Sebastián Reais an Ecuadorian-American writer and director from New York City. Most recently, he was a Story Editor on Universal’s Fast and the Furious TV series, still at development at UTV. He was a staff writer on the Peacock/UCP drama Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, created by showrunner Patrick Macmanus. Sebastián was also a Story Editor in the development room for the series Vigilante — also by Macmanus. He is currently represented by Mike Vanderhei at RAIN MANAGEMENT and agents Katt Riley & Nate DeRemer at Independent Artist Group.

He is the curator of aNEW LATIN AMERICAN FILM SERIESat EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO, premiering August 2026 in Harlem.

Sebastián is a 2024–25 fellow in NBCU’s TV Writers Launch Program. His original pilot Heritage, which helped him secure this fellowship and landing his first writers room, was previously workshopped in the Outfest Screenwriting Lab, and recognized by Netflix’s Indigenous Inclusion Grant in partnership with The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.

Born in Ecuador and raised in Queens, Sebastián blends his Andean heritage and New York City street smarts to offer an intersectional lens at identity, legacy, and survival. Before breaking into TV, he was the personal production assistant to Jennifer Lopez at Nuyorican Productions, and served as assistant to director Jason Moore on Amazon’s Shotgun Wedding. These roles gave him a masterclass in big-budget filmmaking and intense on-set experience.

Early in his career, Sebastián spent seven years working at Tribeca Enterprises as the content manager, overseeing the festival, digital, and on-demand assets. He was the founder of the 30 Under 30 Film Festival, which ran for eight years in NYC. In between, he served as a Video Director in the Marketing Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

His work has been nominated by GLAAD and the Critic’s Choice Awards. He was a fellow of the Artist and Industry Academies at Lincoln Center, the Smithsonian Institute’s Ambassador Program, the IFP lab, and is an Aspen Ideas Fellow. Besides being a film and tv scholar from the latch-key university, Sebastián also holds a degree in Film, with a minor in Political Science, from SUNY Purchase College. 

His award winning work has been recognized by NBCU Launch Program, Outfest, LALIFF, The Industry Academy and Artist Academy at Film at Lincoln Center, the IFP No Borders Lab, The Council of Urban Professionals, UN Women, and The Aspen Ideas Fellowship. Always giving back to the community, he is a mentor for the Smithsonian Institute Latino Center's Young Ambassador Program. He volunteers his skills shooting documentaries for relief missions in cities affected by natural disasters or poverty.

He has worked on SHOTGUN WEDDING, THE MOTHER,ATLAS, THIS IS ME…NOW: THE FILM, and UNSTOPPABLE: THE ANTHONY ROBLES STORY.

PRESS LINKS:

GLAAD INTERVIEWS THE WRITERS ROOM OF DEVIL IN DISGUISE: JOHN WAYNE GACY: https://glaad.org/devil-in-disguise-writers-room-talk-shows-lgbtq-themes/

Op-Ed in LATINA MEDIA CO: How This Queer Ecuadorian Boy Became a Writer on Devil In Disguise.

NBCU TV Writers Launch Program 2024-25: https://deadline.com/2024/02/2024-25-nbc-tv-writers-program-1235840958/

Netflix & LALIFF’s The Indigenous Inclusion Grant: https://deadline.com/2021/12/laliff-latinx-inclusion-fellowship-cohorts-1234890578/

Indigenous Latinx Filmmakers Changing the Narrative - by Cristina Escobar: https://www.latinorebels.com/2022/08/01/laliffblackindigenous/

The Outfest Screenwriting Lab: https://deadline.com/2022/12/outfest-names-2022-screenwriting-lab-fellows-1235188015/

Artist Academy at Lincoln Center: https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2019/daily/meet-the-participants-of-the-nyff57-artist-and-critics-academies/

Industry Academy at Lincoln Center: https://www.filmlinc.org/daily/participants-announced-for-fourth-annual-industry-academy/

REMEZCLA on Sebastián’s short film, SKIN - https://remezcla.com/features/film/skin-dominic-colon-short-film-set-visit/

IFP NO BORDERS NARRATIVE LAB: https://filmmakermagazine.com/99323-ifp-announces-no-borders-spotlight-on-docs-feature-films-for-ifp-film-week/

UN WOMEN’s 61st Commission on the Status of Women: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2017/4/news-young-filmmakers-during-csw61

Aspen Institute Ideas Scholar: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/people/sebastian-rea/