︎ABOUT
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Leo Zuckerman, or as they say in Paris, Leonard Szarkowski (the ‘S’ is silent) is a director and photographer based out of Brooklyn, NY. There, in the depths of the American dream, he fine tunes his craft. Between bites of croque madams and cautious sips of cortados, he structures and restructures his approach to lighting, framing and composition – a student first and foremost, Len is in pursuit of his next creative undertaking, always.
Now, has this man picked up his fair share of coveted Vimeo Staff Pick laurels, well... That was then. This is now. And since the Ad World first welcomed him into its warm embrace, down the long and gleaming hallway of corporate America, all 6 feet, 5 inches of what we now know to be Leonard Szarkowski, have been quite busy.
Directing the highly emotive and award-winning campaign for Interac, the Canadian financial services giant, was a turning point for Leo as a visual storyteller. Beautifully shot, and heartfelt every step of the way, The Times called it, “a delightfully sentimental piece of film work for the ad space…” And, when questioned about her thoughts on the piece Salma Hayek remarked, “Unfortunately, I did have to pass [on that one], but I do genuinely hope to work with Mr. Szarkowski in the future…”
Since the success of 2021’s Interac campaign, Leonard has kept the creative momentum going right into an awe-inspiring and visually driven Olympics campaign for Toyota, as well as a massive brand launch for Nissan out of TBWA. The old boy directed not 1, not 2, but 156 spots for the auto giant, proudly broadcasted during the Billboard Music Awards. When pressed for comment Pharrell Williams stated: “For me, it’s work like this that makes me remember what’s important in life… music is fine, sure, but advertising – that’s special…”
Yes, it’s safe to say Leo Zuckerman, Leonard Szarkowski, has been busy these past couple of years, building out a stable of polished global campaigns for brands such as Heineken, Lexus, Hyundai, Samsung, Nike, Subaru, and Adidas, but what next?
What now?
Well, we’re hoping you’ll in fact be the one to tell this high-powered visual storyteller just that.