Bicoastal production company ArtClass has signed director Paul Trillo to its roster for U.S. commercial and branded content representation. Trillo has helmed spots and branded content for clients including Adobe, eBay, Ford, Google, Nissan, Starbucks, Squarespace, and Uber. At ArtClass, projects for GoDaddy, ESPN, Hotels.com, Panda Express, and Dell are already underway.

The L.A.-based Trillo is in constant pursuit of new filmmaking techniques--from creating the first fully mobile bullet-time camera rig with 50 Nokia phones to choreographing an aerial smoke show using drones. Trillo has written and directed brand films for Microsoft, Samsung, and Olympus--the latter of which was a Tribeca X Award finalist. He is passionate about pushing branded content to new frontiers and is an avid speaker on the subject, including a SXSW panel discussion he co-hosted with longtime collaborator Vimeo Brand Studio.

Trillo was most recently represented in the U.S. by Big Block and is currently represented by IC Content in France. Following freelance work with Google Creative Labs, he catapulted into the commercial production mainstream on the heels of his experimental short film, Living Moments, with Nokia Brand Labs. The film was shortlisted in the D&AD Next Director Awards and won Best Mobile Film at the One Screen Festival. Trillo went on to win The One Show’s “One to Watch” award in 2015.

Tallying 17 Vimeo Staff Picks to date, Trillo has written and directed 11 original short films and documentaries, many of which have screened at Cannes, Tribeca, The One Show, Palm Springs International Shorts Fest, and Oxford Film Festival. His more recent works of praise include the short film Until There Was Nothing (2020) and the music video for “The Great Divide” by The Shins (produced during the pandemic).

Bridging his experience directing both original and branded content, Trillo looks forward to taking on more projects that bring him into the ideation and scripting phase, while satisfying his urge to produce more narrative and character-driven films in the comedy and drama space.

“I tend to bring my best work when I have a larger stake in the creative vision, knowing that none of it is possible without a collaborative, like-minded team like ArtClass to pull it off,” said Trillo. “I know this from having worked on various projects with [Art Class partners] Geno [Imbriale] and Vince [Peone] over the years. We share a lot of sensibilities in our approach as storytellers, both technically and creatively, so I know great things lie ahead.”