Without a doubt the most potent force in Spanish language film internationally today, Mexican born Guillermo Del Toro seems to have developed something of a Midas touch. Del Toro has always managed a neat balance between personal projects and larger scale for-hire Hollywood jobs, his early resume boasting the likes of his tiny independent debut Cronos, Hollywood creature feature Mimic, and much loved Spanish language fairy tale The Devil's Backbone. But it was with his entry in the Blade series - his is the second film, and the best of the lot by a comfortable margin - where Del Toro really hit his commercial stride. That film proved he was capable of turning a profit without abandoning his unique aesthetic - and with a comic book film, no less - which in turn got him the freedom he needed to make Hellboy. The crowning achievement to his career thus far, however, is certainly Pan's Labyrinth, again a Spanish language fairy tale set in the midst of the Spanish Civil War and a thematic partner to The Devil's Backbone. A huge international success, Pan's won Del Toro awards by the boatload while also turning a tidy profit.

Not content just to ride his own success, Del Toro has since partnered up with fellow Spanish language heavyweights Alfonso Cuaron and Alejandro Innaritu to launch their own production company and Del Toro is finding himself in the producer's chair with more frequency, his latest producing effort - The Orphanage - proving a significant success. Del Toro's golden streak remains intact, opening the door for him to pursue whatever goals his heart desires.