Juan Carlos López Duran

Juan Carlos Lopez Duran was born in Caracas, Venezuela on July 10, 1970 to Tulio Lopez Rodríguez and Gladis Duran de Lopez. Juan Carlos comes from a large family of 4 brothers and one sister. His early childhood was typical of a middle class Venezuelan family; school during the week, soccer on the weekends. But his fascination with movies began very early. In middle school he carried his uncle's 30-pound VHS player as he taped high school basketball games with a SVHS camera. In high school he borrowed his uncle's camera for his senior project. With a budget of $50, 4 friends, a SVHS camera, no lights, and amazing talent, he created a short that could rival the most sophisticated of today's student films. Following high school graduation he enrolled as a communications/film major at the prestigious Catholic University Andres Bello in Caracas. He graduated in 1992 and rapidly began an active career as a producer. Shortly after graduation he met renowned Latin American director Alberto Arvelo while working for AM Films. Mr Arvelo and Juan Carlos became an extremely effective creative and management team and embarked on an ambitious project with the creation of production company Cinema Sur. The company was founded in 1997 and rapidly became one of the most influential film production companies in South America. While with Cinema Sur, Juan Carlos produced "Una casa con Vista al Mar" (A House with a view of the Sea) by Alberto Arvelo (2000), winner of more than 15 international awards and recognized as one of the best films ever produced by the Venezuelan Film industry. His company also produced several influential feature films including "La Pluma del Arcángel" by Luis Manzo (2000) and "Sangrador" by Leonardo Henriquez, (1999). In 2000, he developed, wrote, produced, and directed, with filmmaker Alberto Arvelo, "Los Ultimos", a television drama series that became the highest ranked Venezuelan TV series of the past decade. In 1997, working as a producer for AM Films, López-Durán served as casting director of the internationally acclaimed feature "Una Vida y Dos Mandados" (One Life and Two Trails). But his highest achievement during this time came in the personal domain. Following the creation of Cinema Sur, Juan Carlos met his future wife Gabriela Gottberg. The couple married in April of 2000, and in November of 2003 became the parents of a beautiful baby boy: Santiago Lopez Gottberg. Juan Carlos left Cinema Sur in 2001 to create his own film production company: Explorart Films. The company is rapidly becoming a significant force in the Latin American film industry. Juan Carlos now shares his time between his family, being the president of Explorart Films, and working as a producer and director in a variety of projects including feature films, documentaries, and television series. He currently lives in Caracas with his wife and 15 month-old son.