Victoria Mahoney

{{Infobox person

| name = Victoria Mahoney

| image = Victoria Mahoney Deauville 2011.jpg

| caption =

| birth_name = Victoria Mahoney

| death_date =

| occupation = {{hlist|Filmmaker|producer|screenwriter|actress}}

| years_active = 1990–present

| spouse =

}}

Victoria Mahoney is an American actress and filmmaker. Her debut feature was 2011’s Yelling to the Sky.

Career

= Acting =

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s Mahoney worked as an actress in largely unnamed roles, appearing in Seinfeld as the character Gladys{{Cite web |title=Victoria Mahoney |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/victoria_mahoney |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=Rotten Tomatoes |language=en}} and in the movie Legally Blonde.{{Cite web |date=2013-02-17 |title=Heineken Affinity Award Profile: Victoria Mahoney |url=https://www.tfiny.org/blog/detail/heineken_affinity_award_profile_victoria_mahoney |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=Tribeca Film Institute}} In 1992 she starred as Antinea in the French film L'Atlantide, based on the French novel Atlantida by Pierre Benoit. Her most recent appearance in front of the camera was a brief cameo in Ava DuVernay's short film Say Yes in 2013.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

= Directing =

Victoria Mahoney made her feature directing debut in 2011 with the semi-autobiographical film Yelling to the Sky. The film follows a young girl’s struggle in high school and her difficult home life. She developed the script through the help of the Directors and Screenwriters Sundance Institute Labs{{Cite web |last=Couch |first=Aaron |date=2018-04-17 |title='Star Wars: Episode IX' Hires Victoria Mahoney as Second Unit Director |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/star-wars-episode-ix-hires-victoria-mahoney-as-second-unit-director-1103611/ |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}} and was awarded the titles of Auerbach Screenwriting Fellow, Annerberg Film Fellow, Cinereach Fellow, Maryland Fellow, IFP Narrative Lab fellow and a Tribeca Film Fellow. The film starred Zoe Kravitz as a troubled teen and Jason Clarke as her father.{{Cite web |last=Guagenti |first=Toni |date=2013-02-11 |title=Inner-city drama pushes first-timer Victoria Mahoney to the top of new directors |url=https://www.pilotonline.com/2013/02/11/inner-city-drama-pushes-first-timer-victoria-mahoney-to-the-top-of-new-directors/ |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=The Virginian-Pilot |language=en-US}}

Yelling to the Sky debuted in competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival and was nominated for the Golden Bear.{{Cite web |last=D'Alessandro |first=Anthony |date=2020-10-26 |title='Rise Of Skywalker' Second Unit Director Victoria Mahoney To Helm Lionsgate Action Drama 'Shadow Force' |url=https://deadline.com/2020/10/rise-of-skywalker-second-unit-director-victoria-mahoney-to-helm-lionsgate-action-drama-shadow-force-1234603490/ |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}} Mahoney was the first woman director/writer, American invited in over sixty years to the Golden Bear competition.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} Variety gave the film a mixed review saying it had, "a strong directional voice struggling to be heard," and was, "strong on texture but taxingly light on narrative."{{Cite web |last=Debruge |first=Peter |date=2011-02-12 |title=Yelling to the Sky |url=https://variety.com/2011/film/markets-festivals/yelling-to-the-sky-1117944583/ |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} Yelling to the Sky also screened at SXSW before releasing theatrically and on streaming in December, 2012.{{Cite web |last=Mulligan |first=Billy |date=2011-03-12 |title="Yelling to the Sky" Producer Billy Mulligan, Part One |url=https://filmmakermagazine.com/21272-yelling-to-the-sky-producer-billy-mulligan-part-one/ |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=Filmmaker Magazine |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Peck |first=Patrice |date=2012-12-13 |title=Victoria Mahoney Takes a Risk in Directorial Debut, 'Yelling to the Sky' |url=https://www.ebony.com/victoria-mahoney-takes-a-risk-in-directorial-debut-yelling-to-the-sky/ |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=EBONY |language=en-US}}

