Victoria Bousis,
Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Creative Director & Project Lead,
UME
Gaining her Juris Doctorate, from California Western School of Law, Victoria was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General of Illinois whereby she prosecuted cases on behalf of citizens without a voice.
Wanting to go promulgate human stories, Victoria pivoted into filmmaking as a creative producer. In 2008, she founded BOUSIS FILMS, an independent production company based in New York, offering development, creative packaging, marketing strategy and financialstructuring for feature films, series, and documentaries. Starting with, LA COMMEDIA DI AMOS POE, an experimental film on Dante’s Divine Comedy, narrated by Roberto Benigni. Followed by ALPS directed by Yiorgos Lanthimnos (DOGTOOTH, LOBSTER, THE FAVOURITE). Both official selections at the Venice Film Festival. In 2012, Victoria produced WHAT MAISIE KNEW (staring Julianne Moore, Alexandre Skarsgard, Steve Coogan), premiering atthe Toronto Film Festival. WHAT MAISIE KNEW is a commentary about the destructive affects and inter-family politics of divorce from a child’s point of view. Partnering with BCDF Pictures, she produced OUTCASTS (staring Victoria Justice, Avon Jogia, Eden Sher, Katie Chang, Claudia Lee, Peyton List), a comedic narrative about teenage identity and cyber-bullying. In 2018, Victoria produced PIMP, an exploration of the Bronx underbelly via the eyes of a young, female pimp trying to survive (Executive Produced by Lee Daniels and staring Keke Palmer, DMX, Aunjanue Ellis, Edi Gathegi). It premiered at HBO’s Urbanworld Festival ’18, winning Best Picture and the Top Audience Award.
Victoria saw emerging technology as being the future of storytelling, and in 2018, Victoria received her Executive MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a concentration in media, technology, and entrepreneurship along with a Data Analytics Certificate to integrate data analytics. Featured in MIT’s Spectrum Magazine (Oct 2018), Victoria showcased her first virtual reality project, REVEAL, an introspective spiritual pilgrimage through Nepal and India.
During COVID, as a creative director, Victoria founded UME, a creative technology studio centered on pioneering the future of storytelling built in engine. She through fantastical virtual worlds, rich characters, NFT moments, and transformative experiences. In 2020 and 2021, UME created an augmented reality app for MIT’s graduation, THE GRAD APP. In 2021-22, UME joined TCP’s latest film project, FATHEAD, to create the virtual environments for this film, FATHEAD, leveraging virtual production pipelines she learned as an EPIC GAMES FELLOW. In 2021-22, Victoria wrote, directed, and is the creative director of STAY ALIVE MY SON, a virtual reality experience and game base on the autobiographical book of Pin Yathay. It is an immersive journey through the fantastical and metaphorical heart of a father and Cambodian genocide survivor to unlock buried memories to search of his salvation, for decisions made. It was an official selection in the development showcase in Cannes Film Festival 2020 and International Vancouver Volumetric Film Festival.
Having an interest in technology and entrepreneurship, Victoria co-founded HORNET VENTURES, a private investment fund focused on technology start-ups at seed and series A. Her portfolio includes PACKBACK with Mark Cuban, MEERKAT, HOMECHEF, HACKER1, RONIN, PROJECT GRAVITAS, DOSEIT, JOBOX.AI, SOMA, FLOWR and DREAM MACHINE FUND to name a few.
She is also an EPIC GAMES UNREAL FELLOW and an avid activist serving on the board of ARTISTS FOR PEACE AND JUSTIC in Haiti, providing education for 2800 elementary school students per 2 year, and vocational education in the field of cinema and music. She is also the Founding Board member of the HIPPOCRATIC FOUNDATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH at Northwestern Hospital which funds the development of “out of the box” cancer treatments with genetic correlation. Resonating lessons learned as a child, ultimately, she hopes to leave a positive imprint on humanity through her work so that her life has deeper meaning and purpose for the benefit of all living things.
