Creative studio Dress Code has signed director Daniel Castro to its commercial roster for representation in the U.S. and Canada. The Brooklyn-based talent brings with him a multimedia approach to storytelling, incorporating 2D design, stop motion and VFX into his live-action work.
Soon after graduating from his studies in product design, Castro discovered he had a talent for graphics, and started working as a visual designer, freelancing in New York before moving to San Francisco to work for clients including Pottery Barn, Design Continuum Italia, Sephora, and Brooks Stevens Design. While in San Francisco, Castro pursued a lifelong desire towards photography, and found success working as an ad photographer and growing as a visual artist.
Returning to New York in 2013, Castro began to experiment with stop-motion animation, relishing in the freedom and opportunities that lie in crafting full narrative films instead of singular still moments. In 2014, he founded Sky Pie Studio, which became one of the go-to stop motion shops in the city. Castro evolved his work into more live action work involving 2D and 3D animation as time went on.
Some of Castro’s career highlights include working with French football star Paul Pogba for the Pepsi x KFC Champion’s Challenge. The mammoth project involved designing and bringing to life a 40 foot Rube Goldberg machine (a chain-reaction type machine, intentionally designed to carry out a simple task in an overcomplicated or impractical way), and managing a creative team that spanned across five countries. Furthermore, Castro worked very closely with Oatly, directing several spots for the brand during the brand’s rapid growth.
It was in 2021 when Castro won a regional Emmy award for the short film Quarantined, made in collaboration with Leverage Dance Theatre and Aligned Media. Filmed as COVID-19 restrictions were drawing to a close, Quarantined explores the idea that even within restriction there exists enormous potential.
Castro said, “I’m looking forward to tackling technical and creative challenges with the prowess of the Dress Code team backing me up. My multi-medium approach has allowed me to tackle briefs from all sorts of angles – but sometimes I had to shy away from the wildest solution because of production limitations. Now the gloves are off. With Dress Code I can go full tilt.”
Brad Edelstein, executive producer at Dress Code, added, “Daniel’s visual aesthetic and approach to projects aligns so well with Dress Code’s style and ethos. Daniel leans heavily into the use of detailed art direction and he’s really created a beautiful and inspiring career by expanding his practice across artistic mediums. To go from traditional design, to photography, to stop-motion, to expanding further into VFX and allowing all of that to eventually complement his live action work is just so impressive. His ever-evolving and insatiable spirit is inspiring. We are so excited to have him join the team and cannot wait for what is next in store for him.”
