Spot Welders Directors

After graduating from the San Francisco Art Institute, Lance began his career assisting the photographer Bruce Weber. Lance quickly became one of the industry’s most sought after cinematographers. Lance’s feature DP credits include 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, and, most recently, John Slattery’s God’s Pocket. He seamlessly transitioned into directing, working with clients such as Nike, Bank of America, and the NBA. Lance has won Gold Cannes Lions for his work with Nike, Adidas, and VW. He was nominated as Best Commercial Director by the DGA in 2003, 2011 and 2012. His 2011 Super Bowl spot for Volkswagen, “The Force”, became the undisputed highlight of the Super Bowl broadcast and went viral, with over 36 million views on YouTube to date. “The Force” was also named the best ad of 2011 by AdWeek, Creativity, and YouTube, and ranks on multiple lists of the greatest Super Bowl ads of all time. His Nike “Jogger” spot was nominated for a 2013 Emmy for Outstanding Commercial and named the best spot of 2012 by Creativity. Lance’s P&G “Pick Them Back Up”, which aired during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, won a Gold Lion for Direction at the 2014 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and his Apple “Misunderstood” won the 2014 Emmy for Outstanding Commercial. More recently, Lance directed Apple’s follow up holiday spot, “The Song” and GE “The Boy Who Beeps”, which won Bronze for Direction at the 2015 Cannes Lions.

Academy Award®-winning visual effects supervisor Eric Barba, a 17-year Digital Domain veteran, was recognized with the film industry’s top honor in 2009 for his work on Director David Fincher’s Curious Case of Benjamin Button. He was the visual effects supervisor on Director Joseph Kosinski’s TRON: Legacy and Oblivion, and on Fincher’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He also contributed his talents to Fincher’s Zodiac. Like many of the top directors he collaborates with, Eric is equally at home working in film and advertising. A graduate of the Art Center College of Design, Eric started his career at Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Imaging as a digital artist on sci-fi television shows. In 1996 he joined Digital Domain, where he supervised visual effects on dozens of commercials for Nike, Heineken, Adidas, Microsoft Xbox/Epic Games, and other leading brands. He has worked on many projects with David Fincher, including a multiple-award-winning spot for Adidas, the Nine Inch Nails music video “Only,” and spots for Nike, Motorola and HP. Eric’s own commercial directing credits include Nike’s “Birth of Speed,” Jaguar’s “Pool,” and campaigns for American Express, Cingular and Honda. Eric is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. 

Born in Barcelona, Pep has built his reputation working with some of the most renowned agencies around the world, from SCPF in Barcelona and McCann in Madrid, to BBH and Fallon in London, from Forman & Bodenfors in Goteborg, to BETC Paris or Loducca in Sao Paulo, from Publicis Mojo in Sydney to Fuel Amsterdam or Heimat in Berlin.

Gerard de Thame began his directorial career in his native England in the early ?80s after graduating from the Chelsea School of Art. His first commercial filmmaking foray was in the music video arena through Helen Langridge and Associates. He won many accolades for his work, including a Gold Lion at Cannes, and a NY Film Festival Silver and Diamond Award for his 1988 clip ?It?s a Wonderful Life? for Black. His 1989 clip ?Cathedral Song? for Tanita Tikaram won two D&AD Awards (Music Video of The Year and Best Direction). The 1989 video ?Twist in the Wind,? for Tanita Tikaram won a Diamond Award for Best Female Video. Gaining more and more recognition for his work, Gerard quickly became a major commercial director in Great Britain and Europe. In 1993 he established his London-based production company - Gerard de Thame Films Ltd. He created a number of memorable campaigns for Barclay?s Bank, British Telecom, and Pirelli Tires, which won the BTAA Best Commercial of the Year, Best European Advertising, Best Post Production, Best Direction Awards and the Cannes Silver Lion. After this Gerard signed with HSI and burst onto the American advertising scene creating internationally recognized campaigns for American Express, Audi, Volvo, VW, Adidas, and many others.

