Oceana Branding, a director-driven production company for commercials, branded content and music videos, has opened its doors. The new venture is under the aegis of director/EP Danny Sawaf and maintains a directorial roster that includes Kendy Ty, Lev Pakman, Del, Ene Farina, Kim Gun, Bellone+Consonni (the duo of Marco Bellone and Giovanni Consonni), Jay Jun, Joe Zohar, and the NoBrain trio–all for U.S. representation. Additionally director Dan Gifford is handled by Oceana in the Middle East (Gifford continues to be repped in the American ad market by Aero Film.)
Headquartered in Beverly Hills, Calif., Oceana has offices in Dubai and Bucharest. Recent credits for Oceana directors include: Nobrain’s short film for Citroen out of Havas division Hercules, a client-direct Emirates Airlines campaign by Bellone+Consonni and a Samsung spot directed by Kim Gun for agency Sampartners. The Citroen spot highlights the automaker’s C-Aircross Concept car. The spot is a visual analogy of how a car can fit both lifestyle and its surrounding environment. In Samsung’s “Memory Cards,” data cards come to life as they fall from the shelf, then get detected by a drone and a prancing digital camera. A playful fight ensues, highlighting the toughness of the 256 meg data cards. In an Emirates Airline branding film, a man reflects on the sights and sounds of his lifelong travels, savoring every piece of the world. He realizes that travel is like a book, with some travelers still on the first page.
Sawaf named his company after the ocean. “In a metaphysical sense Oceana describes our identity, culture and philosophy, which is internationalism,” he said, citing the shop’s overseas offices and directorial talent which has extensive global experience. For instance, the aforementioned Emirates Airlines spot was shot in more than a dozen countries. Samsung was lensed in South Korea. And the Citroen job was shot in Argentina.
