J. A. Bayona

Juan Antonio García Bayona (born 9 May 1975) is a Spanish film director. He directed the 2007 horror film The Orphanage, the 2012 drama film The Impossible, and the 2016 fantasy drama film A Monster Calls. Bayona's latest film is the 2018 science fiction adventure film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the fifth installment of the Jurassic Park film series. He has also directed television commercials and music videos. He directed the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Bayona was born in Barcelona, Spain. The first movie he ever watched 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). At age 19 he met Guillermo del Toro at the Sitges Film Festival presenting Cronos (1993) and Bayona recognized him as a mentor there. After their initial conversations, del Toro promised to aid Bayona in the future if he were ever in the position to do so.