Biography

Tony E. Valenzuela is an award-winning writer and director, and the creator of BlackBoxTV®, the longest-running horror channel on YouTube. Since launching BlackBoxTV in 2010, he has produced 100+ original horror films, series and immersive experiences, generating more than 270 million views and 9.5 million hours watched, with 22 titles surpassing one million views.

Valenzuela has a track record of spotting talent before the industry does. He hired Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane, Predator franchise) to direct his first studio short in 2011, put future SNL director Mike Diva behind the camera for Proxy: A Slender Man Story, and worked with composer Brandon Roberts years before his Emmy for Free Solo. In 2012, he partnered with YouTube's $100 million Original Channel Initiative to launch a scripted slate, including a collaboration with C.S.I. creator Anthony E. Zuiker. He followed that with Fight of the Living Dead for YouTube Red (50M+ views across three seasons) and The Fourth Door for Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's New Form Digital. His debut feature The Axe Murders of Villisca (2016) premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival, was released theatrically by IFC Midnight and acquired by Netflix.

Valenzuela moved into 3D and VR storytelling years ahead of the market, producing an 11-episode immersive horror series including studio collaborations with New Line and Warner Bros. for Lights Out, IT and IT Chapter Two. The IT 360 experience alone sits at 88 million views. That work continues with Scream Park, starring Stranger Things' Grace Van Dien, and Tales of Terror with Danny Trejo, both for Meta.

He has collaborated with Guillermo Del Toro, Jon Turteltaub, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., CBS, and Legendary Entertainment. Wes Craven selected his first series for his Halloween YouTube takeover. James Cameron and Stan Lee have both sat down with him on camera.

Today, BlackBoxTV controls the film and television rights to a majority of its library, and Valenzuela is developing a slate of original series and features, including The Last Carnival, Silverwood, and a Tales of Terror series adaptation.

He didn't just pioneer horror on YouTube. He helped invent it.
- IMDb mini biography by: BlackBoxTV