Strike Anywhere, a production company with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, has added director Katya Bankowsky to its roster for commercials and branded content in the U.S. This marks the first production house roost for Bankowsky, a former agency executive producer and director, having last been at mcgarrybowen.
Bankowsky is a California native who became a New Yorker upon graduating from Yale. After college, she took a production job in advertising, which served as her film school and where she learned the art of the 30-second movie. Bankowsky soon went freelance and began shooting her feature documentary Shadow Boxers, which chronicles the emergence of women in boxing and the stellar rise of the first undefeated world champion Lucia Rijker. Bankowsky directed, edited and produced the film, and also boxed in the first NYC Golden Gloves to allow female competitors. Shadow Boxers premiered at the Toronto and Berlin International Film Festivals, picking up awards on the festival circuit before obtaining worldwide distribution.
Bankowsky’s non-documentary work includes TV commercials, branded entertainment, and digital campaigns for clients including Reebok, NFL, WNBA, Verizon, the US Olympic Committee, Chase, and Brazilian Brahma beer. She has worked with Maya Angelou, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, and numerous top-tier athletes. Bankowsky recently directed a piece for The New York Times on French fashion icon Michele Lamy, which kicked off a web series she writes, directs and co-stars in alongside Lamy.
Bankowsky’s directorial style is visual and musically driven. Her understanding of how to communicate a brand message can be attributed to her years as an in-house EP/director at Amster Yard and mcgarrybowen. This point of view can be seen in the social media campaign she directed for the NFL this past summer, a series called The Handoff.
On joining Strike Anywhere, Bankowsky says she is happy to add her creative point of view to their roster. “I want to help Strike Anywhere dig into a broader range of projects outside of traditional content. Tapping back into my agency experience, we can offer so much to both clients and agencies by extending that collaborative thinking. We all know the ad-world model is being transformed and we all want to figure out what interesting opportunities can come from the changes in the industry.”
Bankowsky said there was an instant connection with Strike Anywhere EP Cori Cooperider. “I felt her laid back positive energy and enthusiasm immediately. I liked that Cori was also interested in the quirky web series I’m doing with Michele Lamy in addition to my commercial work. This showed me Cori is someone who sees that the future of advertising is the intersection of art and commerce, something that continues to evolve every year.”
Strike Anywhere has a sales team consisting of Devine Reps for the West Coast, KK & Joanna in the Midwest, and Mr. Bartlett on the East Coast.
