- Born
- Birth nameJovanka Vuckovic
- Jovanka Vuckovic is an award winning writer and filmmaker. She got her start in broadcasting as a visual effects artist, winning a Gemini Award (Canadian Emmy) for Best Visual Effects, then went on to edit the horror publication Rue Morgue Magazine for six and a half years. Her presence at the helm opened up the doors for more women to become involved in the horror genre and she has been twice-named one of the most influential women in horror, alongside Kathryn Bigelow, Debra Hill, and Mary Shelley.
Vuckovic now writes and directs her own films. The first of which, the award-winning short The Captured Bird, was executive produced by genre film legend Guillermo del Toro. She has been an outspoken voice for gender equality in film and in 2016 she executive produced and directed a segment for XX, the first ever all-female horror anthology from XYZ Films/Magnet Releasing, which had its world premiere at Sundance in 2017. She is a proud member of The Directors Guild of America as well as The Directors Guild of Canada. She is also the author of Zombies! An Illustrated History of the Undead, from St. Martin's Press (with an introduction by zombie godfather, George Romero).- IMDb Mini Biography By: Emma Anderson
- Has appeared as a zombie in Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead and George Romero's Land of the Dead.
- Is of Yuguslavian ancestry.
- When it comes to horror, women are more often seen than they are heard. In other words, people are more familiar with scream queens than they are the contributions of women behind the scenes.
- As I said, it's more often "personalities" that make an impact on the genre, historically. I'd have to say the most significant woman in the history of horror would have to be Vampira (aka Maila Nurmi). She was the first television horror host-a sexy, empowered vamp in a tight black revealing dress-shrieking morbid jokes at viewers when The Vampira Show debuted in 1954s. Before her, almost every female in horror was a victim. Her show didn't last long, but the impression she left on the genre can still be felt today. She was a true trailblazer, the first horror host, the first goth pin-up, the inspiration for Forrest J. Ackerman's Vampirella character and she even allegedly dumped Marlon Brando for stepping on a trail of ants! The horror genre would not be the same without the contributions of this dark diva.
- [on Alien's Ellen Ripley] Thank you, Ridley Scott for not changing the character after you cast a woman in the role.
- In the early 1970s, Gloria Steinem gave an address to the women of America in which she spoke about a 'society in which there will be no roles other than those chosen or those earned.' We have yet to arrive at this utopia. Some still believe women aren't suited for the technical art of filmmaking. Even though Alice Guy-Blaché helped create narrative film as we know it today, people think women can't direct. Even though Ann Radcliffe helped define the Gothic fiction movement - the precursor to modern horror fiction - people think women can't write horror. Even though a woman wrote Frankenstein - arguably the first science fiction novel - people think women can't do sci-fi. There is this erroneous belief that women can't make monsters. But we made all of you, didn't we?
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