Juan Francisco de la Guardia

Juan is an award-winning filmmaker with over a decade of experience creating narrative and documentary style content for film and TV. Born and raised in Panama, his early fiction work and his apprenticeship with documentary filmmaker, Joe Rubin, won him a full merit scholarship to SMU in Dallas, TX. Here he earned an MFA in film under the guidance of an outstanding faculty including screenwriter James V. Hart (Contact, Hook, Bram Stoker's Dracula). Juan went on to make his first feature, I Become Gilgamesh, which won "Best Feature Film" awards in 4 different festivals across the country. Juan also served as Head of Development for 12 Forward Entertainment, where his short documentary work helped the company gain the representation of CAA and become a major player in the industry. Juan has developed content for networks such as A&E, CMT, and HGTV. He has also done corporate and commercial work for brands including Metro PCS, Bud Light, and Moneygram.