Guillermo del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico. He is a Mexican director, producer, screen- writer and designer. He studied at the Instituto de Ciencias, University of Guadalajara. He was first exposed to film making when he was 8 years old and studied special effects and make-up with SFX artist Dick Smith. He spent 8 years as a special effects make-up designer and formed his own company, Necropia. He also founded the Guadalajara Film festival. Later he formed his own production company, The Tequila Gang. Guillermo del Toro has directed a variety of films from action hero comic book adaptations like Hellboy and Blade II to historical fantasy films. He has stated in interviews that he has a sort of fetish for insects, monsters, and dark places and is in love with monsters. On June 2, 2009 he released his first novel, The Strain, which he co-authored with Chuck Hogan. It is intended to be the first book in a vampire trilogy. in September 2010 he released his book, Fall, which made The New York Times Bestseller list. He made Publisher's Weekly Bestseller List in 2011 with his title The Night Eternal, Book III of the Strain Trilogy. He and Daniel Kraus are the authors of, The Shape of Water (2018). It was made into a feature film and won four Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, and was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Film at the74th Annual Venice International Film Festival.