The incredible range of spots has led to Gerard?s reputation as one of the most versatile directors in the industry. He has swept awards for massive effects driven campaigns -such as Lincoln?s ?Surprising Journey?, and is also known for small, ingenious performance driven campaigns - such as Miller?s ?Twist? and ?Weird Guy?, which won Cannes Lions and Clio awards. The Volkswagen ?Synchronicity? spot spawned an unbelievable buzz and swept the AICP Show at MoMA in three categories, as well as having the great distinction of being included in the new work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1999. It also won ?Outstanding Commercial? at the Emmy Awards. The Mercedes campaign demonstrated Gerard?s unique ability as a technical innovator and problem solver. With ?Falling In Love Again? he authentically recreated the aesthetic of many past eras and ?Artists? employed groundbreaking animation techniques to revive historical figures. For recent clients like Range Rover, Nike and Toyota, Gerard continues to generate incredible spots, constantly innovating and taking boards in unexpected directions.

Martin hails from Denmark where he graduated from the National Film School.

In 2007 he directed the 25min short ‘We Who Stayed Behind’ and the 45min ‘Young Man Falling’, the latter of which was selected for the Critics Week in Cannes. His commercial for IKEA won ‘Best Direction’ at the Creative Circle Awards in 2008 and he has since then won numerous awards including ‘Best Director’ at the 2009 MVA´s and several D&AD Pencils among other awards for his poetic and dynamic work. 

Michael Downing started directing as a small child, when he used to tell his friends what game they were going to play and how it would end. He later studied acting and started his own small theatre company. He graduated from the American Film Institute and won a student Academy Award for his graduating short film, entitled Fine. His first American commercial was a Bud Light Super Bowl spot entitled Skydiver, which is still one of the most popular Super Bowl spots ever. 

Awards:

Pencil

Bronze Lion

AICP award

Student Academy Award

Bessie - Canadian advertising award

Porsche racing - first place in Southern California event

My hot wife

A second place soccer trophy for some league in Los Angeles when I was a kid and no-one else really played soccer in North America

Junior basketball champs when in high school 

Recognized for his sharp, offbeat comedy and ability to inspire honest performances, Australian Craig Gillespie is a critically acclaimed feature, TV, and commercial director. Walking a tightrope between the comedic and the mundane, Gillespie brings a unique tonality to his projects across all filmed media. Craig’s features have grossed over $205 million at the box office, and have included collaborations with Ryan Gosling, Colin Farrell, Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Jon Hamm, Toni Collette, and Margot Robbie. Gillespie’s most recent feature, I Tonya, chronicles disgraced competitive figure skater Tonya Harding's rise and fall at the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, when she plotted to dash another Olympic hopeful’s dreams. The dark comedy premiered at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival and went on to earn 25 major award nominations, including two Golden Globe nods for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, and Best Actress for Margot Robbie’s performance as Tonya Harding, and one Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe win for Allison Janney’s portrayal of Tonya’s mom. In addition to SAG and BAFTA wins for Janney, Critics’ Choice Awards for Robbie and Janney, and other noms, including one from the WGA for Best Original Screenplay, the film heads to the Oscars with three nominations, one for Robbie, another for Janney and a third for Best Editing. In 2016, Gillespie directed “The Finest Hours.” Based on Casey Sherman and Michael J. Tougias’ book detailing a Coast Guard rescue in 1952, the film stars Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Holliday Grainger, John Ortiz, and Eric Bana. In 2014, Gillespie helmed Disney’s “Million Dollar Arm,” which features Jon Hamm as sports agent that recruits talented Indian cricket players to play Major League Ball. In 2011, Craig directed a remake of Fright Night, the 1985 cult comedy-horror classic. WGA Award-winning writer Marti Noxon’s rendition stars Anton Yelchin and Colin Farrell, and earned high praise from discriminating cult followers and critics alike. Craig Gillespie made his foray into feature directing with the critically acclaimed Lars and the Real Girl, starring Oscar-nominee, Ryan Gosling. Hailed by the LA Times as an “implausible feat of sustained imagination,” and the Wall Street Journal as “an almost perfect movie with flawless performances,” Nancy Oliver’s screenplay was nominated for an Oscar, while Gillespie’s film won numerous critics’ awards and festival prizes. Gillespie served as producer and director of the Showtime series, “The United States of Tara,” directing the pilot episode that helped actress Toni Collette earn an Emmy and a Golden Globe. Penned by Oscar-winning Juno scribe, Diablo Cody, the show bears Gillespie’s unmistakable stamp of dancing on the boundary between comedy and drama, while maintaining a clear directorial presence. For his strong and singular body of commercial work, Gillespie has been honored with some of the most prestigious accolades, including many awards from the Clios, LIAA, D&AD, One Shows, Effies, Addys, statues in Cannes, the DGA award, and an Emmy.

