DIRECTOR'S SHOWREEL
SPEIGHT'S - ONLY WHAT YOU NEED
BP
COKE - UPLIFT
INGHAMS - LIGHTSABER
CADBURY CHOC BAR - MIMIC
HAHN - LOVE HEART
LG
CORUBA - RUM FROM THE SUN
SUZUKI - GRAND VITARA
NISSA NAVARA - POWER SAUCE
BIOGRAPHY
Josh Frizzell was born into a creative family of artists and bohemian personalities in that antipodean melting pot renowned the world over for its unique creative achievements – New Zealand.
Josh directed his first music video in 1992 and in 1994 won Best Director and Best Music Video at the NZ Film & Television Awards. In 1995 he turned his talent to commercials, immediately collecting a Bronze Lion at Cannes in 1996, amongst a swag of other awards that year.
Over the years Josh has become a favourite with critics and creatives the world over. His unique ability to bring a sense of scale to his commercials is one of his signature talents. The rock concerts look larger than life. The parties look kinetic and infectious. Josh can take a simple set-up and somehow make it look larger, and truly alive.
Similarly, Josh has a renowned understanding of music. He naturally feels the way that bodies move in rhythm. He knows how humans interact in a musical space. A director often struggles to sustain the intensity of an environment to suspend its imagined reality. For Josh, this seems to come as second nature. His work for Coke, Guinness and Export Gold are evidence of this.
Often Josh is typified as a special effects director because of the many spots that he has directed utilizing the tools of design, animation and effects to capture his viewers’ imagination. Nevertheless, his skilful use of effects is not the focus of his talents. He primarily sees himself as a director/artist, who effectively captures people’s desire to be free and express themselves. It's an optimistic vision, and is perhaps the reason that Josh is so often selected to depict the freedom and passion of youth.
Josh’s father was a famous artist in New Zealand, and Josh grew up with an innate understanding of how to express himself visually. He learned to draw from a young age and continues to draw his own boards for his commercials. This methodology allows him to create some of the best commercials in the Southern Hemisphere and has won Josh the loyalty of his collaborators.
Overall, Josh’s work crosses a broad mix of styles, combining strong performance direction with unique visuals that are tailor-made for every particular job, giving credence to the strong art heritage in his background via the classic saying, "Every one's an original".