JAVIER BARCALA BIO

Javier Barcala is a creative director, film director, consultant and curator working globally on branded content, shows, 360 campaigns, events and experiential installations for avant-garde brands, mass media, tech businesses, and public and private art and cultural spaces.

Having cut his teeth in the worlds of communication sciences, film and visual arts, between Los Angeles, Belgium and Spain, he first broke in entertainment producing for music channel MTV, to later work as creative director on international campaigns creating boundary-pushing content at the intersection of music, fashion, arts, storytelling and cutting-edge technology, for avant-garde brands, artists, and public and private cultural institutions.

At 25, he became Creative Director of Fashion Against AIDS, a mass media platform distributed to 41 countries along six years, in collaboration with cultural icons the likes of Rihanna, Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams, Kendal Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Cara Delevingne, Yoko Ono and Cyndi Lauper, amongst 50 other world-renowned talent, and in partnership with global brands the likes of H&M, Marc Jacobs, Levi’s, Eastpak and Jean Paul Gaultier, to promote safe sex amongst the youth via record-breaking seasonal fashion and accessories collections, image campaigns and music and fashion events. His work on this long-form project - for which he was awarded a ‘Leonardo da Vinci Excellence Changemaker Award - became the vehicle to raise over 14 million USD for education on HIV prevention (in partnership with UNAIDS and UNESCO, among others) and a benchmark for new global socially-conscious branded projects ever since.

Working in premier studios the world over in collaboration with top-of-the-industry creatives and leading brands, propelled him to continue creating next gen audiovisual content as a writer and director too. Granted with a prestigious Fulbright Fellowship, he graduated summa cum laude from a MFA in Film Directing at the trailblazing Art Center College of Design (California), and became the recipient of a University of Southern California Mary Pickford Foundation Award and a La Caixa Foundation Research Fellowship.

Combining a know-how in future-focused trend forecasting, media, art and technology, he has consulted, curated, directed and created branded and artistic content, 360 campaigns, shows, live events and experiential installations for avant-garde brands, mass media, tech businesses, and public and private art spaces and museums the world over.

As of 2025, he’s working on commercial and artistic commissions worldwide, with permanent studios in Belgium and Spain.