The United States, America for the Yankee's lovers, Hollywood, Cinema... all synonyms that define this more than a country that stills remains as The bastion of capitalism and The colossus Pop culture's ambassador around the world. Yeah, it's a shame that even in 2020 a lot of people when they talk about movies they only think of American films. Another shame is that a lot of filmmakers want so desperately their pass to Hollywood that instead of exploring an artistic path they choose to emulate or replicate old formulas of Cinema's Status Quo. Listen, I'm not a Latin-commie that shouts in every opportunity he has "Yankees go home!"; those are scenes of my punk teenage years. Nowadays I embrace American culture and I'm thankful for everything they've given me, that's why now I'm taking the responsibility of making a list of the most interesting and awarded directors of our god-blessed America. The list follows an alphabetical order and includes the most awarded directors of the last decade:
He has worked as a DP in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (BAFTA nomination for Best Cinematography) and Marie Antoinette, Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo 66, Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich and Where the Wild Things Are. Then he effortlessly transitioned into directing, working with Nike, Bank of America, and the NBA. Lance has won Gold Cannes Lions for his work and was nominated as Best Commercial Director by the DGA. His 2011 Super Bowl spot for Volkswagen “The Force”, became an instant viral hit and the highlight of the Super Bowl broadcast. His work mixes tenderness, humanity with an indie look that also pays tribute to the recent past and the films of our childhood.
Director: Lance Acord
Production company: Park Pictures
AGENCY: Deutsch
CLIENT: Volkswagen
Former ad agency creative-turned-director Steve Ayson attracted attention with 2002 supernatural short "The French Doors" scoring a Leopard of Tomorrow award at Locarno. has since collaborated with partner Jane Shearer on award-winner "Nature’s Way", and as co-director of "Bird".Ayson is globally recognized as a commercials director having directed memorable spots for Nike, Nimble, Sky and Old Spice – which have won him a list of awards from ADC, Cannes, One Show and D&AD to name a few. Steve Ayson is ranked #3 director in the world on Bestads over the last decade. Recently he was nominated for a Director’s Guild Award award with two films: "Getting Ready" for Dollar Shave Club and "The Dance" for Speight’s.
PRODUCTION Director: Steve Ayson
Production company: MJZ
AGENCY: DDB
CLIENT: Skittles
The "King of the Super Bowl" with more than 60 Super Bowl commercials under his belt with clients such as Bud Light, Coca-Cola, Best Buy and Mastercard. He's an intuitive filmmaker, creator of pieces of pop culture with the biggest exposition in the world. Someone who captures the diverse melting pot that is North America and who returns it in the form of synthetics of 30 seconds that have a great reach of the public. You can't name an award he hasn't already won it... multiple times.
Generation Lockdown | March For Our Lives
Director: Brian Buckley
Production company: Hungryman
AGENCY: MCCANN NY
CLIENT: March For Our Lives
Alex was born in Flint, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan where he graduated with a B.A. in English. Hickey, his first feature film, opened strong at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival where it earned Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Supporting-Actress honors. In 2017, a series of short films he directed for Alliance Française won three gold lions and two silver lions at Cannes, making Alex the most awarded comedy director of the festival and becoming one of the few creatives to win Cannes Gold as both a writer and director. That campaign was the most awarded comedy campaign in the world in 2018, and was named by Adweek as one of the top 15 commercials of the year. In 2019 he directed spots for Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich, a campaign AdAge named 2020’s top launch of the year. Outside of advertising, his first feature film, Hickey, took best directing honors before moving to competition at SXSW.
Director: Alex Grossman
Production company: Joinery
AGENCY: Ogilvy & Mather
CLIENT: Alliance Française De Singapour
Tom Kuntz has shot some of the most popular and weird commercials, becoming one of the most prestigious directors in the industry. He started working at MTV where he created the iconic batch of commercials for the MTV music awards starring Ben Stiller. Kuntz quickly left MTV and founded MJZ. His past on MTV gave him a wide knowledge of pop culture to use in his commercials, where he emulates different aesthetics, sometimes parodying and sometimes paying homage to different symbols of North American culture. He has been awarded with the most prestigious prizes, one of his latest ads for IKEA won a D&AD Yellow Pencil, proving that he's still relevant in the commercial game.
