Guillermo del Toro, who made a hit with Pan's Labyrinth, was selected as the director of the year in 2018.
His full name is Guillermo del Toro Gómez. He started making short films during his high school education, then went to Centro de Investigación y Estudios Cinematográficos, and in the mid-1980s founded his company, Necropia, which caters to the Mexican cinema market.
He made his first movie production in 1986 when he was just 21 years old. Prior to that, he worked on the make-up design for about 10 years. During his directing career, he founded his own production company called “The Tequila Gang”.
Guillermo del Toro made his first film as a director and screenwriter in 1993.
In 1998, after his father was kidnapped in Mexico and the high ransom they paid, Del Toro decided to continue his life abroad with his family.
While directing the movie "Two Sides of the Knife 2" in 2002, Wesley Snipes, Ron Perlman, Kris Kristofferson, and Norman Reedus starred in the movie.
He also wrote the script and directed the movie "Hellboy", starring Ron Perlman, in 2004.
Guillermo del Toro reached the peak of his career with the movie "Pan's Labyrinth", which he wrote and directed in 2006. The film became one of the best-selling films in the United States after grossing more than 80 million copies worldwide.
While directing the movie "Pacific Rim" in 2013, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, and Ron Perlman starred in the movie.
Guillermo del Toro married Lorenza Newton in 1986. They have two daughters named Mariana and Marisa. He lives with his family in California, USA.
Del Toro, who made another fantasy-drama production The Shape of Water in 2017, won the Golden Lion for the best film at the 74th Venice Film Festival with this film. He also won the Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA for Best Director.
December 2022
This time, Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapted the story of the cute puppet Pinocchio, loved by everyone from 7 to 70, into animation with stop motion technique. The animation "Guillermo del Toro Presents: Pinocchio", which includes world-famous actors such as Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman and Tim Blake Nelson, met with the audience on the digital platform. The master director, who recreated the classic tale, says the following about his “Pinocchio”:
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We started thinking about the movie about 15 years ago. However, I had a very busy pace in those years. Part of the reason the movie was delayed was that we wanted to set the bar high in animation. Why am I saying this? Because animation isn't just for kids. The first thing some viewers ask when they see the movie is "Is it for kids?" I reply, “No, but kids can watch if their parents talk to them.” Because it is not an animation that children can understand immediately without watching carefully.
When I said, "Let's do this, let's resurrect Pinocchio," I thought: "Let's not do this like other Pinocchios." I knew I wanted to make a giant robot movie, stop motion animation, ghost story, and gothic romance movie for 30 years. And I was able to do all of these. I wrote 32 scripts. I've only made 12 movies. And after 'Pan's Labyrinth' I said, 'Okay, now it's time to get back to animation. I went to DreamWorks. I produced and consulted. I shot three TV series and a feature film for “Trollhunters” and directed with Rodrigo Blaas. We never understood what we had to do in different circumstances, but we were completely convinced that we could make these strange films. And the world never said "no" because we went ahead in every way we could. All this led to this...
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Awards:
2018 – 90th Oscar Awards – Best Director (The Shape of Water)
2017 – 74th Venice Film Festival – Best Film Award (The Shape of Water)
2007 - BAFTA Awards - Best Foreign Language Film (Pan's Labyrinth)