"Advertising vs Cinema" masterclass presented by Sebastian Strasser

Sebastian Strasser is one of the world's most successful advertising directors, with over 200 international awards for his innovative advertising campaigns at Cannes, the London IAA and the New York Festival for brands such as Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, Nissan, Audi, BMW and Vodafone.

Sebastian Strasser will share his experience in the field and explain how to develop a complex narrative in a short format, either commercial or short film.  

Sebastian Strasser

Sebastian Strasser is one of the most successful commercial directors in the world, with over 20 years of experience. He was born in Sibiu, and later studied in Germany at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. He worked as a writer and journalist for the German political show Zak / "Privatfernsehen" broadcasted on ARD. In 2000, he began his career as a director.

He has won more than 200 international awards for his innovative advertising campaigns (10 Lions in Cannes, multiple Gold and Silver at the London IAA, New York Festival among them), realized for brands such as Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, Nissan, Audi, BMW and Vodafone. His Spot "Kids on Steps" for Volkswagen was elected among the 20 best commercials of the 21st century by the Gunn Report in 2015. In addition to commercials, Sebastian also directs short films - his first short film Happy End (with Matthias Schweighöfer and Katharina Schüttler) was screened at the Berlinale Film Festival in 2005.

In 2016, he moved to Los Angeles, where he developed the dystopian series Darklands as a creator, writer, director. The project was selected for production by Warner Brothers studio.

His next short film, Apparat, starring Ulrich Thomsen and Ayelet Zurer, was made in 2019.