Director/photographer Zen Sekizawa has signed with WoodShop, the production house headed by founder/executive producer Sam Swisher and founder/ECD/director Trevor Shepard. The company roster also includes creative directors/directors Michelle Pak and Peter Cote.
After freelancing with the WoodShop team continuously over the past 10 years, Sekizawa decided to formally sign with the company. “Since the beginning of our work together, there has always been a natural and organic partnership,” explained Sekizawa. “There aren’t many studios where you make great things at this high level and still be friends at the end of it.”
Sekizawa has been working as a photographer, director and artist for over two decades in her hometown of Los Angeles. She is second-generation Angeleno and fourth- generation, Japanese-American.
Since earning her BFA in Photography from Art Center College of Design, she had built an extensive roster of commercial clients including Jaguar, KFC, Nike, Apple, IBM, Sonic, Reynolds Wrap, Lexus, Modelo, Vogue, Vans, SONOS and The New Yorker.
Recent projects for Sekizawa include a launch for Miss Grass, and an Instagram-inspired social media campaign for Sonos, exploring how artists are living, working, and listening at home through a series called “Still Lives.” Sekizawa collaborated in the fall with Playboy on a Holiday Gift Guide. Currently she is working on projects for Vans, The New Yorker and Modelo. Sekizawa is continuously shooting for dual Michelin-starred restaurant n/naka and also creates custom objects and furniture pieces in her arts based collaboration project MANO YA.
“Zen has an incredibly unique perspective, which she brings to every collaboration,” noted WoodShop’s Shepard. “Zen’s use of color, texture and composition, which she brings to motion is amazing. She is able to portray a product to align with how it makes you feel. Zen can do this visually.”
Director Michael Middelkoop Joins Production House 100% For Global Representation
Director Michael Middelkoop is joining Amsterdam-based 100% (formerly HALAL) for commercial representation worldwide. The signing comes after Middelkoop’s upcoming film Dit Is Geen Kerstfilm (This is not a Christmas movie) won big at this year’s Nederlands Film Festival, garnering three “Golden Calves” (the Dutch equivalent of the Academy Awards)--for Best Director, Best Screenplay (Lotte Tabbers) and Best Supporting Actor (Laura Baker). The absurdist ensemble comedy was produced by 100% and will be released on December 19 exclusively on Prime Video.
Prior to coming aboard 100% for U.S. and international representation spanning spots and branded content, Middelkoop was repped in the Netherlands by Czar. The former advertising creative director likes to play with the familiar and the unexpected, imbuing his work with authenticity and multiculturalism. Middelkoop’s body of work encompasses commercials (including a Cannes Bronze Lion winner in 2015), short films, features, TV and web series. His credits include Netflix & Chill, a horror comedy; Snor, a surrealist story about accepting a lost love; and the TV series Zina.
After studying Film in Amsterdam, the Rotterdam-born Middelkoop started his career as an art director at agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, Happiness Brussels, Achtung! and Dawn, before finally directing for brands such as adidas, Tele2, Lego and Asics--experimenting with new techniques to connect with youth culture.
Gijs Determeijer, partner and executive producer of 100%, said, “We have really loved working with Michael on his feature film over the past year. The whole process went so smoothly--and working with Michael truly felt like one big party. We are... Read More