Spotlight: A Conversation with Master of Horror Eli Roth | Presented by WeShort
About this Spotlight
Spotlight Events feature conversations with high-profile film and television industry professionals who share helpful advice and insights on their career experiences and creative process.
A consummate voice of 21st century horror, Eli Roth has directed 10 feature films since his splatter debut Cabin Fever in 2002. His resume as a horror writer/director includes such titles as Hostel, Hostel: Part II, The Green Inferno, Knock Knock, and most recently 2023’s Thanksgiving. In recent years, Roth has branched out into action and fantasy cinema and worked with such A-list talent as Keanu Reeves, Cate Blanchett, and Bruce Willis.
Join Alex Loprieno, the founder and CEO of WeShort, for a conversation with Roth on his work as a writer, director, and actor, as well as his new endeavor inviting fans to become investors in The Horror Section. Roth breaks down key moments from his films and answers audience questions on his career as a horror maestro. The pair also discuss the 25th anniversary of The Rotten Fruit, Roth’s stop-motion comedy series available to the public only on WeShort.
The Rotten Fruit is an eight-episode stop-motion animated comedy series that Roth created with childhood friend, writer and TV producer Noah Belson 25 years ago. The episodes originally aired on the now-defunct Z.com, but the final three were completed but never aired when the website shut down. Three episodes were released as extras on the Cabin Fever DVD, but all eight have never been showcased together—until now. To celebrate the 25th anniversary, the full series was released on WeShort. Eli Roth composed and sang many of the songs on the soundtrack, as well as voicing the obnoxious British fruit along with Belson.
Thanks to the generosity of WeShort supported by the Apulia Film Commission, the recording of this event will remain free for one year.
About WeShort:
WeShort is a global streaming, distribution, and production company dedicated to premium short-form content. With a curated catalog of over 3,500 titles, WeShort offers an innovative third option in the entertainment landscape—alongside traditional films and TV series—by delivering fiction short films across all genres, documentaries, short series, fashion films, and music videos. WeShort’s mission is clear: to elevate short-form cinema and make it a daily habit for audiences around the world.
About The Horror Section:
The Horror Section is a fan-owned 360 media company focused on building a robust library of intellectual property and creating the world’s premiere horror brand. The company was founded by iconic filmmaker and actor Eli Roth to redefine the horror landscape and is active in film, television, gaming, podcasts, and live events.
The Horror Section has formed strategic partnerships with Iconic Events, investing platform Republic, and first-of-its-kind Layer 1 blockchain platform Sui, to bring unique fan experiences, investment opportunities and new horror movies and franchises to the horror community.
Presented in Conjunction with
SpotlightTeam
Alex Loprieno
Moderator
Alex Loprieno is an entrepreneur from Puglia who has transformed his lifelong passion for cinema into his life’s work—a journey that took more than 15 years. After earning a degree in Languages, Literature, and Arts from the University of Bari, he advanced his education at the Bocconi School of Management and later completed the Y Combinator Startup School.
Before launching his entrepreneurial ventures, Alex spent nine years working as a flight attendant for Ryanair, an experience that sharpened his communication skills and global mindset. Today, as the Founder and CEO of WeShort, he is fully dedicated to the mission of making short films a daily viewing choice for audiences around the world.
In 2021, he also founded Lopriadvisor, a consulting firm focused on technological innovation and the audiovisual industry. Through Lopriadvisor, he holds equity in several high-growth companies in the entertainment and events space, including Events.com, Slated.com, Media Capital Technologies Group (founded by Christopher Woodrow and Blaine K. Johnston), and The Horror Section Studio (founded by Eli Roth).
Alex is deeply committed to supporting people who want to grow and improve. He believes in the power of doing good—and that it always comes back. Ambitious and determined, he values strong relationships and family above all. A natural networker, he considers public relations his greatest asset.
Eli Roth
Eli Roth burst onto the film scene at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival, with his directorial debut Cabin Fever. The film sparked a seven studio bidding war, and went on to be Lionsgate’s highest grossing film of 2003. Roth’s follow-up film, Hostel which he wrote, produced and directed, executive produced by Quentin Tarantino, earned him critical praise and was a massive worldwide hit, spawning a successful sequel, Hostel Part II, also written and directed by Roth.
In 2015, Lionsgate released Roth’s thriller Knock Knock, starring Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas in her English language debut. Additionally, Roth co-wrote, produced and directed The Green Inferno, and directed the critically acclaimed The House with a Clock in its Walls starring Cate Blanchett and Jack Black for Amblin Entertainment, as well as the gritty hit action film Death Wish starring Bruce Willis for MGM.
As an actor, Roth starred in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds as the bat-wielding Sgt. Donnie Donowitz, for which he and his cast members received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble. He also acted in Sam Levinson’s HBO series “The Idol” , and will soon appear alongside Vanessa Kirby in “The Night Always Comes” for Netflix.
As a producer, Roth has produced such hit films as The Last Exorcism, The Man with the Iron Fists, Jon Watts’ directing debut Clown and the hit Emmy ® Nominated Netflix series, Hemlock Grove. Roth hired an unknown Damien Chezelle to write the sequel to The Last Exorcism, starring Julia Garner and Ashley Bell. Roth’s critically acclaimed docuseries “Eli Roth’s History of Horror” ran for three seasons on AMC and was turned into a #1 podcast.
Roth’s critically acclaimed documentary Fin, produced with Leonardo DiCaprio,premiered to rave reviews in July 2021 as part of Discovery’s Shark Week, and went on to Best Documentary at the Ischia Global Film Festival. He directed Borderlands for Lionsgate Entertainment, reuniting Roth with stars Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, along with an all star cast including Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ariana Greenblatt.
Roth co-created the Dreamworks Animation kids series “Fright Krewe” for Peacock and Hulu, and co-wrote, produced and directed the hit horror film “Thanksgiving” for TriStar Pictures, starring Patrick Dempsey. He is currently writing a sequel, as well as a TV series of “Hostel” starring Paul Giamatti.
An avid shark lover, Eli spends his time promoting shark conservation, working as a board member of Environmental Media Group. He is currently in post production on a new secret environmental documentary which he narrates and produced with Leonardo DiCaprio.
In 2025 Roth founded The Horror Section, a new independent studio to make unrated no holds barred horror films theatrically released through Iconic Events. The studio’s first release, Joe Begos’ alien splatter fest “Jimmy and Stiggs” will hit theaters in August in a wide release.
Roth lives with his wife, fashion designer Vittoria Buraschi, and their daughter Donatella Sophia in Los Angeles.