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Ignacio Castillo Cottin (1982), besides being a director of stage and screen, is a Venezuelan writer. When only 17, he wrote and directed three stage plays in Caracas. Later came a fascination for movies, which sparked his move to Los Angeles where he enrolled in the Univerity of Southern California, or USC, the alma mater of other famed directors like George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis, Ron Howard and more. USC soon took notice of him when he presented the best short film of summer 2001 entitled A Show for the Masses, which gave him the chance to direct a film from his own screenplay. Castillo Cottin also goes in for literature, and in 2007 Random House Mondadori published a book of his short stories under the name Penelope. He is considered one of the youngest film directors around, since at age 24 this Venezuelan wrote and directed his first feature film, La Virgen Negra (2008), whose script -also of his authorship- was awarded a prize by the National Autonomous Center of Cinematography, or CNAC, in the category of Opera Prima, at its 2008 convention. He wrote the screenplay for that movie when only 20, while studying in Los Angeles.All his projects are “at the service of the story and always making sure that the emotional premise of the story is pervasive” Castillo Cottin says. And he doesn’t dedicate his films to anyone.”Maybe in Venezuela over the past few years there have been very few of us fortunate enough to complete a feature-length film. But that for me, more than a novelty, is an enormous responsibility because we have to do everything posible so the finished product is the best it can be and the most entertaining to the audience” Castillo says. The director of La Virgen Negra says what he enjoys most about his work is “having the freedom to recréate through sound and images situations that only exist in our imagination”. And if he could choose a picture to direct it would be Love in the Time of Cholera, “but I would first work on a good screenplay for that extraordinary book” he says.The young director is also known for being the son of Venezuelan journalist Leopoldo Castillo, but says that “my profesional work is independent of my dad. I do movies and literature, and that stands on its own. Someone may like my movie or not, but nobody is going to like it because I have one last name and not another”.Castillo Cottin is currently working as a director at Soda Producciones and has made many commercials for clients the likes of Movistar and Chrysler. In any case, a future full of “more films, more commercials and more stage plays” awaits this Venezuelan director, “without forgetting about literature” he says.Production company:Soda Producciones, VenezuelaContact: {Constanza Profeta;constanza@sodaproducciones.net}T +58-212-284-1687{Watch video;http://www.produ.com/publicidad/videos/index.html?Noti=8120}