John V. Soto

John V. Soto
Occupation

John V. Soto is an Australian film director and co-founder of Filmscope Entertainment, a production company based in Western Australia that focuses on commercial genre films.[1]

Career

Soto won Best Director for his film The Reckoning at the 2014 British Independent Film Festival, where the film had its UK premiere at Leicester Square on 9 May 2014. He has written and directed several feature films, including Crush (2009), starring Christopher Egan; Needle (2010), starring Travis Fimmel and Ben Mendelsohn; and The Reckoning (2014), starring Jonathan LaPaglia and Luke Hemsworth.[2][3] The Reckoning premiered at CinefestOZ on 29 August 2014 and was released in Australia on 5 September 2014. The film had its Australian TV premiere on 7 December 2015 on Channel One (Network Ten).

Soto also directed the sci-fi thriller The Gateway (2017), starring Jacqueline McKenzie. The film was selected for the FilmQuest and Austin Revolution festivals in 2017, winning Best Feature Director at the latter, as well as receiving nominations for Best Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Screenplay.[4]

In 2010, Soto wrote and directed Needle,[5] a supernatural thriller starring Ben Mendelsohn, Trilby Glover, and Michael Dorman. The film was distributed internationally through a partnership with Lightning Entertainment.[6] Needle was released in Turkey, where it reached no. 4 at the box office on 29 July 2011, running for 13 weeks.[citation needed] The film was acquired by Sony for Australia and had a limited theatrical release before its home entertainment release. Needle won several awards, including Best Cinematography and Best Special Effects at the British Horror Film Festival, and Best Makeup Special Effects at Screamfest and the Melbourne Underground Film Festival, where Soto also won the Special Jury Prize.

Soto's 2009 film Crush, which he wrote and co-directed, was sold in 54 countries. He also wrote the script for Prey (2009)[7] and directed the 2007 short film Repulsion.

Filmography

Year Title Role Format Status
2007 Repulsion director Short Film Completed
2009 Crush writer, director Feature Released
2010 Needle writer, director Feature Released
2014 The Reckoning writer, director Feature Released
2017 The Gateway writer, director Feature Released
2022 Avarice writer, director Feature Released

Awards and nominations

Attributed awards in film
Year Film Festival Award nomination Result
2011 Needle Melbourne Underground Film Festival (2011) Special Jury Prize Won
2014 The Reckoning The British Independent Film Festival (2014) Best Director Won

References

  1. ^ "Filmscope Entertainment". Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  2. ^ Slade, Kale (5 May 2023). ""The Reckoning" – An Interview with John V. Soto about his Latest Film | Movie Vine".
  3. ^ "Reference at www.perthnow.com.au".[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ "2017 Award Winners". www.austinrevolution.com. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Screamfest '10: Killer Film talks with Needle director John V. Soto". Archived from the original on 12 November 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  6. ^ Sandy George2011-01-25T09:31:00+00:00. "Lightning pins down more buyers for Needle". Screen. Retrieved 11 December 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Geoff Lealand; Goldsmith, Ben (2010). Directory of World Cinema: Australia and New Zealand (IB - Directory of World Cinema). Intellect Ltd. pp. 198. ISBN 978-1-84150-373-8.