Youssef Delara, a native of Los Angeles, began his education in the art of film at Loyola Marymount Film School where he focused on directing while pursuing additional coursework in photography at Art Center College of Art and Design. After college he applied his acute visual sense to his first job in the entertainment industry, working as a Visual Effects Associate on the highly successful Paramount Television series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, eventually becoming Visual Effects Supervisor, before going on to produce visual effects for Star Trek: Voyager as well as sequences for the popular Star Trek feature films Generations and Insurrection. After a stint working on another visual effects heavy television series, Universal Studio's Burning Zone, Delara took his sharp creative eye and practical production skills to the world of advertising where he is presently Creative Director for Cima Productions, a full service advertising agency catering to the burgeoning Latin American market in Southern California. In addition to launching countless radio and print advertising campaigns at Cima, Delara has written, produced, directed, and edited nearly a dozen recurring commercials which have aired on major Spanish language television networks. In 2004, after helping to build Cima into a multi-million dollar company, Delara turned his focus back to entertainment by writing and directing ESL: English as a Second Language, a story loosely based on his experiences living in Los Angeles. The film has garnered critical acclaim including the Best Feature award at the New York Latino, Boston Latino, and Portland Pine Film Festival, the Milagro Award at the Santa Fe Film Festival and an Outstanding Achievement Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival. After the breakout success of ESL, Delara and the Cima Production's team is in development on a slate of upcoming feature films.