Juan J. Frausto, the oldest of his parents' seven children, was born with a passion for storytelling. As a young boy, he would accompany his father to the cinema, mesmerized by the works of Bruce Lee and Mexican films. Two films in particular, Canoa and El Apando, directed by Felipe Cazal, left a profound impact on him at the tender age of seven.
As he grew older, Frausto's fascination with filmmaking only intensified. Watching the making of Star Wars at the age of eleven sparked a desire to be part of the collaborative process of creating movies. After graduating from Curie High School in 1987, where he majored in music, Frausto went on to study filmmaking and screenwriting at Columbia College Chicago.
In 1993, Frausto received a $5,000 Community Film Workshop grant to complete his first feature film, Change. The film, which tells the story of three Mexican families struggling to balance their cultural heritage and American influences, premiered at the Chicago Latino Film Festival in April 1994. The ultra-low budget film, which cost $25,000 to produce, took three years to complete and received critical acclaim, making Frausto the first Latino filmmaker to produce a feature film in Chicago.
Since then, Frausto has directed and/or produced several successful independent feature films. Artisan/Lions Gate Films released DRIVE BY in January 2002, which grossed over $4.7 million domestically, more than 6600% of its original production budget. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE HOOD was released by Maverick Entertainment in 2004, bringing in over $1.2 million domestically, more than 10 times its original production budget. Maverick Entertainment also released MURDER ON THE BORDER (aka LA MIGRA) in 2005, which received great acclaim at the Chicago Latino Film Festival.
Frausto's films have been showcased on various platforms, including HBO, HBO Latino, Starz, Encore, the Independent Film Channel, Cine Mexicano, and Pay-Per-View. He recently wrapped up the production of two supernatural horror movies, THE POSSESSION DIARIES and A PSYCHO'S PATH, both set to premiere in 2019.
