Selected in 2025 as one of Chile’s “100 Young Leaders” by El Mercurio for his international career in film, Juan Pablo Arias Muñoz is a Chilean writer-director known for grounded but stylized genre films that balance audience-driven storytelling with a strong authorial voice. His award-winning work has been released theatrically and distributed internationally through major streaming platforms, while also screening at over sixty film festivals around the world including the New York Film Festival, AFI Fest and SITGES Fantastic Film Festival.

Most recently, Juan Pablo directed CASA GRANDE. Produced by Warner Bros. and ESX Entertainment, the film stars Lou Diamond Phillips, John Pyper-Ferguson, and Madison Lawlor, and received a wide theatrical release across 400+ screens in the United States. The film opened to positive audience reception for its grounded exploration of family, power, and generational trauma within a modern western framework.

His previous feature film THE CURSE OF THE NECKLACE stars Henry Thomas (E.T., The Haunting of Hill House) and the McGraw sisters (M3GAN, The Black Phone). The film gained popularity on streaming platforms internationally following its release on HBOMax. Juan Pablo also wrote and directed a remake of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE for Warner Bros. Pictures, also available to stream on HBOMax.

Juan Pablo has received support from the HBOAccess Directing Fellowship, WarnerMedia Director’s Program, PGA Create, the BMP Breakthrough Artist Program, the National Association of Latino Independent Producers and the Fulbright Scholarship. He was a director shadow during the second season of HBO’s PERRY MASON, Amazon’s CROSS series, and LANTERNS, the first DC Studios series.

Juan Pablo received an MFA in Directing from the AFI Conservatory.