IN one MOVIE
It’s complicated. But fun.
IN one sentence
Laen doesn't like to be squeezed in one sentence, but he'll try anyways.
IN ONE LONGER SENTENCE
Laen is an award-winning independent filmmaker and adworld creative from France whose psychedelic films have been screened in 30 countries and ads pinned on billboards from Trafalgar Square to Shinjuku, who swapped a black belt in judo and a south of France suntan for a Parisian romance with industrial design and animation, who traded a Citroën 2CV for rollerblades and a job at a notorious Oscar-winning SFX studio in Hollywood, who did a 180 and moved to Amsterdam to work with Zidane and freelanced for Wieden & Kennedy, who retired at 31 to document happiness on a solo tour around the globe, who came back to the Lowlands to turn it into tropical paradise, who’s planted a tree, owned a hive and gets a buzz from being asked to come up with concepts and ideas.
IN DETAILS
FILMMAKER
Among my recent personal film work, PLSTC received several prizes while touring in 100+ festivals’ Official Selections around the world and is now showing on the Arte Network.
MULTIDISCIPLINARY CREATIVE
My career in advertising started when I joined 180 Communications Amsterdam as an art director. For 4 years, I worked on global ATL and digital concepts for brands such as adidas, Dunlop, MTV Europe and UEFA. For over 20 years, I've been freelancing on a wide range of international campaigns and pitches for agencies such as 180 Communication, Brand Articulations, BSUR, DDB & Tribal, EuroRSCG 4D, Lowe, Ogilvy & Mather and Wieden & Kennedy for brands including adidas, Amstel, European Commission, Glenfiddich, HeartBrand, Mini cars, Nike, Philips, Siemens Mobile, Volvo and Zonnatura. From coming up with conceptual solutions to defining and designing visual styles as an hands-on art director, I’ve selected a few samples to satisfy your curiosity.
ANIMATION & MOTION DIRECTOR
Remember when Adobe Premiere fitted on 5 floppy disks? Me neither. But that's when I started experimenting with digital video, various motion content and even stereoscopy. My first real job was an ident for MTV, then I got offered a position as a CGI technical director at ExMachina in Paris and later in Los Angeles at the Academy Award-winning Rhythm & Hues Studios. Nowadays I'm hired on a regular basis by agencies or companies – freelancing on hundreds of projects in the last two decades. I like to combine my experience as a creative and designer with my knowledge of motion graphics, AI and CGI animation to magic up the final result – ranging from mood videos, agencies reels and case studies to online content and TVCs. My recent agency clients are: 72andSunny, 180 Communication, Anomaly, Brand Articulations, CloudFactory, Gentle Forces, Glassworks, HarrimanSteel, PVH, SpecialGuest, We Are Pi, Whale and Wieden & Kennedy for brands including adidas, Amnesty International, Amstel, Axe, Barilla, Booking.com, Bugaboo, Bvlgari, Calvin Klein, Converse, Corona, Desperados, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Ebay, Google, Gorillas, H&M, Intersport, Johnnie Walker, Karl Lagerfeld, Levi’s, Netflix, Nike, Omega, Piaggio, Samsung, T-Mobile, Tommy Hilfiger, WW, Zonnatura and Zurich Insurance.