In October of 2010 I directed a spot for LG Papy Plus through Team Y & R, Dubai. Created by Wilbur D’Costa and Guilherme Rangel and shot by Shane Daly. The spot was for the Nigerian Market and told the simple story of a contemporary woman shopping for a mobile phone that fits her “highly connected” lifestyle.  The “old skool” store clerk tries to satisfy her every desires but gets increasingly frustrated when he realizes he cant fit all her demands into one sleek device.

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I directed 3 films for the mobile operator TELE 2 in Zagreb and Rovinj, Croatia. Each film had its own challenge, however, one of the films called “Trip” required the main character (Tony) to travel from New York to the South pole. I had to show the progression of his journey through a series of jump cuts revealing different locations and ethnicities. We went from a scene with Mexican Miriachi singers on top of a bus to Tony riding a bullock card with an old Ecuadorian man. If this was the States it would be easy to cast but in Zagreb we had to tap into the local gypsy talent!

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KING KONG:

In July 2010, I directed an exciting spot for Alfa Insurance. I have done quite a few parodies (Spaghetti western, Kung Fu, retro -Bollywood etc.) however, I had never done King Kong! And certainly not King Kong destroying Moscow City. The film mixed a few different styles such as the epic blockbuster disaster films with the graphic photography of Film Noir. As a director, It was a rewarding film to visually conceptualize and logistically pull off. I had a dedicated team in post (Grad) that did all CG work including creating an incredible “life-like” King Kong. I also collaborated with the talented DOP, Vlad Opeliants (“Burnt by the sun 2–2010”, “12”-2007).

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A true testament to the power of globalization–this job was for a fruit juice called Almarai for the Saudi market, the agency was BBDO based in Dubai and Jeddah, and the shoot was in Shanghai China. Actually, thats quite normal, but the strange part was trying to get Chinese stuntmen to fight like Mexican wrestlers. It was a surreal moment when everything started to come together. It took about a week, but eventually the Chinese stunt team were able to master it–although they had blank stares when I showed them Mexican wrestling on youtube. All the other cast were from Arab countries. It was a challenge to find Saudi looking teenagers in Shanghai!

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In 2009 I was approached by TELE 2 to direct two spots. TELE2 boards use the same 3 iconic characters (Sonny, Don and Tony) and employ more cinematic storytelling. I enjoyed bringing to life this project because of the “mafioso film” genre. Both films were shot in Kiev –one story took place in a strip club and the other in an old soviet style foundry. Luis (DOP) did a beautiful job lighting both stories despite the time restraints.

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In 2009 I directed a Citibank spot for Publicis United out of Moscow. The film was shot on location in the Sintra forest in Portugal. I really enjoyed the execution of this film as it involved linking together different trees (from a sapling to a 200 year old oak) in a forest. My concept was to use the super techno crane and glide seamlessly through each tree as if the audience was traveling effortlessly through the forest. Each movement was carefully choreographed to reinforce the historical context of the graphics. Obviously this had some technical challenges getting the crane into the forest and manipulating the crane to feel as if it was moving elegantly from one tree to the next. With the guidance of Luis Branquinho and his team, we pulled off a film that is both thought provoking and visually stunning.

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