Family fled military dictatorship of Pinochet in Chile; settled in Madrid, Spain

As a child, began composing music on guitar to accompany short stories he had written

At age 10, began studying piano

Made first short film, the thriller "Himenoptero"

Wrote and directed the short thriller "Luna"; first collaboration with actor Eduardo Noreiga

Co-wrote (with Mateo Gil), directed and composed the score for debut feature "Tesis/Thesis", starring Ana Torrent and Eduardo Noriega; film produced by Jose Luis Cuerda

Directed, co-wrote (with Gil) and composed the score for the fantasy thriller "Abre los Ojos/Open Your Eyes"; screened at the World Cinema section of the 1998 Sundance Film Festival; Noriega starred as a man left disfigured after an accident; Penelope Cruz co-starred

Penned the music for Mateo Gil's short thriller "Allanamiento de morada"; Noriega co-starred

Composed the the scores for the acclaimed film "Butterfly/La Lengua de las mariposas", directed by Jose Luis Cuerda, and for "Nadie conoce a nadie/Nobody Knows Anything", directed by Mateo Gil and starring Eduardo Noriega

English-language directorial debut, "The Others", starring Nicole Kidman and executive produced by Tom Cruise; also wrote the screenplay and composed the score

Wrote and directed the film "The Sea Inside" based on the real life story of spaniard Ramon Sampedro who fought a 30 year campaign in favor of Euthanasia and his own right to die