Francesco Lazzaro

Francesco Lazzaro

Founder / Director / Post Supervisor

In 2003 I wrote and directed my first film, a short called Off the Air. While not a hit, it was the best kind of practical film school. I was hooked, and soon resigned my longtime commission in the paper distribution industry to instead make movies for a living.

Cinematographer Damian Wohrer and I began working together in 2005. Over the years, we have developed dozens of original productions – many of those at the erstwhile FM Studios where I was partner. In 2009, Damian and I founded Kinopicz American. We have since attracted an incredible team of creative professionals, making it an absolute blast to come to work here every day.

My background lies in language studies of all sorts (linguistics, fiction writing, software development, le Français). I have an ongoing romance with information theory – how information is created, contextualized, and transmitted – and its applications from digital communication to social interaction.

Lately, I devote much of my time to our partner Buildipedia.com, a fantastic website that reports daily on the world of architecture, DIY home improvement, and sustainable design.

Stanley Kubrick, The Empire Strikes Back, and Richard Burton all hit home runs in my book.

Select Portfolio

Air Robinson - Robinson for Congress (2008)

One of the gems from our time at FM Studios. We created this entire spot from concept to final visual effects. The candidate-client has the same name as NBA great David Robinson, so we spoofed an Air Jordan commercial and reinvented the local 30sec political ad in a way you won't often see.

Bacardi Mojito (2006)

The first job at FM Studios - working in conjunction with local interactive agency Shift Global on behalf of Bacardi Global Brands. Visit bacardimojito.com where this remains the splash video to this day.

Off the Air (2004)

Off the Air is a short film that was too long (45 min) for its own good. Still, for a story set entirely at night, we pulled off some pretty sweet shots with a DVX100 and less than 2k of tungsten light.