João Rei Villar

João Rei Villar (aka JR Villar) is an Emmy Winning scriptwriter, actor and director born and lived in Cascais, Portugal, in 1969. His father was a decorated Cavalry Officer of the Portuguese Army and his mother a Graduate in Pharmaceutical Sciences. In 1988, JR Villar directed his first short film, "La vie en Gris", an animated cartoon for the event Animathon International produced by the Academy Nominee André Leduc and the National Film Board of Canada. JR Villar studied visual design and was the best student of a post-graduate degree in Cinema and TV (1999-2001) at the UM University of Lisbon. His Masters' work at the Media University of Lisbon, that included Robert McKee 's seminars"Story" and "Genre" lead him to be invited to work for a major TV producer. JR Villar also studied Drama and Acting at the UM Lisbon University with the Stella Adler Conservatory of NY, and attended a summer school at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. JR Villar wrote several TV series and Theatre plays and received international recognition in the UK, as best short theatre play in Yorkshire (2014) and a nomination for the best theatre play at the Tehran Theatre Festival in Iran in 2017. Since 2011 JR Villar lives in the United Kingdom and lives in York with his wife Charlotte Slater-Villar and his son George Luís Filipe Roque Rei Slater-Vilar, born in 2021.