow of neon lights in the Shadyside mall as well as in its soundtrack.
Janiak used Kate's death in the first film as a way of lulling the audience into a false sense of safety as she dies late in the film and has the most violent death in the entire trilogy. [21] Kate and Simon's death allow the audience to experience "real loss" that allows the series to propel forward. [21]
Fear Street: Part Two - 1978 pays homage slashers of the 70s, such as Friday the 13th (franchise) , changing the setting from a mall to summer camp. [20] Fear Street: Part Two - 1978 filmed the camp sections at Camp Rutlege, which was across from Camp Daniel Morgan, a shooting location for Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. [22] The camp setting is a direct homage to Friday the 13th. Fear Street: Part Two - 1978 takes on a voyeuristic tone similarly to 70s slashers in its cinematography as the viewer often watches how the events of the film unfold from outside of a window or hidden in the trees through a handheld camera.
Fear Street: Part Two - 1978 was the last movie to be filmed in the entire trilogy, which is why the tone varies so much from the first film and the second half of the last film. Because of this, Janiak decided to up the violence and blood. [21]
Unlike the first two installments, Fear Street: Part Three - 1666 does not pay homage to horror icons, but to The New World. [20] The first half of the film shows the dissolution and decay of a settlement. The scenes are shot in a desaturated color palette and are shot on a handheld camera to emulate the time period. The film also uses a lot of natural lighting to help set the tone. The film then jumps back to 1994, assuming the 90s aesthetic once again.
Honeymoon discusses the concept of identity throughout the film. [19] It relates to human fears by focusing on themes of losing loved ones, breaking trust, isolation, and losing one's identity. [23]
The Fear Street Trilogy allowed Janiak to create a horror film that told the stories of outsiders. [24] The film's main characters are a lesbian couple, allowing the film to discuss homophobia in a horror film as the queer characters are typically killed off early in horror films. [24] With discussing homophobia, the Fear Street Trilogy also discusses things like police brutality and the planting of evidence through the interactions between Martin and Sheriff Goode. We also see Sheriff Goode abuse his power as police chief in order to achieve his goals. This end reveal is Janiak's commentary about oppression by the powerful to maintain their status, rather than taking accountability for their own shortcomings. The characters who prevail in the end symbolize uniqueness and greatness being triumphant.
The divide of Shadyside and Sunnyvale allows the film to also discuss classism in how the townspeople interact with one another. There is a lot of commentary engrained into how townspeople describe the other town and how the towns are presented. Shadyside is considered lower-class and earns the moniker of "murder capital of the United States". Meanwhile, its sister but polar opposite town, Sunnyvale, is the safe home to the privileged upper-class. We also see themes of love struggling to overcome these divisions with two of the main characters, Deena and Sam, and again with Ziggy and Nick in Fear Street Part 2 . [25]
Janiak married fellow filmmaker Ross Duffer in Palm Springs, California, in December 2015. The couple met in 2006 at a production company in Los Angeles, where Janiak was an assistant to the producer and Duffer was an intern. [2]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Distributor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Honeymoon | Yes | Yes | Magnolia Pictures |
| 2021 | Fear Street Part One: 1994 | Yes | Yes | Netflix |
| Fear Street Part Two: 1978 | Yes | Yes | Netflix | |
| Fear Street Part Three: 1666 | Yes | Yes | Netflix |
| Year | Title | Notes | Distributor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–16 | Scream | Episodes "In the Trenches" and "The Orphanage" | The Weinstein Company |
| 2016 | Outcast | Episode "The Damage Done" | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |
| 2018 | Panic | Episode "Pilot" (executive producer) | Amazon Studios |
| 2022 | The Staircase | 2 episodes | Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming & Interactive Entertainment |
Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for her performances in the horror and slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream queen, in addition to roles in comedies. Curtis has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Golden Globes, as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy and a Grammy.
Scream is a 1996 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich and Drew Barrymore. Set in the small American town of Woodsboro, Scream's plot follows high school student Sidney Prescott (Campbell) and her friends, who, on the anniversary of her mother's murder, become the targets of a costumed serial killer known as Ghostface.
Wesley Earl Craven was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural impact and influence of his work. Amongst his prolific filmography, Craven was best known for his pioneering work in the horror genre, particularly slasher films, where he mixed horror cliches with humor and satire.
A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools such as knives, chainsaws, scalpels, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic term for any horror film involving murder, film analysts cite an established set of characteristics which set slasher films apart from other horror subgenres, such as monster movies, splatter films, supernatural and psychological horror films.
