Victor Salva

Born: March 29, 1958
Where: Contra Costa County, California

This talented, passionate and sensitive writer-director of films of the fantastic went from obscurity to controversy literally overnight with the release of his first major feature, Powder in 1995.

This surprisingly sober and intelligent fable told the unusual story of a boy genius with snow-white skin and a strange relationship to electricity whose physical oddity becomes a lightning rod for intolerance in a small Texas town.

The film boasted an extraordinary central performance from Sean Patrick Flanery (TV's Young Indiana Jones) and outstanding support from Lance Henriksen, Jeff Goldblum and Mary Steenburgen.

But filmmaker Salva found himself unpleasantly in the spotlight when his 1987 conviction for a child sex offence surfaced practically on the eve of his potential career breakthrough.

The second highest grossing film of its opening weekend, Powder was dismissed by many reviewers who seemed more put off by its seriousness than its maker's notoriety.

A filmmaker since the age of 12, Salva made numerous shorts on video. He gained industry attention and several awards with his film Something in the Basement.

Salva began an association with Francis Ford Coppola which lead to the auteur's son Roman serving as executive in charge of production on his first feature, Clownhouse, in 1988.

Despite amateurish performances, corny heavy-handed music, and erratic sound recording, Clownhouse revealed a genuine talent working with generic material in a personal and resonant manner.

After an enforced career hiatus, Salva returned to filmmaking in 1995 with Nature of the Beast, a direct-to-video genre outing starring Lance Henriksen.

Francis Ford Coppola went on to serve as executive producer of Jeepers Creepers, Salva's first theatrical release in over five years.