Director Biography: Eugenio Villamar (SHE)

Eugenio Villamar is a Mexican Director, Screenwriter, and Producer.  Former VP of Production of AG Studios in Latin America. He is Co-President and Head of Production of the film studio Moxie 88 in Los Angeles. He graduated from UCLA Theater Film and Television with an MFA in Screenwriting. He was distinguished as a 2010 Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker’s Fellow, as well as a 2011 Sloan Foundation Screenwriting Award Winner. Among the projects he has created and developed at Moxie 88 are “The Demon”, a superhero movie currently in pre-production and TV Shows like “The Illusionist Club” and “Continuum”, currently in development in major studios. As Producer, he has collaborated in projects such as Jonas Cuaron’s “Desierto”, Manolo Caro’s “I Don’t Know How to Slit my Veins or Leave Them Long” and Demian Bichir’s directorial debut feature film. Villamar is a member of the Producers Guild of America.

Director Statement

SHE is a story I wrote around 10 years ago for my application to film school. The task was to write a short script where two characters are in a room. One wants to leave and the other one wants him or her to stay. Being me, always gravitating towards fantasy and science fiction, I wanted to create something that had a bigger impact. As one of my biggest influences as a writer is Ray Bradbury, I had the idea of merging something like the dysfunctional marriage that ends in murder in Bradbury’s story “The Lamb to the Slaughter” with a dystopian world populated by abandoned androids.

I was happening to be traveling through London when I wrote “SHE”. The city reminded me of an era that was long gone but had remained in spirit. The tragedy of wars and the history and culture remained in the architecture. London is a city that matches modern times with past times. It mixes happiness with an inherited depression, maybe due to the weather.

This is why SHE became a mix of 1950s Americana mixed with British traditions. You might think you are watching a story of two androids debating their choices, but this might also remind you of failed marriages or that choice that you are still waiting or too afraid to take.

After months trapped in Los Angeles during the pandemic I took out this script from my drawer and realized that it was more valid than ever. The harsh year we went through was a reset to our values and our needs. SHE represents just that, remind you to take that action that you have been avoiding.

As a director, I intended to take you through a voyeuristic trip into a room where you don’t belong. I don’t intend to change your points of view on any topic. My intention is to show you your options. You can be the android that decides to leave or you can be the android that decides to stay. There is no right or wrong.