christian svanes kolding is a film and video director who creates handcrafted, documentary-style narratives.

he also works as a creative consultant.

several of his original short fiction films have been shown in international film festivals.

prior to directing, kolding was a production designer for feature films and commercials.

born in copenhagen, denmark, kolding is a danish citizen with permanent residency status in the united states. he is based in new york.

memberships:
IFP (independent filmmaker project). FAF (danish film & tv workers union).

recreational pursuits: traveling (including long-distance bicycle expeditions along most of the pacific coast of south america as well as mountain biking in the arctic regions of norway). snowboarding, surfing, football (soccer), trekking, mountain climbing, architecture, anthropology, art history, art curation, rock and roll and cuisine are among his other interests.

as director and production designer, kolding led a variety of production teams during his fifteen years in the film business. previously based in copenhagen, los angeles and san francisco, he has worked on location in europe and throughout the western united states.

director: created dozens of short films, short documentaries, music videos, and a handful of web-based commercials for a range of genres and clients, including work for IBM's smarter planet campaign, developing concept films with nokia's design strategic projects studio and a variety of original short fiction films.

he has led teams from 3 to 75 people, including cast and crew. he has handled everything from idea pitches and story development to working with actors and a wide variety of film specialists during pre-production, production, and post-production; including editing, color grading, selecting supporting assets such as music and effects. he has been directly involved with the marketing and festival placement of the works.

production designer: led and managed a full-time team of 31 designers, crafts persons and other specialists on the feature film, love me forever (2010), whose art department budget was $400,000, excluding wages. designed the critically acclaimed feature film cecilie (2007), widely praised for its production values. commercials for boss femme, the perfume by hugo boss, as well as carlsberg beer. production designer, art director or set decorator on over eighty commercials, four feature films, eight short fiction features and several music videos.

author and book designer: designed OPEN: a 76-page art and photography handbook about the creative process.

directing: from conceptualization to final delivery. develop and present story and idea pitches to agencies and clients. short films, short documentaries, music videos, and web-based commercials for a range of genres and clients.

management: lead a variety of production teams, working within a variety of budgets.

editorial & design / book & magazine publishing: concept development to final proof. select materials and create design work, including lay-out, graphics, copy and illustrations. research, design and oversee all assets generated for magazine spreads, covers for books and magazines, period piece newspapers, as well as billboards (as part of his work as production designer).

writing and copy editing: produce short format screenplays that have been developed into finished and released work. maintain an essay-based culture blog about aspects of the film and media universe.

illustration: hand-drawn illustrations, storyboards, set designs, digital illustrations.

photography and other visual skills: art and portrait photography for a wide range of projects: commercials, documentary, fiction and print assignments.

tools: final cut pro, adobe after effects, photoshop, illustrator, indesign, moodboards lay-outs for printed materials.

languages: fluent danish, norwegian and english. proficient french and spanish.

the city college of new york, new york city: bachelor of arts degrees in history of art and comparative literature. extensive course study in film hstory, painting, illustration, photography, and cultural studies. 1993.

the rhode island school of design, providence, rhode island. extensive one year course study in painting and illustration. 1991.

the university of california at santa cruz, santa cruz, california. extensive summer course studies in film history, history of consciousness, comparative literature and latino studies. 1992/93.

director
design fictions, volume one (2010). client: nokia. nokia design strategic projects studio. total running time: 12 min. concept: julian bleecker & christian svanes kolding.
the things we keep (2010)* farm fresh films. documentary. total running time: 2 min. concept: christian svanes kolding.
blues run the game (2009) farm fresh films. documentary. total running time: 4 min. concept: christian svanes kolding.
everything is original (2009) farm fresh films. documentary. total running time: 5 min. concept: christian svanes kolding.
six films (for a smarter planet) (2008) client: ibm. sypartners. short films. total running time: 13 min. concept: sy partners & christian svanes kolding.
favourite (2006) client: snake and jet. farm fresh films. music video. total running time: 4 min. concept: christian svanes kolding.
depression served six ways (2005)* farm fresh films. short film. total running time: 15 min. writer: christian svanes kolding.
how could something so easy be so hard? (2004) client: neon machine. farm fresh films. documentary & music video. total running time: 12 min. concept: christian svanes kolding.
the cowboy loses his boots (2003)* farm fresh films. short film. total running time: 23 min. writer: christian svanes kolding.
wrestler (2002)* farm fresh films. short film. total running time: 3 min. writer: christian svanes kolding.

film festival appearances marked by *

print-friendly, standard cv here.

copyright 2010
christian svanes kolding