Robert Caruso, Director, Producer

Caruso Co. founder and Executive Producer Robert Caruso is an award-winning director distinguished by a background in animation and visual effects, a comedic touch and collaborations with celebrities. He has directed advertising campaigns for Verizon, Nestle, Sprint, Disney, Coors, Motorola, Kraft and many others. His work has been honored by the Clios, The London International Advertising Awards, Anicom Animation, The MTV Awards, Billboard Magazine and with a Grammy nomination.

In addition to his broadcast directing projects, Robert has also acted as producer and creative director on scores of online assignments including episodic programming,  launch videos, web sites and banner campaigns. Notable clients include: Acura, Nokia, CoverGirl, Path, PopTuit, eMusic, GoDaddy and Sony.

As Director he has enjoyed working with celebrities as varied as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Will Smith, James Earl Jones and Jamie Foxx as well as sports figures such as skateboard legend Tony Hawk, basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal and hockey great Wayne Gretzky.

Early in his career, Robert partnered in the launch of San Francisco based, Commotion Pictures where he directed nearly forty music videos and began his commercial career. He also represented a roster of talented directors and shared the title of Executive Producer. Notable music industry clients included: Warner Brothers’ artist Green Day, A&M’s Soundgarden, Virgin Records’ John Lee Hooker, Columbia Records’ Public Enemy, Warner’s Mavis Staples and The Staple Singers and Island’s PJ Harvey. Commercial work included spots for: Sega, Time Warner, Taco Bell and Levis Strauss.

Following Commotion, Robert joined George Lucas’ special effects company, Industrial Light & Magic. Through ILM’s commercial division he directed dozens of award-winning spots and continued with music videos including three titles for actor/musician Will Smith. Two of these clips “Men In Black” and “Will2K”, garnered multiple honors including an MTV Award and a Grammy Nomination. He also helmed several character animation projects, working with ILM’s Academy Award winning animators and effects artists.

After leaving ILMCP, he worked out of commercial shops HKM Films (now Hello!) in Los Angeles and later animation powerhouse, Rhythm & Hues where he continued with innovative commercial work for Verizon, Nestles, Savon, Kraft, Clorox and others.

Robert’s industry expertise is now servicing (CC) clients and partners in both broadcast and online media.

Watch Robert Caruso Director Showreel

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