Dean 'Rafael Francis' Paniagua is a Writer/Director based in Melbourne, Australia. His current feature films and series appeal to a wide demographic, and include genres such as; Psychological Thrillers, Teenage Drama and Romance, Coming of Age and Mafia Crime-Drama. He employs a dialogue-focused and artistic taste, with experimental style and non-linear storytelling, preferring dark, bitter-sweet conclusions to heavily impact his intended audience.

From a young age, Rafael grew up watching all kinds of film and television, gaining a sense of creativity and storytelling, longing to be part of the silver screen. The style in his current narratives have been influenced by and compared to that of Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Darren Aronofsky and David Fincher, some of which inspired Rafael to become a writer for film and television.

Rafael also presents experience in sound in cinema, music, cinematography and editing, striving to play a key creative role throughout the entire production process from development, pre-production, principal photography and post production to release.