Directing duo brings strong credentials in comedy storytelling and a shelf of awards including a Cannes Gold Prix.
Tiago Guedes and Stjepan Klein, the European directing duo who work under the pseudonym John Doe, are bringing their smart, funny, occasionally provocative and always original style of storytelling to the United States. The pair, whose work includes both traditional and viral campaigns for such brands as Blaupunkt, KFC, Nestle’s, T-Mobile, Vodaphone and motorbike maker Bajaj, have signed with Los Angeles-based Accomplice Media for exclusive stateside representation.
Guedes and Klein have been collaborating as John Doe since 2003 (originally with Milovan Radovic and Masataka Namba) and have worked with ad agencies across Europe as well as in South America and India. Along the way, they’ve collected scores of awards, including a 2007 Cannes Lions Direct Grand Prix for a campaign promoting Spain’s Banco Gallego that employed footage of a Barcelona sportscaster fainting during a live television broadcast. John Doe’s work has been short-listed at Cannes in six consecutive years.
“Despite their name, John Doe has been anything but anonymous outside the U.S.,” says Accomplice Media executive producer Jeff Snyder. “They have won the attention of agencies on three continents by consistently delivering fresh and original work. We’ve been fans for years and are very excited to have the opportunity to introduce them to the American market.”
Klein notes that he and Guedes met Accomplice Media executive producer Jeff Snyder at Cannes several years ago. They became friends and Snyder was the first person they contacted when they decided to seek representation in the United States. “We asked Jeff to take a look at our work and he responded immediately,” Klein says. “We only want to work with companies where we have a strong personal attention. We think that’s essential to success.”
Guedes and Klein met as students at New York’s Film Academy and began working together as John Doe three years later. One of their first projects was an ad for audio maker Blaupunkt in which a pair of stuffed animals sitting in the back window of a car are propelled into a number of sexual positions by the pounding bass of the car’s sound system. The ad became a viral sensation and established John Doe’s international reputation.
Although much of the pair’s output comes from a comic perspective, they are shrewd storytellers, with an impeccable sense of character and emotion. They can as easily provoke audiences to wistful empathy as laughter. Among their more recent efforts is a public service announcement for Vodaphone’s RED service plan, which is composed from actual cell-phone videos collected from the pair’s friends and family. The idea was to capture “real life” emotions.
“We’re always looking for good concepts,” Guedes says. “Whether they are comic or dramatic doesn’t matter, we like good ideas.” Guedes adds that their passion for great ad concepts is what is now driving them to pursue work in the United States. “The creativity of U.S. advertising is really strong,” he says. “The U.S., along with England, Argentina and Brazil, is the place to be.”
Guedes and Klein also have busy, separate careers outside of advertising. Guedes has more than a dozen credits as a director of feature films, television and short films, including Odisseia, a critically-acclaimed television series for Portuguese broadcaster RTP. Klein is currently in post-production with a feature-length documentary about a one-night-only concert given by a German rock band in Tokyo.
For more information, visit www.accomplice-media.com.
Contact:Mel Gragido Executive Producer Accomplice Media 310.893.1147 Contact Mel via email
Contact:Jeff Snyder Executive Producer Accomplice Media 310.893.1147 Contact Jeff via email
“ฦvolution” Comes Full Circle At The Chelsea Film Festival
The Chelsea Film Festival, running from October 16th through October 20th, 2024, at Regal Cinemas here in Union Square, is set to host the East Coast premiere of ฦvolution, a thought-provoking experimental micro-short film that proves big ideas can come in small packages and in perfect circles.
In just 1 minute 16 seconds, this cinematic gem by Award-Winning Director Romina Schwedler, with original music by Argentine Composer Ignacio Montoya Carlotto, explores a cycle as old as time: life leads to progress, progress leads to destruction, and destruction, well, leads back to life. But is this vicious circle unbreakable? ฦvolutionย suggests the answer is yes, unless we decide to open our eyes.
Inspired by the overwhelming number of recent events that threaten human existence,ย ฦvolution, possibly the shortest film in this 12th edition of the festival, plays out entirely through the symbolism of circles, cleverly illustrating โin the blink of an eyeโ the repeating patterns of history, and confronting viewers with the uncomfortable truth that our so-called โprogressโ may, in fact, be guiding us to our own ruin.Premiering at the Regal 14 Union Square, New York City, on October 18, 2024, at 11 a.m., Romina Schwedler's micro-short, featuring Leah Young with cinematography by Alan J. Carmona, will be sure to spark conversations longer than the film itself! Forcing viewers to reconsider the true meaning of evolution, not just as a biological process, but as a reflection of our collective journey as humans.
With a string of festival appearances across the globe, including CineGlobe at CERN (Switzerland/France), Oscarยฎ... Read More