Tibor Takács is a Hungarian-Canadian director, noted for directing The Gate (1987) and its sequel, The Gate II: Trespassers (1990). His career has largely been associated with horror movies, though he has also directed many Christmas-themed films, often for the Hallmark Channel. He also directed the TV movie Sabrina the Teenage Witch which became the basis for the TV series of the same name. Early life Takács was born on September 11, 1954 in Budapest, Hungary, but grew up in Canada. He described his early experiences with cinema as being the result of his “European parents who watched a lot of foreign films with subtitles.” Around the age of ten, his family moved to a more urban area with several movie theaters, where he began to see multiple American films a week for several years. He attended the University of Toronto, where he began to work in theater and directed several award-winning short films, which eventually led to commercial directing work. His film career did not begin immediately, however. In the late 70's, Takács was involved with various Toronto-area punk and metal bands. He served as manager and producer for Toronto punk bands The Viletones and The Cardboard Brains, and is credited as producer on the Viletones' Screamin Fist (1977) single, and Cardboard Brains'White EP" (1977) and Black EP (1978), as well as recording engineer on the Viletones' 1977 recording sessions (eventually released in 1994 as A Taste of Honey). Takacs collaborated with Canadian author and filmmaker Peter Vronsky during the 1970s and acted as a cinematographer and art director on some of his films. In 1978, he released his first feature-length film, the independently-produced sci-fi musical Metal Messiah, which featured numerous Toronto-based musicians, including members of Kickback and the Cardboard Brains. Film career In 1987, Takács released his first studio-backed feature film, The Gate. The production originated from Takács' attempt to secure funding for a film version of the 1975 young adult novel The Girl Who Owned a City by O. T. Nelson. Producer John Kemeny passed on that idea, but offered Takács three projects, including The Wraith (which Takács declined) and The Gate. Takács later said he responded to the script because of its similarity to a fairy tale. He explained in 2017, “ I really feel like fairy tales are an important part of your development, your creativity, especially when you’re young. I feel like you have