Paco Plaza

Template:Infobox person Francisco Plaza Trinidad (born 8 February 1973), simply known as Paco Plaza, is a Spanish film director known for his works in the horror genre. He is the co-creator of the REC demon possession film franchise (commonly misreferred to as a zombie franchise).

Early life and education

Plaza was born on 8 February 1973 in Valencia. He has a degree in Audiovisual Communication from CEU Cardinal Herrera University and a diploma in film direction from the ECAM. He speaks Spanish, English and French.

Career

Although he is best known as a director, he is also a screenwriter, producer, editor and even was a costume designer on one occasion for Tropismos (1995), his first short film and with which he made his debut as a director.

Plaza is known in Spanish cinema and abroad for the creation of the trilogy REC (2007). A year after the release of the first film, American director John Erick Dowdle made an adaptation of the Paco Plaza film, under the name of Quarantine (2008). The trilogy REC has accumulated a total of 26 awards and 17 nominations in numerous film festivals.

On 23 July 2025, Variety revealed that Plaza was among the filmmakers who directed a segment for V/H/S/Halloween, Shudder's 8th instalment in their horror anthology V/H/S franchise. The film was released in October 2025.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Notes
2002	Second Name	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
	OT: La película	Template:Yes	Template:No	Documentary Co-directed with Jaume Balaguero
2004	Romasanta	Template:Yes	Template:No
2007	REC	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Co-directed with Jaume Balaguero
2009	REC 2	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
2010	Bunbury 3D	Template:Yes	Template:No	Enrique Bunbury concert film
2012	REC 3: Genesis	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
2017	Verónica	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Also associate producer
2019	Quien a hierro mata	Template:Yes	Template:No	IMDb
2021	La abuela	Template:Yes	Template:No
2023	Hermana Muerte	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
2025	V/H/S/Halloween	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Segment: "Ut Supra Sic Infra"

As actor

Year	Title	Role
1996	Adosados	Marido
2009	REC 2	Zombie
	Spanish Movie	Municipal
2020	La Suite Nupcial	Cameo Camarero
2023	Saben aquell	Chicho Ibáñez Serrador

Producer only

Year	Title	Notes
2014	REC 4: Apocalypse	Creative producer
2015	Requirements to Be a Normal Person	Producer and executive producer

Short film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1995	Tropismos	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Also editor and costume designer
1997	Tarzán en el Café Lisboa	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Also editor
1999	Abuelitos	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No
2001	Puzzles	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No
2007	Sr. Rosso	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes
2009	Lo siento, te quiero	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes
2010	Luna de miele, Luna di sangue VII	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
2013	Habitantes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes
2014	Ultravioleta	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	Advertising short Also additional still photographer
2020	D.E.V.:Disfrute en Vida	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Advertising short Co-directed with Daniel Sánchez Arévalo

Television

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Notes
2005	Cuento de Navidad	Template:Yes	Template:No	TV movie
2016	El Ministerio del Tiempo	Template:Yes	Template:No	Episode: "Tiempo de magia"
2021	Historias para no dormir	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Episode: "Freddy"

As himself

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2023	Drag Race España	Guest judge	Episode: "Secuelas de terror drag"

As actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	La Forja de un Rebelde	Extra	TV series 1 episode
	Eva y Adan: Agencia Matrimonial	Policia
2002	Cuentame	Policía Gris

External links

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