Simón Brand

Simón Brand
Born
Simón Brand

(1970-07-28) July 28, 1970 (age 54)[1][2]
NationalityColombian
Occupation(s)Film director, film producer, music video director

Simón Brand (born July 28, 1970) is a Colombian film director. Brand has directed more than 200 TV commercials for companies such as Coca-Cola, Coors Light, AT&T, Apple Inc., BMW. He has also directed music videos for artists such as Paulina Rubio, Thalía, Juanes, Shakira, Alejandro Fernández, Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin.

In 2006, he made his debut as film director with the film Unknown. His next film Paraiso Travel had the highest attendance for a Colombian film in 2008 with 888,409 viewers.[3] He currently resides in Los Angeles, California, with his wife Claudia Bahamón, a Colombian model and TV host, along with their two children.[4][5]

Career

Brand started his career at the age of sixteen, when he directed his first music video for the Colombian band Pasaporte, the song "Igor y Penélope".[5] Two years later, he directed the music video "El Velo" for Colombian group Estados Alterados.[5] Soon after, he moved to Miami thanks to a scholarship from Music and Video Academic.[4][6] His first job in the United States consisted of recording voice-overs for phone companies.[5] After graduating with honors, Brand founded his own production company called Kree8, with which he has produced most of his commercials and music videos.[4]

Before filmmaking, he began studying Communications, Advertising, and Epistemology at the Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogotá, Colombia,[6] where he also worked at a local radio station as a broadcaster.

For his first film, Unknown he was able to bring together a cast made up well-known Hollywood actors, such as Jim Caviezel, and Greg Kinnear. The film raised more than US $17 million worldwide.[4]

His second feature film Paraiso travel, released in 2008, was the highest-grossing movie in Colombia that year.[4] Time magazine named it as one of the best Latin American movies of the first decade of the century.[4] Margarita Rosa de Francisco, John Leguizamo, and Ana de la Reguera were some of the recognizable Latin American actors that took part of the film.

In 2006, Variety magazine named Simon Brand one of the top 40 most influential Latin Americans in Hollywood.

He has been nominated for several awards such as the Grammy Awards (nominated four times), MTV Video Music Award, Clio Awards, and Telly Awards.[4][5]

Filmography

Year Film Credited as
Director Actor Cinematographer Notes
2006 Unknown Yes Yes
2008 Paraíso Travel Yes
2010 Aftermath Yes One episode (When the Earth Stops Spinning).
2011 La sombrilla Yes TV movie.
2011 Encuere Yes Documentary.
2011 Mentes en shock TV series. Creator.
2011 Fronteras Yes TV series. One episode (La Sombrilla).
2011 Cane/Cain Yes Short.
2013 Paper Giants: Magazine Wars Yes One episode (Episode 2).
2014 Default Yes

Music videos filmography

1991

1995

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2016

References

  1. ^ LaBiografía.com. "Biografia de Simon Brand - Año de Nacimiento". LaBiografia.com. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  2. ^ El Tiempo. "Qué quincena / Sofía Vergara y su acalorado pronunciamiento sobre las cirugías de Madonna - El éxito de Simón". El Tiempo. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  3. ^ "CINE COLOMBIANO - PROIMAGENES COLOMBIA - Fondo Mixto de Promoción Cinematográfica de Colombia". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Perfiles: Simón Brand | Proimágenes Colombia". Perfiles: Simón Brand | Proimágenes Colombia. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Simón Brand: el colombiano que conquistó Hollywood". www.colombia.co. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  6. ^ a b "Simon Brand, Directores| ColArte | Colombia". www.colarte.com. Retrieved 2015-11-06.