Mario Pagano is a Venezuelan director, writer, producer, photographer, composer and visual Artist. He began to tell stories from the age of fifteen with a video 8 camera.

His genetic heritage combines the aesthetic sensibility of his Italian father with the vibrancy of his Venezuelan mother, in a family environment where art and music took center stage. At the age of 18, Pagano began working in front of the camera in commercials and television programs while studying advertising.

He spent a brief season in Paris, where he deepened his connection with art through fashion, before returning to Caracas to study acting His firm goal was to understand the actor’s methodology and pave his way toward film directing.

In 1998, he began photography in a self-taught way and quickly gained recognition for his distinctive photographic style –marked by bold colors and narrative storytelling. He collaborated with major fashion magazines and advertising agencies across Latin America.

At 27, he received the “Best Fashion Photographer of Latin America” award for the “Vogue Latin Fashion Awards”. Following this achievement, Pagano moved to New York to study at the New York Film Academy.

In 2003, he relocated to Madrid, Spain, where he continued his audiovisual career, working on various film projects, TV Series, music videos and commercials. Always exploring new storytelling methods he ventured into theater, directing and producing two plays: “Do not ask me to return” and “Paco the Butcher”. In Madrid, Pagano also directed four short films, including “Shock”, which won the “Special mention Calle 13” at Spain’s “Notodo Film Fest” was selected for numerous international film festivals.

In 2016 he premiered his first feature film titled: “Backseat Fighter”, for which he was the screenwriter, director, producer and cinematographer. An independent film shot in English. The film was released in theaters in Europe, Latin America, and the U.S. It was “Official selection” for multiple international film festivals and won three awards at the “International Action Film Festival of Spain 2018” including: “Best Picture”

In 2020, Pagano won an “Honorable Mention” at the prestigious “International Photography Awards” (IPA) and published his first book, “Monitor”. The following year,  he received another “Honorable Mention” at the IPA Awards 2021. 

In 2023 he began coordinating the Video Art group at the Visual Artists Association of Madrid (AVAM), presenting his video art piece “Deformed Beauty” while continuing to develop his series. The same year , he earned another “Honorable Mention” at the IPA Awards Nude in the section Fine Arts Photography category

In 2024, Pagano won an “Honorable Mention” at the Monochrome Photography Awards and a  “Nomination  at the “Fine Art Photography Awards” in London. He also premiered in 2024 his second Feature Film: New Earth (Nueva Tierra), a fantasy thriller. In addition to directing, writing, producing and handling cinematography he also composed the original soundtrack.

in 2025, Pagano was selected as one of the ten emerging producers to attend the Visitors Programme at the European Film Market at Berlinale. His latest film, Eternal Love, a unique artistic film about universal love, supported of two important museums: the National Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, Spain and the Jumex Museum of Contemporary Art in Mexico.