BIO
Victor Ridaura is a writer/director born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. He is currently based out of Los Angeles where he graduated from the University of Southern California’s Peter Stark Producing Program.
As a director, Victor uses his passion for subjective storytelling, color theory, and cinematography, to create work that is a heightened reflection of how characters experience their lives. His character-driven films live in a world of memories and perspective, incorporating elements from characters' inner lives into his detailed costuming, vivid production design, and purposeful editing. He casts with an eye for talent that effortlessly embodies the characters and can bring their own unique point of view into their performance, elevating what’s on the page, and capable of living in the subjective realities he creates.
Victor has directed numerous commercials, music videos, and short films, with his latest, THE UGLIEST, being nominated in 2022’s New Filmmakers LA yearly awards—an event presented by the Academy of Motion Pictures—for Best New Media & Experimental short. He was selected as a finalist for the 2022 Commercial Director Diversity Program (CDDP), a program created by the AICP and DGA to increase representation of minority directors in commercials, and was selected to take part in CDDP’s 50/50 Honorable Mentorship Program. He is a fellow of the Ryan Murphy Television Half Initiative program, where he shadowed director Loni Peristere, on the 100th episode of AMERICAN HORROR STORY. And has also shadowed director Stella Meghie on two episodes of BET+'s show THE FIRST WIVES CLUB.
Victor’s short narrative work has been featured in numerous Academy Award- and BAFTA-qualifying festivals including LEEDS, FLICKERS Rhode Island, LALIFF, the NYLatino FF presented by HBO, and NFMLA InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Cinema short festival. His work has also been featured in numerous publications including Pop Sugar, The Cult, Bloody Disgusting, and MovieMaker magazine.
As a writer, Victor uses and subverts genre conventions to tell heightened stories found at the crossroads of the immigrant and minority experience. These suspenseful stories aim to give voice to his community, exploring their inner lives and offering a wider variety of representation to what Latino filmmakers and characters can be in film. His love of subjective storytelling also influences his very visual and personal writing style. His stories are influenced by being raised in a conservative and autocratic country, and having arrived to this one as an immigrant and minority. His tense genre scripts offer personal commentary on racial inequality, government overreach, climate change, and the consequences that lay in front of us if we change nothing.
Victor’s scripts have made him a two-time Slamdance award winner, a semifinalist for Lena Waithe’s Rising Voices Season 2 and 3, a semifinalist on 2022’s Spotlight El Dorado competition presented by McDonalds, as well as countless other recognitions for his particular brand of suspenseful storytelling.
RECOGNITION
Fellow, Ryan Murphy Television HALF Initiative
Finalist, 2022 Commercial Director Diversity Program (CDDP)
Recipient, CDDP’s 50/50 Honorable Mentorship Program
Semifinalist, 2024 Commercial Director Diversity Program (CDDP)
Directing Shadow, First Wives Club, BET+
Finalist, the Walt Disney Television Directing Program
Nominee, THE UGLIEST, 2022 NFMLA YEARLY AWARDS,
Best New Media & Experimental Short
KINGMAKER
feature script
Finalist,
Roadmap Writers GPS Fellowship 2024
Semifinalist,
Final Draft - Big Break 2023
Second Round,
ISA Fast Track Fellowship 2023
Semifinalist,
Filmmatic Horror Screenplay Awards Season 6
Semifinalist,
Filmmatic - Inroads Fellowship Season 5
Quarterfinalist,
ScreenCraft Horror Competition 2024
Quarterfinalist,
Screamfest 2022
Quarterfinalist,
Final Draft - Big Break 2019
Official Selection,
HorrOrigins Film Festival 2024
SUNDOWN COUNTRY
short script
Coverfly Top 1% in Genre/Format
Winner,
Slamdance Screenplay Competition 2018
Semifinalist,
ScreenCraft Short Film Screenplay Competition 2018
Semifinalist,
The Golden Script Competition 2022
Quarterfinalist,
ScreenCraft Short Film Screenplay Competition 2022
Official Selection,
HorrOrigins Film Festival 2024
IDENTIDAD RAZA
short script
Coverfly Top 1% in Genre/Format
Top 10 Finalist,
Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition Season 4
Finalist,
HollyShorts Screenwriting Competition 2023
Top 25 Semifinalist,
Roadmap Writers Shorts Competition 2024
Semifinalist,
Cinequest Screenwriting Competition 2022-2023
Semifinalist,
Filmmatic Short Screenplay Awards Season 8
Semifinalist,
Spotlight El Dorado Season 1
Official Selection,
HorrOrigins Film Festival 2024
THIS IS NOT THE END
short script
Coverfly Top 1% in Genre/Format
Coverfly Top 20 short film script of the year 2024
1st Place Winner,
Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition Season 5
Top 5 Finalist,
Shore Scripts Short Film Fund Fall 2024
Finalist,
HorrOrigins Film Festival 2024
Quarterfinalist,
Final Draft - Big Break 2024
CÁLMATE, MIJA
short script
Mentorship Winner,
Outstanding Screenplays Shorts Competition 2024
Winner,
Slamdance Screenplay Competition 2022
Semifinalist,
Lena Waithe’s Rising Voices Season 2
Semifinalist,
ScreenCraft Short Film Screenplay Competition 2024
Quarterfinalist,
HollyShorts Screenwriting Competition 2022
THE LOTTERY
short script
Coverfly Top 1% in Genre/Format
Semifinalist,
Stowe Story Labs Programs and Fellowships Application 2024
Semifinalist,
Lena Waithe’s Rising Voices Season 3
Semifinalist,
PAGE Awards - PAGE International Screenwriting Awards Competition 2023
Semifinalist,
WeScreenplay Short Script Lab 2023
Quarterfinalist,
ScreenCraft Short Film Screenplay Competition 2023
Quarterfinalist,
Outstanding Screenplays Shorts Competition 2022
Quarterfinalist,
Filmmatic - Inroads Fellowship Season 6
A HOLY CURSE
short script
Quarterfinalist,
Filmmatic Short Screenplay Awards Season 7
Quarterfinalist,
Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition Season 5