Jhoan’s casting was extraordinary."
Sadly, Camitz’s passing also reminds us that the "human condition" can be incredibly fragile and precarious. He died after being struck by a sports utility vehicle in the SoHo district of Manhattan.
The driver of the Range Rover, 27-year-old Ivory Davis, had been mortally wounded by two gunshots while behind the wheel at around 4:30 a.m., on Aug. 10, outside a rap nightclub called Club N.V. It’s unclear whether the Range Rover was parked or moving when the early-morning drive-by shooting occurred. The shots were fired from a Honda Civic sedan. When fired upon, Davis either continued to drive or started driving the Range Rover. The vehicle careened out of control for a couple of blocks before hitting pedestrian Camitz. Davis was dead at the scene. Camitz was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital, where he passed away three hours later.
It’s believed that Davis was the victim of a revenge-motivated shooting. Shots had been fired at him in two separate, earlier incidents, including one that reportedly took place in February. Davis was an owner of a boutique record company label that specialized in rap releases. His assailant or assailants in the Honda Civic had not been apprehended at press time.
Camitz had been dividing his residency between Stockholm and the U.S. He spent considerable time in Los Angeles, and had recently secured an apartment in New York. He was excited about being in New York so that he could be with his girlfriend and closer to Europe when stateside.
Also on the horizon was his feature film directing debut. According to Walsh, Camitz was slated to helm an adaptation of Denis Johnson’s book Already Dead: A California Gothic, produced by Propaganda Films.
LEGACY
DP Adam Kimmel, who worked regularly with Camitz over the past two and a half years, says of his late compatriot: "I never worked with a director as concerned about the quality of the work and as unconcerned about the frequency of it. He would wait months for the right project—something he felt he could put on his reel."
Kimmel notes that Camitz "created the most creative, collaborative atmosphere I’ve ever been in. He surrounded himself with people he liked, and encouraged everyone to be a contributor. He was a great clown in a conductor’s suit. But it wasn’t a playpen where the experience was considered more important than the work. That’s clear when you see the end result, which was simply some amazing work."
Camitz’s last endeavor at Satellite was a three-spot package conceived by agency McKinney & Silver, Raleigh, N.C., for its parent firm, Internet professional services company marchFIRST. Shot in Paris, each of the three commercials dealt with a first: the first cubist art exhibition ("Upside Down Head"); the first mini-skirt ("City Streets"); and the first man to walk on the moon ("Living Room").
David Baldwin, executive creative director of McKinney & Silver, recalls that the agency was "rocked by the news of Jhoan’s death. We had literally seen him the week before and were starting to get great press and word-of-mouth about the marchFIRST work, which had just debuted. He was such a huge part of that campaign’s success. He was a brilliant guy, full of energy and ideas. … The people here—like art director Philip Marchington and copywriter Lisa Shimotakahara—really hit it off with him. We were looking forward to doing more work with Jhoan. His passing was professionally and personally very tough on the people at the agency."
Baldwin notes that the campaign was pivotal because it established marchFIRST’s identity. "That’s why we went with Jhoan. We knew he would capture the spirit of being ‘first.’ He had the ability to make something feel very real, yet still have his sensibility," observes Baldwin. "He was an amazing storyteller, great with talent. He could tell stories not just through conventional avenues. You could look at his characters and they were interesting. Even if they didn’t speak, they were interesting. He cast these starkly real people. That helped to make his work resonate."
And it resonated internationally. In addition to being handled for spots by Satellite in the U.S., Camitz was repped in the U.K. by London-based Outsider, and in France through Paris-based Entropie Films. He was also available for work in Sweden via the aforementioned Moma.
Tamander worked with Camitz for nearly 10 years. "He made so many friends," she says of him. "He was truly amazing. You look at the reaction to his death and you realize that here was a person who didn’t have any enemies—only friends." Camitz is survived by his parents and three brothers.µ
