Biography

Fran Zayas is a Puerto Rican independent filmmaker based in New York City. Fran is a recent graduate of the MFA Film program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a focus in Directing and Writing. He’s been awarded the BAFTA BBC Diversity Scholar, Spike Lee Production Film Fund, and Cary Fukunaga Production Fund. As a producer, he worked in The Beguiling (Dir. ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby) which premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and Weona Loca (Dir. Irene Mercadal), which premiered in 2022 Palm Springs International Film Festival and SANFIC17. Fran's written and directed films focus on the search of purpose, morally conflicted characters, and grief of lost loved ones through the lens of genre. Zayas has two goals in his career as a filmmaker. First, to build an independent production company alongside like-minded collaborators in order to gain the support to create fresh, bold, and truthful stories. Consequently, Zayas long term goal is to encourage a young generation of filmmakers, especially in Latino communities, to embrace their culture through filmmaking.

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