You might have noticed that it has been quiet around here for some time. Well, I´ve been busy.
Last night, I won two awards: one for my old company and one for a new company. And this might just be the perfect opportunity to tell you more about it.
Even though you might know me best for my music videos and VFX work, this has never been my dayjob. Make no mistake, I´ve been an ad man for the last 12 years (jesus, 12 years already?). I´ve been writing, directing and selling a lot of prime time TV-commericals for Haus & Gross communications, a leading german agency specializing in advertising mainly for the pharma and healthcare markets. Backed by a team of awesome hand-picked artists, that have, in many cases even surpassed my talents (I´m looking at you Alex, Lisa, Markus and Philipp!). I´ve won awards, lived the agency life, often worked ridiculous long hours and had a genuinely good time. It´s been a blast but I´ve simply done all there is to do and achieved more than anyone could hope for in this market. So, before I get too comfortable: it´s time to do something out of my comfort zone again, it´s time to move on.
So I´m starting my own agency next year. Not some kind old and tired ad agency, but something new: an agency that is focusing soley on film in all it´s digital incarnations. It will take on all of the creative work involved in bringing high quality film, ads and animation projects to life in this digital day and age. In order to do that, it will be part agency, part production company and part post-house.
You see, traditionally, a lot of parties are involved in bringing something to life in the film market. An agency would come up with the creative and they would hire a production company who would in turn hire a director and a post-production company. Add in the client and things get messy real fast. Lots of communication, lots of politics - lots of everything, really. The chain necessary to get something out there is long and convoluted.
This is a perfect opportunity for disruption: I think there is a better, more integrated way of getting these things done and doing them well.
So I´m really looking forward to building something new again, as well as additional feature film work in 2014. Here´s to old friends and new beginnings.