Creative production agency Avocados and Coconuts has signed international director Sean Fee, marking his first exclusive representation in the U.S.
Working as both a director and cinematographer, Fee co-founded the international film and photo production company Tasty Pictures, based out of Zurich and Los Angeles. His films have appeared as official selections at the Tromsø International Film Festival, San Francisco IndieFest, and won Best Documentary at the Miami Film Festival.
After meeting fellow Avocados and Coconuts director Spencer MacDonald two years ago, Fee had the opportunity to collaborate with him as a production partner on a multi-location shoot for Switzerland Tourism. “We found that we had a lot in common on that shoot, the same vision and dreams,” recalled Fee. The well-received campaign, titled “My Swisstainable Journey,” focused on inspiring a new generation of travelers to adopt sustainable methods of traveling, which instantly appealed to Fee’s personal values. In the end, Fee found himself directing three of the campaign’s six spots.
“When we met with Sean, our goals felt aligned and his approach to filmmaking resonated strongly with Avocados and Coconuts’ vision,” said Dalia Burde, Avocados and Coconuts founder and executive producer. “There was an immediate connection both creatively and in temperament. Additionally, Sean can bring a different viewpoint based on his geographic location and history delivering great work for a somewhat different client set in Europe, adding breadth to our director roster.”
More recently, Fee got to experience the Avocados and Coconuts ethos firsthand during a recent screening of his acclaimed short documentary Siddhartha as part of a showcase hosted by the agency in San Francisco. Siddhartha explores the stark, impressive landscape of Norway’s Lofoten region and features a visiting surfer and a local who each share their powerful connections to the surrounding sea. The documentary is an excellent representation of Fee’s visual style and deliberate pacing, which aims to bring focus to the elemental beauty of nature as well as the passionate intensity of his protagonists.
“I’m someone who searches for meaning in everything I do, and I’m hypersensitive to issues in the world,” said Fee. “I like when there’s a real protagonist who we can follow, and the goal is to encapsulate their unique personality in a short period of time.”
Fee’s enthusiasm for documentary filmmaking originated in his mid-teens shooting skateboard videos while growing up in Southern California. From there, he took local college filmmaking courses and started as a gaffer’s assistant, using the pay to buy his own gear and make indie shorts.
Looking forward, Fee is enthusiastic about Avocados and Coconuts’ commitment to quality and work-life balance. “Avocados has a very relaxed collaborative environment,” notes Fee. “We just completed a three-week project that could’ve been very intense and stressful but wasn’t the case at all.”
At Avocados and Coconuts, Fee also looks forward to collaborating with sustainable outdoor lifestyle brands. Whether in his commercial work or more experimental personal projects, he intends to keep his focus on telling concentrated natural stories.
“Doing this kind of short-form content while keeping a slower tonality is challenging, but I welcome the challenge,” concluded Fee. “It’s more of a risk to be slow than fast these days, but I believe it’s worth it.”
