Bayona is an ESCAC (Cinema And Adiovisuals School from Catalonia) graduate and is considered one of the most successful Spanish directors. In 2007 he directed his first feature film, The Orphanage, which received an standing ovation at his debut in the Cannes Film Festival and got an immediate reputation as a horror cult classic. His second film, The Impossible, was a box office success collecting more than 170$ millions worldwide. The film was praised by the critics and got an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for Naomi Watts. Recently he help establish the tone and mood of Penny Dreadful, a Showtime TV series from Academy Award writer John Logan and producer Sam Mendes. He just finished shooting his third film, A Monster Calls, based on Patrick Ness' novel and starring Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver and Liam Neeson.