Daniel Sánchez Arévalo

Overview

Daniel Sánchez Arévalo built his filmmaking career through television scripts and short films before moving into features. Born in Madrid in 1970, the director and screenwriter worked on Spanish television productions including Farmacia de guardia, Querido maestro and Hospital Central. A Fulbright scholarship later took him to Columbia University, where he studied filmmaking during 2000 and 2001.

His short-film work included La culpa del alpinista, which screened at the Venice festival in 2004. The feature breakthrough followed with Dark Blue Almost Black in 2006. That debut earned him the Goya for new director and introduced a feature-film career in which writing and directing frequently go together. His subsequent films include Fat People, Cousinhood and Family United, with Seventeen arriving in 2019.

The Girls at the Back, released in 2022, added a television miniseries to his directing and writing credits. His work also extends to fiction: La isla de Alice is among his published books.

Netflix’s November 2026 announcement places him behind Chapapote, a comedy produced by Bambú Producciones and starring Tamar Novas. He directs and shares screenplay credit with Ramón Campos, whose original idea supplies the premise. The fictional community at its center escapes the visible damage of the Prestige oil spill but finds itself cut off from assistance and work. Netflix also identifies Seventeen and Band Together among the director’s earlier projects. Chapapote is in production; its announcement does not include a release date.

Last updated November 9, 2026