At midnight on New Years Eve in ’04-’05, Martin de Thurah - once a member of a hacking group, a watercolorist, painter, photographer - decided that he wanted to try making his own projects in film
A week later, he was asked to direct a music video.
Born in Copenhagen de Thurah is a director, screenwriter, and photographer known for his dreamlike scenarios, bursting with emotional power and unique images, that sit comfortably between reality and fiction.
In 2007, he directed the short film “Young Man Falling,” which was selected for Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival. He quickly became a much sought-after music video director, working with artists such as James Blake, David Byrne and St. Vincent, Kanye West, Robyn, Feist, Fever Ray, Glasvegas, Mew and Royksopp.
Martin launched his award-winning commercial career in London and soon joined Bacon in Denmark and Epoch Films in the USA. He has created jaw-dropping work for Under Armour, Nordstrom, Delta, Facebook, Ubisoft, Playstation, Camelot, Hennessy, Macy’s, Zillow, and many more.
Martin has been voted Commercial Director of the Year twice by the Directors Guild of America. Martin has won 35 D&AD awards as well as awards at AICP, Ciclope, Shots Awards, CLIOs…
His most awarded piece was ‘Phelps’ for Under Armour, which picked up 11 Lions in Cannes including the Grand Prix for Craft.
De Thurah recently directed the final episodes of the Danish TV series, DELIVER US, created and written by Christian Torpe and Marie Osterbye. He also created the short film THE RAID — which follows King Björn Ironside in his brutal attempt to conquer Rome — for the blockbuster World of the Vikings exhibit at the National Museum in Copenhagen.
He is excited to grow Epoch Films with their launch in the UK.