Director: Tom kuntz
Production company: MJZ
AGENCY: Mother London
CLIENT: IKEA
Henry-Alex Rubin is a renowned filmmaker and commercial director, possessor of a strong storytelling and a seeker of authenticity and truth. His first commercial was the celebrated hit: Crispin Porter + Bogusky spot, “Whopper Freakout,” for Burger King; the spot would go on to win 3 Gold Lions at Cannes and the coveted “Advertising Excellence Award” at the AICP Show. Since then, Rubin has become one of the most awarded commercial directors in the world, with over 40 Cannes Lions to his name for brands like Adidas, Sony, Amex, AT&T, McDonald’s, Volvo, Samsung, Jaguar, Guinness, Gatorade. Rubin’s latest installment for Sandy Hook “Back to School Essentials,” was trending on Twitter within one day of its release and listed as SHOOT Magazine’s top spot of the week. The short took home five Gold Pencils in this year’s One Show, two D&AD Yellow Pencils, and won Clio & Brand Storytelling’s inaugural Storytelling for Good Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the first advertising award to be presented at a major international film festival. The film also won Best Concept and Best Public Service Announcement at this year’s AICP Awards.
Director: Henry Alex Rubin
Production company: Smuggler
AGENCY: BBDO New York
CLIENT: Sandy Hook Promise
David Shafei is co-founder of the production company World War Seven. He attended Boston College and then Loyola Law School. During law school he started working in commercial and music video production for companies including HKM, Smuggler and Rock Fight, going on to direct music videos and interactive content before breaking into commercials. As a commercial director he’s worked with brands like FedEx, Snickers, Android, Old Spice, Nature’s Bounty, ESPN, Virgin America, Chex Mix and Pepsi amongst many others. His work has garnered numerous awards including multiple Cannes Lions and One Show Pencils. He's a filmmaker that thrives at the literal epicenter of an abstract, asymmetrical, ever-expanding creative universe where his uniquely talented mind turns big ideas into trans-platform, horizontally integrated global strategies. And always with a great sense of humor and the perfect timing for comedy.
Director: David Shafei
Production company: JHF Productions World War Seven
AGENCY: BBDO
CLIENT: Mars Chocolate North America/ Snickers
Will Speck and Josh Gordon bonded at NYU film School over a love for the same movies and a strong desire to rule the world. Together they have directed hundreds of commercials and won top international awards for clients such as Apple, Pepsi, Amazon, Netflix, NY Lottery, GEICO, PlayStation, Coca-Cola, Levi’s and Audi with agencies such as Droga5, BBDO, Johannes Leonardo, TBWA\Chiat\Day, and BBH. In collaboration with The Martin Agency, they developed and helmed a film for Donate Life, “The World’s Biggest Asshole” which stars Thomas Jane and narration from Will Arnett. This social impact campaign earned 10 Lions at Cannes 2017. Other notable work includes “Devin & Glenn,” their PSA against California’s Proposition 8, which made gay marriage illegal, starring Mike White and Justin Long, and the WWDC launch film for Apple starring Bill Hader. Other notable works are their ads for Motorola starring T.J. Miller, Century Link starring Paul Giamatti, and the Emmy Nominated Web series “The Power Inside” starring Harvey Keitel for Intel/Toshiba. In 2007 they were founding directors at commercial production company Furlined. Based in Santa Monica, Furlined has since expanded to London and was named one of the Top Production Companies in the world by Campaign magazine. Speck and Gordon have a particular sense of humor and give voice to the underdog, a theme which also threads through their feature films, which include “Blades of Glory,” “The Switch,” and “Office Christmas Party.”
Director: Speck and Gordon
Production company: Furlined
AGENCY: The Martin Agency
CLIENT: Donate Life
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