J. A. Bayona

Juan Antonio García Bayona (born 9 May 1975 ) is a Spanish filmmaker.

Bayona directed the 2007 horror film The Orphanage, the 2012 drama film The Impossible, the 2016 fantasy drama film A Monster Calls, and the 2018 film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. He also directed the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

His 2023 film Society of the Snow received 12 awards including Best Picture and Best Director at the 38th Goya Awards, 6 awards at the 11th Platino Awards, and was nominated for 2 Academy Awards.

Early life Bayona was born in Barcelona, Spain. The first movie he ever saw was Richard Donner's Superman (1978) which inspired him to be a director. He studied at the Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya (ESCAC). After their initial conversations, del Toro promised to aid Bayona in the future if he were ever in the position to do so. Since then, he has become the principal director of the group Camela and was commissioned to illustrate the piece "Cómo repartimos los amigos", in which the duo Ella Baila Sola bid farewell to their audience.

He has also directed music videos for Pastora Soler ("En mi soledad"), Fangoria, Nena Daconte ("El Aleph"), Enrique Bunbury and Miren Iza ("Frente a frente"), in which the original singer Jeanette appears at the end of the video. In 2012 he created the music video for "Disconnected" by the British band Keane.

In 1999 he directed the short film My Holidays and in 2002 The Spongeman.

2000s

In 2004 Bayona met writer Sergio G. Sánchez, who was working on the short 7337. Sánchez offered Bayona the script for The Orphanage. In order to create the film he wanted, Bayona had to double both the film's budget and its runtime. He was assisted by Guillermo del Toro, who offered to co-produce it. The Orphanage premiered on 20 May 2007, at the Cannes International Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation lasting more than ten minutes. Months later, on 11 October 2007, it premiered in Spanish cinemas and grossed $8.3 million.

Bayona was awarded the Goya Award for Best New Director in 2008. The film was nominated for 14 categories of Goyas, and won 7. In October of that same year, Variety announced that Universal Studios had signed a contract with Bayona to adapt the film Hater by David Moody, written by Glen Mazzara and produced by Guillermo del Toro.

Bayona was one of the many candidates considered to direct The Twilight Saga: Eclipse but was not interested in making the film.

2010s In August 2010 he began filming The Impossible, based on the experiences of a Spanish family that lived through the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Filmed in English and starring Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and Tom Holland, the film was released on 11 October 2012, to positive critical response. In its first weekend it grossed $8.6 million, breaking the record for the best opening in the history of the Spanish box office. The Impossible was nominated for the Oscar and Golden Globe Awards in the category of Best Actress for the interpretation of Naomi Watts. The film was also nominated in 14 categories at the Goya Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor (Tom Holland), of which it won five awards. In 2013 The Impossible received a National Film Award in the framework of the 61st International Festival of San Sebastián.

In March 2012 Bayona directed the music video "Disconnected", the second single from the album Strangeland by the British band Keane. The band has stated that it admires Bayona's film work, and Bayona has said he follows the music of Keane. On 11 September 2016, Keane released a music video for an exclusive new song, "Tear Up This Town", written and recorded for the fantasy drama film A Monster Calls, directed by Bayona. The single was made available for digital download on 23 September 2016.

Bayona was responsible for directing the first two episodes of the Penny Dreadful series, created by John Logan and originally released on Showtime. Filmed in Dublin, the series tells the story of a group consisting of a rich man, a medium, a gunman and a young doctor, all looking for the rich man's missing daughter. To do this, they must cope with strange beings and Victorian era literary characters like Frankenstein, Dracula and Dorian Gray. The series has a lot of its creator, according to Bayona.

In 2014, Bayona began shooting the film A Monster Calls, an adaptation of the novel by Patrick Ness, starring Lewis MacDougall, Felicity Jones, and Liam Neeson. The film, which was released in 2016, tells the story of a young boy (MacDougall) who cares for his mother (Jones), ill with cancer, while befriending a monster (Neeson). With this film, Bayona closed his personal trilogy about mother-child relationships.

In 2018, Bayona next directed the science fiction sequel Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Justice Smith, Rafe Spall, Toby Jones and James Cromwell. The film received mixed reviews from critics but Bayona's direction received praise. It was also a major commercial success, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 2018 and the 12th -highest-grossing film of all time.

2020s Bayona directed the first two episodes of the Amazon Prime Video series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, filmed in New Zealand from 3 February 2020 and premiered on 2 September 2022.

In November 2021, it was announced Bayona would direct the disaster drama Society of the Snow for Netflix, based on the true story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed into the Andes in October 1972. The film was released theatrically to Spanish-speaking audiences in December 2023 before its arrival to Netflix on 4 January 2024. It received positive reviews and many honors.

Beyond the Society (Más allá de la sociedad) is an upcoming 2026 three-part Netflix documentary series created by J. A. Bayona and Carlos Torres featuring interviews with the survivors, relatives of the deceased, and the actors from Society of the Snow. It will also include interviews with the authors Piers Paul Read and Pablo Vierci and the filmmakers Frank Marshall and J. A. Bayona.

Filmography

Short film Year Title Director Writer ExecutiveProducer Notes 1999 Mis vacaciones 2003 El hombre Esponja 2008 La Desgracia en 3D 2015 9 días en Haití Documentary short No me quites

Feature film Year Title Director Writer Producer 2007 The Orphanage 2012 The Impossible 2016 A Monster Calls 2018 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 2023 Society of the Snow 2024 Free Falling 2025 Crazy Old Lady 2025 She Walks in Darkness

Executive producer Marrowbone (2017) I Hate New York (2018) (Documentary)

Television

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards Year Title Category Result 2024 Society of the Snow Best International Feature Film

BAFTA Awards Year Title Category Result 2024 Society of the Snow Best Film Not in the English Language

Golden Globe Awards Year Title Category Result 2024 Society of the Snow Best Non-English Language Film

Goya Awards Year Title Category Result 2008 The Orphanage Best New Director 2013 The Impossible Best Director 2017 A Monster Calls 2024 Society of the Snow Best Film Best Director Best Adapted Screenplay

Other awards Year Title Award Category Result 2012 The Impossible Detroit Film Critics Society Best Director 2013 Gaudí Awards Best Director Capri Hollywood International Film Festival Capri Director Award Capri European Director Award Cinema Writers Circle Awards Best Director 2017 A Monster Calls Gaudí Awards Best Director Feroz Awards Best Director 2023Society of the Snow San Sebastián International Film Festival City of Donostia /San Sebastian Audience Award for Best Film Mill Valley Film Festival ¡Viva el cine! - Narrative Middleburg Film FestivalAudience Award for International Feature Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards Best Foreign Language Film Forqué Awards Best Film Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Best Foreign Language Film 2024 Astra Film Awards Best International Feature Best International Filmmaker Critics' Choice Awards Best Foreign Language Film Feroz Awards Best Drama Film Best Director Carmen Awards Best Non-Andalusian Produced Film Gaudí Awards Best European Film CEC Medals Best Film Best Director Best Adapted Screenplay Satellite Awards Best Motion Picture – International