Of Spanish and Belgian nationality and trained between Madrid, Antwerp and Los Angeles, he cut his teeth as a writer and producer for music channel MTV, to later consult for avant-garde brands, and public and private cultural institutions, on innovative content at the intersection of music, fashion, arts, storytelling and new technologies.
Among others, at 22, he became Creative Director of Fashion Against AIDS, a six-years long mass media campaign distributed globally in partnership with giant retailer H&M, featuring stars the likes of Rihanna, Pharrell, Yoko Ono, Katy Perry, Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevingne and Cyndi Lauper among more than 50 other cultural icons. FAA became a crossgenerational global hit with vast media coverage and record-breaking sales, and long partnerships with other global brands the likes of Marc Jacobs, Levi’s, Eastpak or Jean Paul Gaultier, joining forces to promote safe sex amongst the youth via seasonal collections, image campaigns, music and fashion events. The platform became the perfect vehicle to raise social awareness, raising over $20M for education on HIV prevention (in partnership with UNAIDS, UNESCO, YouthAIDS and Doctors Without Borders, among others) and a benchmark for new global socially-conscious branded projects to follow ever since.
Barcala’s trajectory, working in premier studios the world over, in collaboration with top-of-the-industry creatives and leading brands - endorsed with a Global Entrepreneur Leonardo da Vinci Excellence Award - propelled him to continue creating next gen audiovisual content as a film director too. He became an internationally recognized Fulbright Fellow, and with a University of Southern California Mary Pickford Foundation Award and a La Caixa Foundation Research Award under his belt, he graduated summa cum laude from a Master of Fine Arts in Film Directing at the trailblazing Art Center College of Design in Pasadena (California).
Ever since he has produced, created, directed, consulted and curated branded and artistic content, 360 campaigns, shows, and total experiential installations for avant-garde brands, mass media, tech businesses, and public and private art spaces and museums.
As of 2026, he continues to receive commercial and artistic commissions worldwide as an independent director, while he also develops and produces content and experiences globally from his recently launched creative studio SUPERSAUCE.