DUTCH/ENGLISH

David de Winter - freelance commercial director

David makes films that are about something. After nearly thirty years in the industry, from art director at Ogilvy, Lowe and Y&R to independent director, he always starts with the idea. Form follows. Never the other way around.

He is equally at home in a scene that makes you laugh as in one that grips you by the throat. What connects his films is a sense of authenticity, the humor that lives inside seriousness and the seriousness that lives inside humor. He always looks for it in the small things: the moment, the unexpected line, the mistake that suddenly makes a scene human. A lifetime of thinking in concepts and a lifetime of painting have given him a compass that is hard to describe on set but immediately felt. It shows in the choices he makes before anyone else sees them coming.

Because he knows every stage of a production from the inside, from concept and direction to editing, animation and color grading, he always knows what is still in a shot and what can still be done with it. He continuously trains himself in the latest technological developments and by now works as fluently with AI as with a camera. That makes his perspective as broad as his craftsmanship is deep.

He directed commercials for Plus, Make-A-Wish and Nationale Nederlanden, and previously for Albert Heijn, Action, HEMA, Lidl, ING and KWF. He is also co-founder of HUGO23, a creative agency for the cultural sector.

Outside the studio he paints everyday Amsterdam moments in classical oil paint under the name Staaf. Those who know his paintings recognize the same unique way of looking at the ordinary in his films.

Available for commercials, branded content and experimental formats. Get in touch at staaf@chello.nl.