This was an international co-production film between Spain and Mexico. The first draft of the script of The Orphanage was written by Sergio G. Snchez in 1996.[8] Snchez was not sure why he chose to write a genre film for the screenplay, as he explains, "I ended up writing a film in the style of those I liked as a kid, movies like Poltergeist, The Omen, and Rosemary's Baby which I ruined on the first VCR we owned at home."[9] Snchez revealed the literary influences underlying his writing of the script, such as The Turn of the Screw and Peter Pan.[10] Snchez originally wanted to direct the script but he was repeatedly turned down by various Spanish production companies.[10] While Snchez was working on the short film 7337 in 2004, he met with director Juan Antonio Bayona and offered him the script to direct.[9][10][11] Bayona accepted the opportunity because he felt that a fantasy themed script like that of The Orphanage would allow him freedom as a director, saying the fantasy genre was a great tool for learning as it "allows manipulation of space and time as we wish or the use of certain camera moves with an immediate efficiency".[12]