Tim Godsall is an internationally acclaimed commercial director known for his offbeat brand of dialogue- and performance-driven comedy.
Godsall has helmed high-profile work for international brands like Axe, Old Spice, Southern Comfort, ESPN, FedEx and XBOX, among many others. A profile in Shots described his work as among “the funniest, quirkiest, and downright oddest commercials of the past decade…[which] helped reshape American TV advertising.”
An expert of visual storytelling, Godsall is the recipient of over two-dozen Cannes Lions, various Clios, Andys, BTAAs, as well as a DGA nomination, leading him to be named one of the world’s most awarded commercial directors by the 2013 Gunn Report.
Godsall started his commercial career at Epoch Films, and then spent a decade at Biscuit Filmworks LA before signing with Anonymous Content in 2014 for commercial representation in the US, UK and Europe. The signing grew out of a relationship that developed while Anonymous produced Godsall’s upcoming feature film debut, Len and Company. The film centers on Len Black (Rhys Ifans), a successful but miserable music producer who flees to his house in Upstate New York to start a period of self-imposed exile, only to have his solitude shattered by his estranged son (Jack Kilmer) and the pop sensation (Juno Temple) he has created.

Godsall grew up in Canada, and has since lived in Toronto, New York and Los Angeles, shooting commercials over the last decade across five continents. He is the proud father of a 5 year-old son, who can build Lego sets that the box clearly states are best suited for kids 8 

Jonze began his career as a teenager photographing BMX riders and skateboarders for Freestylin' Magazine and Transworld Skateboarding. Moving into filmmaking, he began shooting street skateboarding films, including the influential Video Days (1991). Jonze co-founded the skateboard company Girl Skateboards in 1993 with riders Rick Howard and Mike Carroll. Jonze's filmmaking style made him an in-demand director of music videos for much of the 1990s, resulting in collaborations with Sonic Youth, Beastie Boys, Fatboy Slim, Daft Punk, Weezer, Björk, and Kanye West. Jonze began his feature film directing career with Being John Malkovich (1999) and Adaptation (2002), both written by Charlie Kaufman; the former earned Jonze an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. He was a co-creator and executive producer of MTV's Jackass reality franchise.[2] Jonze later began directing films based on his own screenplays, including Where the Wild Things Are (2009) and Her (2013); for the latter film, he won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay, while receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Song ("The Moon Song"). Jonze co-founded Directors Label, with filmmakers Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry, and the Palm Pictures company.[3] He is currently the creative director of Vice Media, Inc. (source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Jonze)

Mike began his career at Kirshenbaum & Bond in NYC, where he simultaneously tried this hand in both the advertising and entertainment industries, writing taglines for several feature films including Boogie Nights, Happiness and The Avengers.

This 3-year period culminated just before leaving K&B when he (along with former creative partner Tom Kuntz) were featured in VARIETY Magazine's "Gotham 50" of 1998, which recognized the top fifty New Yorkers to watch in the entertainment industry in the coming year.

