Pan Ho Cheung
Strains of controversial feature Man Bites Dog are seen in Ho Cheung's black comedy about two filmmakers who accidentally murder their actor on set. Born in Hong Kong and working as a full-time radio host/scriptwriter since he was 19, Cheung's first feature was based on his second novel, 'You Shoot I Shoot'. He won best scriptwriter at the 2001 Hong Kong Golden Bauhinia Awards.
Francois Vogel
If painter Georges Braque had made films, they would resemble Vogel's creations - original post-modern computer-generated montages. In the past 10 years, Vogel has drawn on his maths background and experimented with the application of maths and geometry in filmmaking. He mixes 35mm and video as well as computer software to create his short films.
Christian Loubek
Loubek caused a stir after he directed an interactive CD-ROM for fashion client Eddie Bauer, which won him commercial commissions including Volkswagen and Mastercard.
Jay Chandraseker
An accomplished comedy writer and performer, Chandraseker's short film, 'Super Troopers', had the judges "falling off their chairs", says Isherwood. It features three dope-heads who are pulled over by the law, and was spotted by Fox Searchlight Pictures last year. He recently directed three episodes of Fox's hit, undeclared. His first commercials project was a half-hour show for Nike.
Nicolai Fuglsig
Initially started out in life as a prize-winning war photographer for a Danish newspaper, Fuglsig demonstrated a brilliance for filmmaking after buying a digital video camera at an airport on the way to Kosovo. Fuglsig has now directed a series of ads, including PlayStation's 'Joan', and 'Voodoo', a short film for Levi's that Isherwood says is "superbly shot and well-observed".
Phillip Atwell
Atwell started directing music videos in the late 90s and has won seven MTV Music Video Awards, including this year's Best Female Video for Eve's 'Blow Your Mind'. He has just shot his first ad for Coors Light, which features rapper Dr Dre's debut ad appearance. Atwell is developing a Hollywood feature which he will direct, although project details are still under wraps.
Erik Van Wyk
Formerly a creative, based at TBWA Johannesburg, Van Wyk moved to directing in 1999 when he worked on a series of award-winning commercials. Picked up by Velocity Films in South Africa, Van Wyk's work is influenced by his passion for black and white stills photography, which he incorporates into his work, lending a lyrical quality to many of his ads.
Alexander Herzog
Born in Hanau, Germany, Herzog directed several techno music videos while studying, before working as a freelance flame operator and cameraman for London-based production companies. "He has a great eye for sunglasses and it will be interesting to see if he continues to make such original work," says Isherwood on his ad for German sunglasses brand IC Berlin.
Daniel Adam Levi
Picked up by Gatehouse after he made 'I Am Beat', an ad for Metro FM, a radio station in his hometown of Johannesburg, Levi has only been directing for the past 18 months. A director with a strong technical grasp of filmmaking, he started out making motion graphics and 3D for films. Before doing that, he owned his own animation company.
Sam Cadman
Cadman's ironic take on the world sealed his friendship with Dom Joly and together, the duo brought Trigger Happy TV to the UK. His direction of 'PlayStation' for TBWA and 'Lucozade Sport' for Ogilvy were picked out for their universal sense of comedy. Isherwood says: "We nearly put him on the reel last year, but he has really developed since then, so we are glad that we waited."
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