Serge Kirsanov
Director, Designer, PHOTOGRAPHER
Bio
A Bronx native and Calarts grad, Serge has worked first as a Creative Director and then as a Director for over 20 years. In collaborations with Nike, Jordan Brand, Off-White, and The North Face he’s worked on campaigns with Virgil Abloh, Ghetto Gastro, Neymar Jr, CP3, and Russell Westbrook, just to name a few. He’s uniquely positioned to understand strategy and content objectives because he’s worked as a CD at brands himself, while his design background allows him to consider the content through a branded lens.
THE DIRECTOR
I need to make sure I accomplish two things in my work –– it needs to be visceral and it needs to impact culture. To put it another way, it needs to be relevant. This is especially valuable for branded content because if you feel the right emotion, that positive sentiment can influence your perception of the brand and if a brand film has the right ingredients it can become part of the cultural conversation, ie: brand relevance.
Virgil 8x8 Jordan Campaign
Collaborating with Virgil was a blessing and an honor. This is a film born out of a much larger campaign called 8x8 by Jordan Brand. Inspired by the colors of Chicago’s 8 iconic train routes, the city’s top influencers offer signature collections that are right on track. The campaign serves as a canvas for the Chicago creative community to represent their neighborhoods through footwear and apparel as they reimagine what Jordan Brand’s ‘Unite’ rallying cry means to the city of Chicago.
I was fortunate enough to direct this film for Neymar Jr. shot in Paris with Jordan’s EMEA team. At the end of the day, hard work is simply that, regardless of where you come from or what you’re dreaming to become. ‘Ney’ finds parallels between hip-hop, basketball, and soccer cultures – tying them together with the fundamentals of dreaming big and working harder than anyone else. As he explains how M.J. was his idol, his narrative comes full circle as he becomes the Michael Jordan of his generation. We shot on digital and 16mm film.
Neymar Unite Jordan Campaign
23E Jordan Campaign
This director’s cut represents all of the looks and influencers that were featured throughout the 23E Modern campaign. I wanted to evoke emotion through camera movement, dance and achieved it through very technical cutting. We shot on top of a skyscraper in mid-town Manhattan using a swinging crane. A custom platform was built with a lightbox floor to give the look a more tech edge. The campaign features Shameik Moore, Karrueche, Nigel Sylvester, Les Twins, Neymar Jr., and musician Quin.