From there, Maguire went on to MTV to become writer/director where he produced hundreds of commercials for shows - most notably, the MTV Video Awards featuring Ben Stiller, The Wu-Tang Clan, Madonna, Marilyn Manson & Dave Grohl of The Foo Fighters, as well as the MTV Movie Awards featuring Samuel Jackson - which gained considerable national and international attention.

Based on the success of his work at MTV, Maguire decided to pursue directing full-time, joining Propaganda Films in 1999 and MJZ in 2001. To date, he has directed a number of well-known commercials for brands such as BUDWEISER, FOX SPORTS, NIKE and VOLKSWAGON, to name just a few.

He has also worked on music video projects, in particular; the acclaimed "Frontier Psychiatrist" video for The Avalanches, which was one of 3 finalists for BEST VIDEO OF THE YEAR at the CAD's (the U.K.'s premier video award show) and "DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE!" video for Detroit's Electric Six, which features vocals from Jack White of the White Stripes. The song entered the UK charts at #2 and Tom Jones has been quoted as saying that it is his favorite video.

Maguire has received numerous awards for his work, including One Show, Cannes and British D&AD. He has also been featured in Archive Magazine, RES Magazine and Rolling Stone.

A native of Perth, Australia, the largest most remote city on earth, Simon studied graphic design at University, graduating to ply his trade as an art director for agencies across Australia. In 1995, Simon was enticed across the Pacific by Clarity Coverdale Fury in Minneapolis. Specifically, in January 1995. Unimpressed by the weather, Simon moved on to Hill Holliday in Boston before ultimately landing at TBWA\Chiat\Day NY as Group Creative Director. In 2003 Simon transitioned to directing and has since worked with clients as varied as Volkswagen, HBO, Xbox, Audi, Intel, HP, Holiday Inn Express and Mercedes... among others. His films for Xbox/Halo 3, HBO and PlayStation have collectively won him a Grand Clio, a D&AD Yellow Pencil, a GRANDY Award, One Show Gold Pencils, Cannes Gold Lions, the 2012 AICP honor for Best Direction and the Film Grand Prix at Cannes, none of which he has displayed anywhere. Simon recently wrapped his short film The Stone Forest and continues to divide his time between Perth and the US, chasing the ever-elusive Perth shoot.

Noam Murro is a multi-award winning commercials director. He has been nominated for DGA Director of the Year five times, winning the honor in 2005. His unique style was established in 1994 with a memorable campaign that captured elderly customers in Katz's famous deli on New York City's Lower East Side. This led to documentary-style exposes of tobacco monsters for the California Department of Health as well as lighter work for Fox Sports. The poignant Flatline spot for Toshiba, in which a dying man's life flashes before him, was singled out and applauded by the New York Times.
In 2002, he directed Saturn's Sheet Metal, a conceptually driven spot that was highly critically acclaimed. In 2003, Adcritic.com labeled his Got Milk? commercial as the best spot of the year. It went on to become the winner of a Gold Lion at the 2003 Cannes Lions awards. Murro's campaign for Olympus garnered him a second Gold Lion at the 2005 awards along with a number of Silver and Bronze statues for other commercials. Recently, Creativity Magazine named him as one of the industry's 50 most influential people in the last 20 years. He was also recently named the UK's #1 director by Campaign magazine.
As well as directing, he is also the founder of Biscuit Filmworks. Smart People is his first feature film. 

Brad Parker began his career as an animator and art director at MTV, where he co-founded the company’s digital animation lab. From there he joined Digital Domain to work on visual effects for feature films, contributing to numerous films including David Fincher’s Fight Club, xXx, The Time Machine and We Own The Night.

As a natural extension of his talents, Brad became involved in the studio’s commercials division as both a Visual Effects Supervisor and Director. At DD, a number of spots where Parker contributed as VFX Supervisor, became highy recognized in the industry, including “Unstoppable” for Adidas, “23 vs. 39” for Gatorade, “Toy Boat”, for eBay, and others.

