Wataru Sato

Sunshine Sakae: Dad’s Love
2nd prize Non European Broadcast
Representation: monsterfilms.jp

When did you first pick up a camera?

At around age seven.

What does winning at the YDA mean to you?

It is a great gateway to be able to have your work and sensibility exposed to the world and it opens up more opportunities overseas.

What was the most challenging aspect of making your spot?
The challenge was to see how well that I would be able to trick the audience.

Who or what is your biggest inspiration?

Spike Jonze and the Traktor directors.

What do you think is the future of advertising?

The core essence will stay the same. 

What commercial do you wish you had made and why?

IKEA Lamp by Spike Jonze. It’s brilliant how it builds up the viewer’s emotion and suddenly betrays their expectations.

Where do you hope to be this time next year?

I would like to be directing jobs not only for the Japanese market but also for the overseas market.

If I wasn’t directing I’d be…

Working as a Manga artist.