Bicoastal production company ArtClass has signed director Shahana Khan for commercials and branded content in the U.S. This marks Khan’s first directorial representation as she had previously been working freelance.
With a filmmaking background spanning live action, creative direction and visual effects, Khan brings a multidisciplinary perspective to the director’s chair. Her recent credits include music videos for Kingdom, Maluca, Michah James and Poolside, which have garnered acclaim in Paper Magazine, Teen Vogue, Pitchfork and Jezebel.
During her wide-ranging career in entertainment and advertising, Khan has had tenures at Elastic, Psyop, a52, Mac Guff, and Digital Domain, often in a creative director capacity. Her filmography includes David Fincher’s Oscar Award-winning film, “The Social Network,” for which she was a visual effects supervisor. Her creative imprint can also be seen in the Emmy-nominated opening titles for Daredevil, and the final season of Game of Thrones which earlier this year won the Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Design. Khan served as lead compositor on that Emmy-winning team. Her commercial credits as a creative director or VFX supervisor include campaigns for Adidas, Levi’s, Amex, Coca-Cola, Verizon, Honda and Panasonic. Khan was a VFX supervisor on Nike’s “Dream Crazy” spot starring Colin Kaepernick, and directed by Lance Acord, Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki and Christian Weber of Park Pictures for Wieden+Kennedy.
Khan is currently producing and directing short-form work, including a visual narrative that experiments with robotics, technology, and dance, as well as a piece that focuses on performance as death in locations around Los Angeles. Additionally, she has a feature documentary in development.
“Through sensuality–be it sometimes humorous–I am interested in creating cinematic imagery that provokes and subverts expectations,” said Khan. “This sort of augmentation of reality is also carried into the post side of my work, through color, atmospheric effects, and shaping of light and composition.”
Geno Imbriale, executive producer and partner at ArtClass, assessed, “Shahana is a creative powerhouse with a distinct filmmaking style that we immediately gravitated to when we saw her work. She’s passionate, unconventional, collaborative, and extremely well-versed in the craft of visual storytelling across all disciplines.”
