Director, Writer and Producer at AFIN

Biography

Trained as a visual artist, Bugbee is a filmmaker who also created audience immersive performances as well as worked in the commercial film and video industry. She produced videos for B Productions, the leading fashion video company in New York. Projects included trend reports, video walls, behind the scenes videos and promos for GQ, Brides Magazine, Oscar de la Rent, Betsey Johnson, and TV specials for STARZ, CBS and Vogue. But her dream was to make films that tug at your heartstrings. "Out of State:A Gothic Romance," a tragic comedy, is Victoria Bugbee's first feature film. Co-written with her distant cousin, the late Charles Bugbee, the film focuses on a dysfunctional family of shut-ins who take in their distant step-niece. It is set in the 1990's in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania where the writer-director grew up. To date the music driven film has been selected at 60+ indie film festivals around the world winning 44+ awards in every major category. Judges from Hollywood to Mumbai, Hong Kong to London, Paris to Dubai and Milan to the Czech Republic have bestowed accolades on Out of State - A Gothic Romance." With her husband, George Warren, Bugbee self-financed the film. She also directed and produced the micro-budget feature with Co-Producer Cherie Fortis as well as handled production design. Together with Costume Designer Kim Druce Sava they created a wardrobe for the period film. Bugbee reunited with colleagues whom she had worked with at B Productions: Director of Photography Ilya Shnitser, Cinematographer Blair Johnson and Daniel Marracino, Editor K.A. Miille, Sound Recordist Eric Bini, Phil Shipman and his Sound Consortium. Joe Deihl who is Composer, Sound Design and Audio Mix worked with Vicky (as she prefers to be called) on her various theatrical work. Before working in New York City, Bugbee made a name for herself as one of the founding members of The Atlanta Art Workers Coalition. She also created three site specific performances that were funded by Atlanta's Bureau of Cultural Affairs. These include "Murder at Le Pavillion Hotel" in the windows of The Javo Gallery, "The Vacation" in an urban parking lot, and "Laundry" at The 10th Street Laundromat. This performance was videotaped by Gerald Jones (Nexus) and the short video "Boxer Shorts" marked her entrance in the world of moving images. On moving to New York, she worked at Digital Effects, one of the first companies creating computer graphics (TRON, Xanadu). While living with artist George Warren above a fish market in Chinatown Bugbee created a series of pastels of Chinatown & fireworks entitled KABOOM. It's a traveling art exhibition that immerses audiences in New York City's Chinatown. The large mural "Life & Death With Business In Between," from the Chinatown show became the inspiration for her performance installation in the windows of Benson's Furniture Store in the East Village. Bugbee made a music video of the performance. This was shot by Dave Wallace and Editing by Alicia Loving-Cortez.. With a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Playwriting & Screenwriting she expanded "Life & Death..." into a surreal musical with music by Joe Deihl, who scored "Out of State:A Gothic Romance." Other projects include a commission by Lincoln Center Out of Doors to created "A Surreal Soap Opera:Toxic Waste Meets Beach Resort," an audience immersive performance at Lincoln Center. One woman shows include "Confessions of a Baby Slave," and "Art Angel," that she wrote and performed for New Arts Program at Kutztown University Theater. "The Gas Station Project," written while in residence with The Actors Lab at CBS's soap "The Guiding Light" was staged at Overseas Auto Body Shop in Hastings on Hudson, NY.. In between writing, directing and producing avant grade performances, Bugbee married George Warren (Executive Producer of "Out of State") on The Staten Island Ferry and together they have three children, who were all involved in making "Out of State..." either in front of the camera or behind the scenes. Their daughter Tess Warren plays the lead's best friend and was Assistant Director, Dylan Warren's photographs appear throughout the film and Georgia Warren created the production schedule matrix. With a heavy heart, Bugbee's dear husband passed before they were able to finish the film. So "Out of State-A Gothic Romance" is in loving memory of George and Charlie. Currently, the writer director is adapting her original play "The Gas Station Project" for the screen. She and her music collaborator Joe Deihl will finish their musical "Life & Death With Business In Between." It artfully shifts between reality, the past, dream sequence and the afterlife. She is in talks to revive "A Surreal Soap Opera-Toxic Waste Meets Beach Resort," since Bugbee is dismayed with the dismantling of environmental protection and the ongoing threat of climate change.