A scream queen is an actress who is prominent and influential in horror films, either through a notable appearance or recurring roles. A scream king is the male equivalent. Notable examples include Barbara Steele, Sandra Peabody, Linda Blair, Olivia Hussey, Marilyn Burns, Neve Campbell, Daria Nicolodi, Dee Wallace, Jamie Lee Curtis, Heather Langenkamp, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Linnea Quigley.
Robert Lawrence Stine, sometimes known as Jovial Bob Stine and Eric Affabee, is an American novelist, short story writer, television producer, screenwriter, and executive editor.
Scream 3 is a 2000 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger. It stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox Arquette, Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Foley, Lance Henriksen, Matt Keeslar, Jenny McCarthy, Emily Mortimer, Deon Richmond, and Patrick Warburton. It is a sequel to Scream 2 (1997) and the third installment in the Scream film series. The film's story takes place three years after the previous film's events and follows Sidney Prescott (Campbell), who has gone into self-imposed isolation following the events of the previous two films but is drawn to Hollywood after a new Ghostface begins killing the cast of the film within a film Stab 3. Scream 3 combines the violence of the slasher genre with comedy and "whodunit" mystery, while satirizing the cliché of film trilogies. Unlike the previous Scream films, there was an increased emphasis on comedic elements in this installment; the violence and horror were reduced in response to increased public scrutiny about violence in media, following the Columbine High School massacre.
Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp is an American actress, writer, director, disc jockey, and producer. Although she has acted in many film genres, she is primarily known for her work in horror films, in addition to her work on television sitcoms. Langenkamp has been referred to as a scream queen and was inducted into the Fangoria Chainsaw Hall of Fame in 1995.
Fear Street is a teenage horror fiction series written by American author R. L. Stine, starting in 1989. In 1995, a series of books inspired by the Fear Street series, called Ghosts of Fear Street, was created for younger readers, and were more like the Goosebumps books in that they featured paranormal adversaries and sometimes had twist endings.
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Honeymoon is a 2014 American supernatural horror film directed by Leigh Janiak in her feature directorial debut, from a screenplay by Janiak and Phil Graziadei. It stars Rose Leslie and Harry Treadaway as a newly married couple whose honeymoon ends up being plagued by a series of strange events. The film had its world premiere on March 7, 2014, at South by Southwest, and was theatrically released by Magnolia Pictures on September 12, 2014.
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Fear Street Part One: 1994 is a 2021 American supernatural slasher film directed by Leigh Janiak, with a script co-written by Phil Graziadei, and Janiak, from an original story by Kyle Killen, Graziadei, and Janiak. Based on the book series of the same name by R. L. Stine, it is the first installment in the Fear Street trilogy and stars Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr., Julia Rehwald, Fred Hechinger, Ashley Zukerman, Darrell Britt-Gibson, and Maya Hawke. The film follows after a series of brutal slayings, a teen and her friends take on an evil force that’s plagued their notorious town for centuries.
Fear Street Part Two: 1978 is a 2021 American teen supernatural slasher film directed by Leigh Janiak, with a script co-written by Janiak, and Zak Olkewicz, from an original story by Janiak, Olkewicz, and Phil Graziadei. Based on the book series of the same name by R. L. Stine, it is the second installment in the Fear Street trilogy after Part One: 1994 and stars Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, Ryan Simpkins, McCabe Slye, Ted Sutherland, Gillian Jacobs, Kiana Madeira, Benjamin Flores Jr., and Olivia Scott Welch. The film centers on the cursed town of Shadyside, a killer’s murder spree terrorizes Camp Nightwing and turns a summer of fun into a gruesome fight for survival.
Fear Street Part Three: 1666 is a 2021 American supernatural horror film directed by Leigh Janiak, who co-wrote the screenplay with Phil Graziadei, and Kate Trefry. Based on the book series of the same name by R. L. Stine, it is the third and final installment of the Fear Street trilogy after Part One: 1994 and Part Two: 1978 and stars Kiana Madeira, Ashley Zukerman, Gillian Jacobs, Olivia Scott Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr., and Darrell Britt-Gibson. The film follows the origins of Shadyside's curse in the mid-17th century and the survivors in 1994 who try to put an end to it.
The Fear Street Trilogy is an American horror film series, with varying subgenres of horror, particularly the slasher and supernatural subgenres. Directed by Leigh Janiak from scripts and stories she co-wrote with other contributors, the films are based on R. L. Stine's book series of the same name. The overall story revolves around teenagers who work to break the curse that has been over their town for hundreds of years. Produced and developed by 20th Century Studios and Chernin Entertainment, the film's distribution rights were eventually acquired by Netflix following The Walt Disney Company's purchase of 21st Century Fox.
Olivia Scott Welch, also known as Olivia Welch, is an American actress. She portrayed Samantha "Sam" Fraser in the Netflix horror film trilogy Fear Street and Heather Nill in the Prime Video series Panic.
