Daniel Azarian is an award-winning director and producer of commercials, public service announcements, film and branded entertainment. As a director, Azarian has helmed national television spots for blue-chip brands and entertainment programming for major cable television channels. Top-tier companies have licensed Azarian’s visually arresting commercial work for advertising on mobile networks in the U.S. and in regions as geographically diverse as China and the UK. Among the global brands whose campaigns and programs have featured Azarian’s work are AT&T, Sprint, AOL Music, Sony Music Entertainment, Perez Hilton, MTV, Vh1, Silverstein Properties, Willis, The Anti-Violence Project, Horizon Organic and 3M.
Daniel directed the award-winning music video, “Teenage Popstar Girl” by Whisperado, (featured: AOL Music) which won Best International Music Video at the 2013 London Independent Film Festival as well as a winner at the 2012 Robot Film Festival. He also won two 2011 Telly Awards for his acclaimed Public service announcement “Save Lolita,” concerning the plight of Lolita the orca (Official Selections: 2012 Blue Ocean Film Festival, The Hampton’s Wildlife & Conservation Film Festival and the New York WCFF) as well as producing and directing the documentary short “A Day in the Life of Lolita the Performing Orca” featuring world-renowned orca biologist Dr. Ingrid Visser which screened at several prestigious wildlife film festivals around the world including the International Wildlife Film Festival in Montana and the Green Screen International Wildlife Film Festival in Germany. Azarian was the executive producer and director of the acclaimed “Bullying is Violence” PSA Campaign with the Anti-Violence Project (featured: Perez Hilton.com). He also won three 2008 Telly Awards for the commercial, “Bulletproof,” including Telly’s highest honor, the Silver Award, for excellence in commercial production. Azarian directed and produced a national spot for 3M’s brand consumer product, “Scotch-Brite”, in addition to spots for American Family Insurance and Horizon Organic. His gothic-styled commercial “Black Tear,” has been licensed by global brands Sprint and AT&T for national distribution with international distribution in the UK, China, and Singapore. “Black Tear” was also selected to represent Eastman Kodak and screened as part of the National APR presentation at the Eastman Kodak Theater in New York City as well as being featured in Ads of the World, the prestigious showcase of creative campaigns from around the world. He recently directed the video “Building the New World Trade Center” for Silverstein Properties/Willis.
His short films and feature projects, including Azarian’s brand iconoclastic short, “Nihilistic Chick”, have been official selections at a number of US and international film festivals, including the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival in France, New York’s Coney Island International Film Festival, and the Independent Feature Project Market.
Azarian was interviewed in Moviemaker Magazine, along with famed director Sydney Pollack, on the unique experience of shooting in Manhattan. Azarian has appeared on the HBO show “At the Multiplex with Judy Gold,” “Following the Nerd,” and his work featured on the Huffington Post and the wildlife online news magazine, Mongabay. Daniel Azarian graduated with honors from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and studied acting with renowned drama teacher Stella Adler at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. He got his start in the industry working at Warner Brothers, marketing Warner Home Video releases, including the home video release of the original “Free Willy” film.
Azarian’s bold art direction, his ability to evoke spot-on performances from talent, and his narrative abilities—whether apparent in commercials, short films or branded entertainment—have undoubtedly been influenced by his collective experience.