Mario R. Coello

Raised in the suburban city of Huntington Beach, California, Mario R. Coello demonstrated talent at the arts early in his life, notably in drawing and writing. He is an alumnus of the School of Architecture at the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo and studied architecture in Alexandria, Virginia and Prague, Czech Republic. His creative work during this period focused on urban designs intended to intrigue, disturb, entertain and educate all at once, a formula he would repeat later in his film career. After having produced experimental narrative videos and documentary tapings of local bands, he enrolled in the film school at University of Miami in 1996. Here he filtered experiences with the Orange County surf culture of his youth and the philosophical topics of his writing into the creation of the experimental dark comedy "Existential Surfers." His film "Dog From Another Dimension" was one of few to be screened at the University's first film festival. Upon moving to Los Angeles, he continued his career as a production assistant in Hollywood and an art director for the sitcom "Fear of a Punk Planet," starring Orange County punk band The Vandals. During this time he also produced the comedy short "Camera Man," which screened at Des Moine's Wild Rose Independent Film Festival and Toronto's International Comedy Shorts Festival, and the sci-fi thriller "Rosewood Avenue," nominated for Best Director and Best Sci-fi Film at Modesto's Shockerfest in 2003 and screened at the Los Angeles Shriekfest in 2004. Mario has started Kewlkewl Productions to bring his unique vision into the commercial world, through instructional DVDs such as "Poof! You Are a Magician," corporate videos for a number of projects and narrative films such as "A French Kiss." The short thriller "The Man in Dark Glasses," starring Cae Camille and Corey MacIntosh, screened at the 2010 Big Bear Horror Film Festival.