So, look. We have to talk about the elephant—or rather, the chainsaw-wielding shark—in the room. If you hear the name Anthony C. Ferrante, your brain probably does a 180 straight to Ian Ziering slicing through a Great White in mid-air. It’s unavoidable. Ferrante is the guy who steered the Sharknado ship through six increasingly bonkers installments.
But honestly? Reducing his career to just those movies is kinda like saying Steven Spielberg only does stuff with aliens. Okay, maybe that's a stretch. But Ferrante has a massive, weird, and surprisingly diverse filmography that covers everything from hardcore gore to Hallmark-style Christmas fluff.
The guy is a workhorse. He’s a former film journalist for Fangoria and Cinescape who basically willed himself into the director's chair. You’ve probably seen his name scroll past on Syfy a hundred times without even realizing how many different hats he wears. He writes. He produces. He composes music. Heck, he even does special makeup effects.
The Sharknado Shadow: Blessings and Curses
When the first Sharknado dropped in 2013, it wasn't supposed to be a revolution. It was just another Tuesday for The Asylum. But then Twitter (now X, but let’s be real, it was Twitter then) absolutely exploded.
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Ferrante didn't just direct a movie; he managed a cultural moment. He followed that chaos through Sharknado 2: The Second One, Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, and all the way to 2018's The Last Sharknado: It's About Time. People make fun of the CGI, but if you look at the schedules, it’s insane. They were often shooting these things in 15 to 18 days.
Think about that. You’re trying to coordinate cameos from people like Neil deGrasse Tyson and George R.R. Martin while making sure a rubber shark lands correctly in Times Square. It takes a specific kind of madness to keep that together.
Beyond the Funnel: The Horror Roots
Before the sharks, Ferrante was a horror nerd through and through. His directorial debut, Boo (2005), is a surprisingly creepy ghost story set in a haunted hospital. It’s got that mid-2000s grittiness that feels a world away from the neon camp of his later work.
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He’s stayed in the spooky lane quite a bit. You’ve got Headless Horseman (2007) and Hansel & Gretel (2013)—which was The Asylum’s "mockbuster" version of the big-budget Jeremy Renner flick. But then there’s Nix (2022).
Nix is important because it’s Ferrante trying to say something real. It’s a psychological horror movie about trauma and a family falling apart, centered around a Germanic water creature. He’s gone on record saying it’s his most personal film. It’s "strangely emotional," as he put it, and it shows he can actually handle nuance when he isn't worried about how to make a sharknado happen in space.
The Massive List of Anthony C Ferrante Movies and TV Shows
If you’re trying to marathon his work, you’re going to be busy for a while. His credits are all over the place.
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- The Disaster Epics: Obviously the six Sharknado films, but don’t sleep on Zombie Tidal Wave (2019). It reunited him with Ian Ziering and is exactly what the title promises.
- The Holiday Pivot: This is the part that usually shocks people. Ferrante has directed several TV movies that your mom probably watched on a Sunday afternoon. We're talking Beaus of Holly (2020), Crown Prince of Christmas (2022), and 12 Games of Christmas (2023).
- Thrillers and Suspense: He’s a staple for Lifetime-style thrillers. Stalked by My Husband's Ex (2020) and Framed by My Sister (2022) are classic examples of his "director-for-hire" efficiency.
- Recent Ventures (2023-2025): He’s been leaning into Westerns and action lately. He did Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch and Butch vs. Sundance in 2023. His 2025 project Great White Waters shows he isn't quite done with the ocean yet, though it's a bit more grounded than his tornado days.
Why He Still Matters in 2026
In an era where every movie costs $200 million and takes five years to make, Ferrante represents the "get it done" school of filmmaking. He’s a "maestro" of the low budget.
He understands that sometimes people just want to turn their brains off. He knows the difference between a movie that’s "bad" and a movie that’s "fun-bad." He embraces the cheese. But he also keeps evolving. Jumping from a shark-disaster movie to a Christmas romance to a gritty creature feature like Nix requires a lack of ego that's rare in Hollywood.
The guy started out writing for Fangoria, interviewing his idols. Now, he’s the one being interviewed at Comic-Con. Whether you love the sharks or hate them, you have to respect the hustle. He’s proven that you don't need a massive budget to leave a mark on pop culture; you just need a wild idea and the stones to film it in 18 days.
What to Watch Next
If you want to understand the full range of Anthony C. Ferrante movies and TV shows, don't just stick to the hits.
- Start with the original Sharknado just to see where the madness began.
- Pivot to Nix to see his actual skills as a horror director when he’s not playing for laughs.
- Finish with Zombie Tidal Wave if you just want to see him and Ziering having the time of their lives.
Check your local streaming listings—most of his work cycles through platforms like Tubi, Pluto TV, and the Syfy app regularly. If you’re an aspiring filmmaker, pay attention to his commentary tracks; the guy is a masterclass in how to solve problems when the budget hits zero.