Simon Barrett (filmmaker)

Simon Barrett is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, and director known for his collaborations with Adam Wingard, including A Horrible Way to Die, V/H/S, V/H/S/2, You're Next, and The Guest. His feature directorial debut, Seance, was released in 2021.

Early life

Barrett was born in Columbia, Missouri, in 1978.

Career

Barrett has performed a number of roles in his films. He attributes this to the low budgets of his early films, in which he and frequent collaborator Adam Wingard were forced to act, as they could not afford to hire anyone else. Barrett credits his acting with informing him about the screenwriting process and techniques he'll use in the future.
Among his early work was writing the 2004 TV film Frankenfish, and collaborating with director Alex Turner as writer on Dead Birds and Red Sands, period horror films. He first collaborated with Wingard on A Horrible Way to Die and continued with You're Next, in which he wrote, produced, and acted. He co-wrote Autoerotic with co-directors Wingard and Joe Swanberg. The three collaborated again that same year on What Fun We Were Having.
In 2012, he wrote a segment in The ABCs of Death for Wingard and joined V/H/S as a writer, producer, and actor; he returned to the 2013 sequel to write and direct a segment. Eric England cast Barrett in Contracted after meeting him and being impressed with his ability to blend into crowds despite his charisma. Swanberg cast Barrett and Wingard in 24 Exposures after being inspired by their working relationship and differing personalities. Also in 2013, Barrett wrote and directed a radio play for Larry Fessenden's Tales from Beyond the Pale. The Guest was another collaboration between Wingard and Barrett. They said the thriller theme of this film opened up additional doors to them, as they had previously been stereotyped as horror filmmakers.
In 2016, Barrett wrote Blair Witch. The next year, in 2017, he wrote Temple, directed by Michael Barrett.
In 2021, Barrett made his directorial debut with Seance, which he also wrote. The same year he wrote and directed the segment The Empty Wake of V/H/S/94.
In 2024, Barrett co-wrote Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, also co-written and directed by Wingard. The same year he also wrote Azrael, directed by E. L. Katz.
Barrett was in works of a remake of the South Korean thriller film I Saw The Devil. It was announced in 2014. As of 2024, there hasn't yet been an update regarding this project. His other upcoming projects as a writer includes Onslaught (film), the live-action adaptation of the 1985 television series Thundercats, and the sequel to the 1997 film Face/Off, all of whom will be directed by Wingard.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Writer	Producer	Notes
2004	Dead Birds
2004	Frankenfish			TV movie
2009	Red Sands
2010	A Horrible Way to Die			Also first assistant director, casting director, location manager and music/post-production supervisor
2011	You're Next
2011	Autoerotic
2011	What Fun We Were Having: 4 Stories About Date Rape
2014	The Guest
2016	Blair Witch
2017	Temple
2021	Seance			Also director
2024	Azrael
2024	Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
TBA	Onslaught

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role
2009	Red Sands	Matt Carson
2010	A Horrible Way to Die	Olsen
2011	You're Next	Tiger Mask
2013	Contracted	B. J.
2013	24 Exposures	Michael Bamfeaux

Short film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Role	Notes
2000	The Nothing Deal					Also cinematographer and editor
2012	Tape 56				Steve	Segment of V/H/S
2012	The Sick Thing that happened to Emily when she was Younger				-	Segment of V/H/S ; Also camera operator
2012	Q is for Quack				Simon Barrett	Segment of The ABCs of Death
2013	Tape 49				Steve	Segment of V/H/S/2
2013	Phase I Clinical Trials					Segment of V/H/S/2 ; also set photographer
2021	The Empty Wake					Segment of V/H/S/94