Bicoastal production company Durable Goods has signed L.A.-based director Dominique DeLeon for commercials and branded content in the U.S. market. DeLeon’s body of work includes campaigns for such brands as Adidas, Sephora, Yves Saint Laurent and L’Oreal, as well as music videos for Grammy Award-winning artists John Legend and Chance the Rapper. DeLeon has also earned his stripes as an indie filmmaker, writing and directing short films that have screened at Urbanworld, DCIFF, Mill Valley Film Festival, as well as on First Nations Experience and MTV.
“Durable Goods feels like family, a haven for creativity,” remarked DeLeon. “The crew here is ambitious and willing to take risks, making it a place where I can truly thrive as a director.”
Durable Goods executive producer/director of sales & talent management, Roxanne Artesona, became acquainted with DeLeon when he was a 2019 Fellow of the Commercial Directors Diversity Program, where she serves on the advisory board. She remarked, “When I first met Dominique, I saw an incredibly smart and forward-thinking director–an amazing storyteller whose unique point of view needed to be represented in our community. His work is cinematic, with strong visuals and a touch of magic and Afro-Surrealism. On top of that, he is a brilliant writer who effortlessly conveys ideas with words, regardless of the genre; and he excels as an actor’s director, eliciting great performances and making the talent feel comfortable. I have witnessed all of this firsthand. Above all, he is an all-around good person with a lot to offer the world, and I am thrilled that he is on our roster.”
DeLeon’s career pursuits in entertainment go all the way back to high school where he secured internships at Universal Music, and CNN as an editing technician. He continued his education at Harvard University taking government courses as a pathway to law school. However, during his time at Harvard, DeLeon continued nurturing his passion for the arts, exploring music and producing two tracks for Bad Boy Records. Meanwhile, Harvard professor and renowned author Jamaica Kincaid recognized DeLeon’s raw talent as a creative writer and encouraged him to delve into the realm of film scriptwriting.
Subsequently, DeLeon joined ESPN as a production assistant and associate producer. A fortunate encounter with Spike Lee would open his mind to the possibility of attending film school, leading to his acceptance into NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned an MFA in Film. His thesis film at the school garnered him a prestigious Spike Lee Production Award and went on to air on FNX, the First Nations Experience television network.
DeLeon’s unconventional post-MFA journey has featured an eclectic mix of impressive projects from feature scripts on marginalized communities to the founding of his own production company, Special Boy Films, which became a go-to production agency for Sephora, particularly for the launch of new in-store brands. It was during this time that he also caught the music video world’s attention for collaborations with John Legend on “Penthouse Floor” and “Preach.”
While continuing to expand his music video and branded content portfolio, DeLeon also sold two feature scripts, including one which received recent Sundance Lab finalist recognition. Also the recipient of a Commercial Directors Diversity Program Fellowship, DeLeon further honed his craft within the commercial space, followed by a tenure at Google as global creative director.
“I consider myself a classical director,” said DeLeon. “My skills and experiences across writing, music, and visual storytelling have shaped my vision and approach as I aspire to find the spine of the story, with genuine, emotional, and naturalistic expressions of the human experience.”
