TOTA
AKA Thoranna Sigurdardottir
ABOUT
Raised in Reykjavik, Iceland, Thoranna Sigurdardottir wrote her philosophy thesis on Nietzsche's theories in GROUNDHOG DAY. After graduation, she became a producer, working with directors such as WIM WENDERS and ZACK SNYDER. She also worked as a coordinator on LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER.
When Thoranna moved to Los Angeles, she produced, along with STEVE GOLIN, her first feature film, ALL GOD'S CHILDREN CAN DANCE, an adaptation of HARUKI MURAKAMI'S short story. She invited the DALAI LAMA to Iceland and produced a documentary on climate change featuring the Tibetan leader. In 2012, she worked as a UPM on DARREN ARONOFSKY’S film NOAH.
Thoranna was accepted to the AFI DWW program and graduated in 2015. She directed her first short ZELOS, which won several awards on the festival circuit and earned her “Filmmaker to Watch” at Palm Springs and Atlanta Film Festival. Thoranna wrote an ALIEN short for FOX STUDIOS through their 2017 Filmmaker Lab. Last year, she shadowed on AMERICAN HORROR STORY through the HALF program, as well as directed a proof of concept pilot called TRACKERS for UCP and NEW FORM.
Thoranna has directed music videos for several bands such as the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS and COLD WAR KIDS. Her music video MIND ON FIRE, for AISHA BADRU, was selected for SXSW 2018. She is also developing a feature version of ZELOS with JENNIFER ANISTON attached.
AWARDS
Best Student Live Action Short (15 mins), Palm Springs Film Fest
Alexis Award for Best Emerging Student Filmmaker, Palm Springs Film Fest
Best Sci-Fi, Rhode Island Film Festival
Best Experimental Production, Montreal Student Film Fest
Filmmaker to Watch Award, Atlanta Film Festival
Best Student Film, Coronado Island Film Fest
Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking Award, Newport Beach Film Fest