During his tenure at Digital Domain, Parker frequently collaborated with Directors including Mark Romanek, Joe Pytka, Noam Murro, Brian Beletic and many more.

Brad joined Bob Industries to expand his own Directorial career. Utilizing his VFX and design knowledge as a springboard, Brad has directed live action, visual storytelling and effects projects of all kinds. Brad’s comprehensive knowledge of art and technology allows him to brings a truly unique style, personality, and creative point of view to all his projects.

Brad has directed many commercial projects for all mediums and his current clients include Nike, Nintendo, Sony, Electronic Arts, Chrysler, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, Molson Beer and Panasonic.

In 2010, Brad was Second Unit Director on the feature Let Me In, and also served as VFX supervisor on Spielberg’s television project Lock & Key with Director Mark Romanek.

Most recently, Brad wrapped production on Warner Brothers’ film, Chernobyl Diaries, which is his Feature Directorial debut. Diaries’ was produced by Brian Witten (American History X, The Wedding Singer) and Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity) and is set for a 2013 release.

In January 2012, Paramount & Bad Robot announced that Parker will Direct their next Action Film, which has J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves & Bryan Burk slated to produce. 

He began his career at WRS Motion Picture and Video Lab in Pittsburgh in the 1960s and 70s. The director started shooting shows for WQED and working on documentaries in various capacities, including Steeltown Blues, Maggie’s Farm, and a documentary on air pollution narrated by Orson Welles, and shot a forerunner to music videos called High Flying Bird, featuring Steve McQueen. Today, Pytka has directed more than 5,000 commercials for some of the world’s largest corporations, and earned many awards and nominations including three Directors Guild of America Commercial Direction Awards and 15 nominations, the most for that category. Over the past three decades, his stylized images have wedged themselves into the American consciousness, and his commercials for clients such as Budweiser, Pepsi, McDonald’s and NFL have aired more than 30 times during the Super Bowl telecast.

Born in Bloomington, Illinois, it goes without question that his mother’s work as deputy coroner played an important role in shaping Baker’s view of the world. The strange domain of forensics and death was part of the norm, coloring his imagination with hints of the bizarre and giving him a sense that not everything is what it appears to be. Portraying worlds that are in every sense familiar, he is able to integrate those elements that are just a tad bit off. Whether it’s sex-crazed winemakers, the Women’s US Soccer Team or store mannequins, in Baker’s vision they are given a harmonious place to coexist. It is this reality-based humor, this eye for the absurd, that has become his unique signature. Baker has won every global coveted award including the Director’s Guild of America award for Best Director, the Grand Prix at Cannes, gold pencils from D&AD and has been inducted into the MOMA/AICP show 18 times. Baker has worked his way up through the various stages of the commercial world and ultimately partnered with his longtime producer to form harvest films, inc. Having attracted a selection of America’s most talented directors, harvest continues to excel as one the most sought after production companies.

Laurence Thrush is a seasoned and accomplished director whose cinematic and poetic style stands out and captivates audiences. Being a writer and editor, as well, lends itself perfectly to Laurence’s stunning visual storytelling. Early in his directing career, he was short-listed for the Best Young Director Award at the Clio Advertising Awards and the Cannes Lions International Festival. He has since directed a wide range of commercials for clients such as HP, Amstel Light, Adobe, McDonalds, and MasterCard. Laurence’s first feature film, “Left Handed” was awarded Best Feature at The Milan Film Festival, The Rhode Island Film Festival, L’Aauila Film Festival and The Japan Film Festival. “Pursuit of Loneliness”, Laurence’s second feature Film as a writer/director, made its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2012. “A Different Light”, a new documentary based on the design and construction of a school for visually and hearing impaired students in Finland, will be coming n 2018. Laurence’s most recent commercial work includes spots for Walmart with The Martin Agency, Toyota out of MMB/Boston and Honda with RPA.