In 2013, she was nominated for the inaugural Tribeca Film Institute's Heineken Affinity Award's $20,000 prize. In a profile accompanying her nomination, Mahoney explained what she wants people to take away from her films saying, “My overriding intentions as a filmmaker, is to tap into individual inquiries and reflect-whatever is hidden... From my filmmaking, I’d love audiences to receive some measure of inspiration; to investigate the human condition.” Mahoney ultimately lost to Ava DuVernay, with whom she would later partner on a television project in 2020.{{Cite web |last=Kay |first=Jeremy |date=2013-04-20 |title=TFI unveils Heineken winner |url=https://www.screendaily.com/tribeca-news/tfi-unveils-heineken-winner/5054099.article |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=ScreenDaily |language=en}}

In the same year, Mahoney directed a short film starring Selena Gomez and Shiloh Fernandez for Flaunt.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzZOInRU4ng|title = "Searching" Starring Selena Gomez & Shiloh Fernandez|website = YouTube| date=11 November 2013 }}{{Primary source inline|date=May 2024}} She also directed several episodes of television shows, including Queen Sugar and You.{{Cite news |last=Felton |first=Lena |date=2019-12-20 |title=The 'secret' the first female director of 'Star Wars' didn't want fans to know before opening night |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/gender-identity/the-secret-the-first-female-director-of-star-wars-didnt-want-fans-to-know-before-opening-night/ |access-date=2024-05-10 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} In 2018 Mahoney was hired as second unit director on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, marking her as the first woman to direct on a Star Wars film in the franchise's forty year history.

In 2020, Amazon Studios announced that Mahoney would be working with Ava DuVernay to adapt Octavia E. Butler’s sci-fi novel Dawn for television.{{Cite web |last=Goldberg |first=Lesley |date=2020-02-26 |title=Ava DuVernay, Victoria Mahoney Team for 'Dawn' TV Series at Amazon |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/ava-duvernay-victoria-mahoney-team-dawn-tv-series-at-amazon-1281239/ |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}} In 2021, Netflix announced that Mahoney would take over directing duties from Gina Prince-Bythewood as director for The Old Guard 2.{{cite web|title='The Old Guard 2': Netflix And Skydance Tap Victoria Mahoney To Direct Next Installment As Charlize Theron And KiKi Layne Close Deals To Return|url=https://deadline.com/2021/08/the-old-guard-2-netflix-skydance-victoria-mahoney-direct-charlize-theron-kiki-layne-1234822323/|access-date=2011-08-26|work=Deadline}}

Filmography

Film

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title ! Director ! Producer ! Writer
2011 \| Yelling to the Sky \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}}
2025 \| The Old Guard 2 \| {{yes}} \| {{no}} \| {{no}}

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

! Director

! Producer

! Writer

2011

| Yelling to the Sky

| {{yes}}

2025

| The Old Guard 2

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

Short film

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title ! Director ! Producer
2012 \| Wracked \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}}
2013 \| Searching \| {{yes}} \| {{no}}

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

! Director

! Producer

2012

| Wracked

| {{yes}}

2013

| Searching

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

TV movies

Bleach (2014)
Under the Bridge (2024)

Television

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title ! Episode(s)
rowspan=3\|2016 \| Survivor's Remorse \| "The Photoshoot"
Queen Sugar \| "By Any Chance"
Grey's Anatomy \| "Falling Slowly"
rowspan=5\|2017 \| American Crime \| "Season Three: Episode Three"
rowspan=2\|Gypsy \| "Euphoria"
"Marfa"
Claws \| "Fallout"
Power \| "That Ain't Me"
rowspan=2\|2018 \| Seven Seconds \| "Witnesses for the Prosecution"
You \| "The Captain"
rowspan=3\|2019 \|rowspan=2\|I Am the Night \| "Dark Flower"
"Matador"
The Red Line \| "We Must All Care" (Also producer)
2020 \| Lovecraft Country \| "A History of Violence"
2021 \| The Morning Show \| "Confirmations"
2022 \| Night Sky \| "Lake Diving"
2024 \| Grey's Anatomy \| "I Can See Clearly Now"
2025 \| Suits LA \| "Pilot" (Also executive producer)

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

! Episode(s)

rowspan=3|2016

| Survivor's Remorse

| "The Photoshoot"

Queen Sugar

| "By Any Chance"

Grey's Anatomy

| "Falling Slowly"

rowspan=5|2017