Victor Salva

Infobox Actor

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caption =
birthdate = birth date and age|1958|03|29
birthplace = Martinez, California, United States
birthname = Victor Ronald Salva
spouse =
yearsactive = 1986 - present
awards = Moxie! Award for Best Feature - Santa Monica Film Festival
1999 "Rites of Passage"

Victor Ronald Salva [http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/cgi/prosoma.dll?searchby=offender&id=1869408346188 California Registered Sex Offender Profile - Victor Salva] (HTML) Megan's Law - California Sex Offender Registry. Retrieved on 2008-09-08] (born March 29 1958) is an American film director, mostly of horror movies. His body of work includes the films "Powder" and "Jeepers Creepers". His work is often overshadowed by his conviction for sexually molesting a 12-year-old child actor Nathan Forrest Winters. Salva pleaded guilty in 1988 to five felony counts of child sex abuse; he served 15 months of a three-year prison sentence.

Early life and career

Salva was born in Martinez, California. He grew up watching "Creature Features" on television and is a self-confessed "Jaws" baby". In 1986, he made the low budget horror film "Something in the Basement" which attracted the attention of filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, who in turn helped Salva finance his first feature-length film, "Clownhouse" (1989), and many subsequent films.

Criminal conviction

While directing "Clownhouse", Salva molested one of the film's actors, 12-year-old Nathan Forrest Winters. The sexual acts were videotaped by Salva, who pleaded guilty to one count of lewd and lascivious conduct, one count of oral copulation with a person under 14, and three counts of procuring a child pornography. Salva was sentenced to three years in prison. He served 15 months of the sentence before being paroled.

Later career

It would be seven years before Salva made another film, 1994's "The Nature of the Beast". In 1995, he directed the Disney-financed "Powder". Just before the film's release, Winters once again came forward with what Salva had done to him. The subsequent media coverage, and speculation as to why Disney would hire a convicted sex offender, ensured that Salva would not make another film until 1999's "Rites of Passage", which took the Grand Prize at the Santa Monica Film Festival.

Salva, who is openly gay,citation |title=Now Playing |periodical=Between the Lines News |date=2003-10-02 |accessdate=2007-08-27 |url=http://www.pridesource.com/article.shtml?article=4610.] citation |title=Nature Boy: The Unauthorized Biography of Dean Stockwell |first=M. L |last=Zambrana |year=2002 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=0595218296 |page=92.] wrote and directed the horror film "Jeepers Creepers" (2001) and its sequel "Jeepers Creepers II" (2003). In 2006, he directed "Peaceful Warrior".

Filmography

* 2009: "Jeepers Creepers III"
* 2006: "Peaceful Warrior"
* 2003: "Jeepers Creepers II"
* 2001: "Jeepers Creepers"
* 1999: "Rites of Passage"
* 1995: "The Nature of the Beast"
* 1995: "Powder"
* 1989: "Clownhouse"
* 1986: "Something in the Basement"

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0759207|name=Victor Salva
* [http://www.vachss.com/mission/disney.html Media reports archive] related to the director's sexual molestation of a child actor and his films "Powder" and "Jeepers Creepers"