Dante Ariola

Originally from Greenwich Village, Dante Ariola attended the famed High School of Music and Art in New York City, where his teenage love of the graffiti arts led him to typography and graphic design, and eventually into film through a number of diverse design and video projects. His work quickly brought him to the attention of the design and music worlds and garnered him a reputation as a stylistic innovator. Among his early graphic design projects were award-winning album covers for record company clients such as Atlantic, Columbia, Elektra, Epic, Sony and Warner; including band logos for Cypress Hill, the Fuguees and Korn.

Utilizing his extensive background in the graffiti arts, design and music, Ariola brings a truly original and diverse sensibility to his work as a commercial and music video director. Ariola directed music videos for Cake and Cypress Hill, but his first big break as a commercial director began with his wry spot for the Seattle Film Festival, “I Like to Watch…” about a priest who listens to the twisted confessions of an avid moviegoer.

Ariola joined MJZ in 2001. Prior to MJZ, he was based at Propaganda Films, which he joined in 1997. Since then, he has directed commercials for Adidas, Budget, Hewlett Packard, Levi’s, Nike and an award-winning campaign for ESPN, among scores of others.

In 2000, Ariola’s Budget campaign for Cliff Freeman & Partners won the Gold Lion at Cannes, “Best Campaign” at the AICP Awards, a Clio and a Gold and Bronze One Show award. In 2001, Ariola received his first DGA nomination for Best Director of the Year. That same year, his Volkswagen spot for Arnold Worldwide earned him 3 Silvers at the International Automotive Awards, as well as recognition in Adweek as Best Spot of the Year. In 2002, his XM Radio “Falling Stars” commercial for TBWA/Chiat Day won Best Spot at the AICP Awards show. In 2003, Ariola received his second Directors Guild of America (DGA) nomination for Best Director of the Year.

Antoine Bardou-Jacquet

Antoine Bardou-Jacquet signed to Partizan Midi Minuit in 2000. He had previously studied graphic design in Paris before setting up his own graphic design company, situated within the same offices as his close friends from Solid (an independent record company that is the centre of the French electronic music scene with such artists as Alex Gopher and Etienne de Crecy). Antoine designed album covers and logos and soon began exploring the idea of using type in a representational and more meaningful way than just as words. The album cover for Demon was created with this idea in mind and Antoine quickly built-up the process and idea of translating a static image with type rather than illustration to moving film.

Thus the concept for the promo of The Child was born. A simple story set in New York in which a young couple rush across town to the Central Hospital in order to deliver their baby is made into an exciting race through this alphabetical jungle where buildings, bridges and roads are made up entirely of words. The information we are given in this promo is made even more intriguing by our personal imagination, we are given hints and direction but no “real” representation. The idea is exciting and incredibly innovative, as quoted in Shots “This is one of those rare but happy occasions when a totally original idea is expressed to near perfection, and the audience is left wondering why no one ever thought of it before”. The Child collected awards at festivals all over Europe.

Since The Child, Antoine has been in constant demand and has worked on projects for Air, Super Furry Animals, Renault, Vittel, Vodafone, Playgroup, Playstation 2 and EDF. All of these have displayed a new type of film making that maintains Antoine as one of the most the avant-garde directors of his time. He is constantly creating new concepts for CGI and is working on new ideas for film making so that he may innovate whilst maintaining a filmic quality to his work.

In 2003, he directed the internationally acclaimed and multi award winning Honda “Cog” commercial for London’s Weiden & Kennedy. It is a 2 minute commercial showing Honda parts bumping into each other in a chain reaction. It took months of meticulous planning and trial and error, with a four day shoot at the end. It was shot in two takes and was all done for real. It was a victory for patience and passion! It first caused a stir running throughout the entire commercial break during the Grand Prix and went on to win a Gold Lion at Cannes, Best commercial and Gold at BTAA and a Gold Pencil at D&AD to name but a few.

Antoine has gone on to direct ads for Ikea, Sony Cypbershot, Wanadoo and a wonderful animation spot for Suez in Paris. He recently directed the much acclaimed Peugeot 1007 “Easy Life” commercial, which combines live action and animation, for Euro RSCG, and has just finished shooting a much anticipated new Honda commercial for Wieden & Kennedy London.

Nicolai Fuglsig

Nicolai Fuglsig, born 1972, started his photographic carrier at the age of 16 at a local Danish newspaper.

In 1994 he entered the Danish School of Journalism in Denmark, where he attended the four year education as a photojournalist.His graduate project, a press book entitled Muslumovo, won widespread international acclaim and was also awarded a prize for the best overseas photojournalistic work by the largest Danish Newspaper, Jyllands Posten.
Subsequently Nicolai Fuglsig received the World Press Photo 1999 1st Prize in the category “Nature and Environment Stories” for the Muslumovo Story and was given the ICP Infinity Award by the International Center of Photography, New York and the Kodak Young Photograher Award. Continuing his development as a photographer and visual story teller Nicolai Fuglsig began experimenting with video and soon came to realize that moving pictures hit a nerve in him.
Whilst on assignment for a Danish newspaper in Kosovo, he bought a digital video camera from an airport and recorded the events he witnessed, which resulted in the documentary film “Return of the Exiled” which was aired both on Danish National Television and Danish Cinema. Film took Fuglsig deep into the heart of war-torn Kosovo, following the exile of numerous ethnic Albanian families from their homes to refugee camps. Scenes of human tragedy (both on film and stills) are interlaced with nightvision and street-to-street footage leading up to the anguished return of the exiles to their ruined homes and dead brethren. Soon after this, he was one of a small number of directors chosen by Levi’s to make short films.
His film on Voodoo is an extraordinary insight into the world of voodoo. Filmed in Haiti, it is not for the faint hearted, but its combination of extraordinary images and ability to tell a story make for a fantastic journey into an unknown world.

In 2002 he was chosen for the Saatchi & Saatchi “Hottest New Directors Showcase” at the Cannes Advertising Festival. He more recently won a Silver Arrow at the BTAA awards, and two D&AD Awards in London for Audi “Bull”.
Fuglsig has succesfully transferred the strong visual style of his still photography into living pictures with commercials and documentaries. Fuglsig is currently devoting himself to the motion picture realm, directing music videos and spots for The Dansih Red Cross and Politiken.

Victor Garcia

Spanish director Victor Garcia joined MJZ in 2000 and immediately made a name for himself with his whimsical and elegant Mercedes Benz “Aaooga” commercial for Merkley Newman Harty. “Aaooga” snapped up the 2001 AICP Best Visual Style Spot, as well as receiving a nomination for Outstanding Commercial at the Primetime Emmy Awards.

Garcia works in the style of the European auteur filmmakers, taking projects from inception through editorial; collaborating on the concepts with agency creatives. He frequently cuts spots himself and works hands-on with the visual effects.

Garcia’s sophisticated European style and innovative use of special effects has earned him numerous awards, including a Merit Award from the Art Directors Club for his BMW spot; 2 Silvers at the International Automotive Awards; a Clio and an AICP award for Best Original Music Spot for his Mercedes Benz “Better” commercial in 2002.