Gigi Dementwas born in Baguio City, Philippines; the daughter of a sailor in the American Navy and a Pilipina movie star. Growing up in Dubuque, Iowa, where she witnessed Sylvester Stallone’s “F.I.S.T.” being shot, it was her experience watching the stunningly stark yet simple visual style of Albert Lamorisse’ “The Red Balloon” that led to her lifelong pursuit of making movies.
After graduating with distinction from NYU’s Undergraduate Film/TV Program, Gigi worked as an event producer and trade show manager, where she was instrumental in the development of the restaurant industry’s first technology exhibition and secured innovative corporate sponsorships with companies such as Microsoft and IBM. In 1998, Gigi returned to NYU to study in their preeminent Graduate Film program. In just a few short years, she produced fifteen films and directed four of her own. But in the year 2000, she would engage in her most important production yet; the birth of her first child.
In the fall of 2004, after the birth of her second daughter, Gigi returned with renewed energy and perspective to NYU. Since then, she has produced several more films, including a thesis film that premiered at the 2007 TriBeCa Film Festival, two that were awarded the Albert P. Sloan Foundation production grant, and the 2011 Oscar Winning Best Live Action Short Film, “God of Love”.
Gigi is currently living in Brooklyn, where she raises two daughters and is producing and directing her first long form documentary about Rafe Totengco, a Pilipino designer whose shoes and handbags are sold worldwide. She recently produced “Losing It”, a dramatic feature film directed by acclaimed Irish Director Mcdara Vallely, in association with Samson Films. She is developing several projects, including a dramatic feature film about a brilliant but troubled teenager, which was written by her husband, a fellow NYU film alum.
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*Source: 2011 Filipino Academy Award Nominees/Contenders Press Conference Media Kit
