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Film Director +
Creative Director

I’M THIAGO ZANATO, A BRAZILIAN DIRECTOR, PHOTOGRAPHER, AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR BASED IN LOS ANGELES. I WORK ACROSS NARRATIVE FILM, DOCUMENTARIES, AND COMMERCIALS — BRINGING A CINEMATIC, CULTURALLY-DRIVEN APPROACH TO EVERY PROJECT. MY WORK EXPLORES THEMES OF IDENTITY, BELONGING, AND OVERLOOKED NARRATIVES, ALWAYS AIMING TO CHALLENGE HOW WE SEE THE WORLD AND OURSELVES.

I’M HERE

Client: Absolut Vodka

Agency: TBWA NY

Role: Creative Director

This short film was created for Absolut Vodka as part of their Collaborative Series campaign. In this case, we partnered with Spike Jonze to tell a story about how creativity triumphs over conformity. The result is a heartfelt narrative about a robot who falls in love. The film premiered at Sundance.

 
 
 

ABSOLUT ANTHEM

Client: Absolut Vodka

Agency: TBWA NY

(TV Spot + OOH)

Role: Creative Director

Absolut Vodka’s anthem spot carried a simple message: doing things differently leads to something extraordinary. Directed by Rupert Sanders, the production involved large-scale sculptures and practical stunts, filmed across five different cities — all set to the haunting sound of a Joy Division track. The result is a striking montage of human-made installations, seamlessly woven together to embody the brand’s motto.

 
 

HALO BELIEVE

Client: Microsoft

Agency: AKQA

(Website & Campaign)

Role: Creative Director


This was one of the most successful campaigns to date for Microsoft. The digital launch of the Halo 3 franchise involved many different components, including a website, an ARG and TV spots.

A 40" X 40" diorama of a battle scene from the game was built, containing miniatures from Stan Winston at New Deal Studios. THrough motion control cameras, and digital compositing to transform the scene into a first person immersive experience.

It involved many different components like an interactive spot that allowed the user to travel through a 40" X 40" diorama of a battle scene from the game.

 
 

ABSOLUT DRINKS

Client: Absolut Vodka

Agency: TBWA NY

(Website + OOH)

Role: Creative Director

A bold campaign for Absolut Vodka, shot by Ellen von Unwerth and starring Zooey Deschanel and Kate Beckinsale. At its core were six print ads — each one built around a distinct cocktail-inspired world, brought to life through striking art direction and rich character storytelling. Deschanel and Beckinsale each embodied unique personas, turning every image into a cinematic moment.

 
 

HEINEKEN.COM

Client: Heineken

Agency: Publicis NY

(Website)

Role: Creative Director

Heineken.com was developed to host original content tailored specifically for the U.S. market. The challenge was to create engaging, standout experiences within Heineken’s global CMS — while differentiating it from other localized versions. These are some of the original concepts for an immersive, scroll-driven site that blends video, photography, and HTML animation into a seamless digital journey. The site is continuously updated with fresh content and is live at Heineken.com

 
 

NY-Z

Client: Absolut Vodka

Agency: TBWA NY

(Documentary + OOH)

Role: Creative Director

NY-Z is a project featuring Jay-Z for Absolute Vodka. It's a documentary created in the spirit of creative collaboration, in this case between Jay-Z and the photographer Danny Clinch. The result is a beautiful film about Jay-Z and tons of photographs taken by Danny Clinch. The documentary played at Jay-z's concert at the Madison Square Garden in New York, right before Jay-Z's concert.

 
 

TANGERINE

Client: GOL Airlines

Agency: Môre

(Content + Website)

Role: Creative Director

As Creative Director, I led the concept and development of the launch website for Tangerina, GOL’s new design system. The site combines immersive storytelling, sleek interactions, and a brand video I directed to introduce Tangerina’s core principles and visual identity. Designed to inspire and inform, the experience positions Tangerina as a bold step forward in unifying GOL’s brands through thoughtful, human-centered design.

 
 

SNACKLISH

Client: Snickers

Agency: TBWA NY

(Digital Campaing + Website)

Role: Creative Director

A fully functional real-time translator from English to Snacklish was developed in collaboration with programmers and linguists. Using phonetic algorithms and thousands of custom word translations, we brought this deceptively simple idea to life. The project gained widespread attention, even earning a feature on Jimmy Kimmel Live, which drove a significant spike in traffic to the site.