Ian Spohr is an award-winning director, creative director, and cinematographer from Paradise, California. Ian lives at the crossroads of art and commerce—where creative instinct meets technical precision.

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He began his career on the road, couch-surfing and shooting skate videos, and has since built a body of work that spans commercial, documentary, narrative, and immersive formats. His spots for AT&T and Sam Adams during SXSW earned recognition from Adweek, while his documentary cinematography in Sundance Award-winning films FUEL and The Big Fix brought him to Cannes and into previously unfilmed regions of the Sian Ka’an nature preserve.

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In the music space, Ian’s visual storytelling has supported artists like Avicii, Waka Flocka Flame, and Eric Saade. As the creative director of The Astronauts Guild, he helped reimagine Puccini’s Madame Butterfly in Michel Comte’s The Girl From Nagasaki (Sundance 2014), produced the pioneering 3D music show From the Basement, and created interactive campaigns for brands including Red Bull, Mercedes, Forever 21, Jeep, and the Golden State Warriors.

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His narrative credits include directing the web series The Society for Sony Crackle, and working as a cinematographer on films such as Sacrifice (starring Christian Slater and Cuba Gooding Jr.), Fighter’s Chance (with Evander Holyfield), and indie horror The Cursed Man.

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In the immersive and experiential space, Ian’s Jeep/X Games project Champions of Adventure was the most awarded automotive activation of 2020, earning accolades from ExAwards, REGGIEs, ProAwards, and the Experience Design & Technology Awards. His innovative COVID-era production workflow for Rachel Brosnahan’s Yearly Departed was shortlisted for a Technical Emmy.

 

Off-set, Ian is a jazz hands aficionado, participation trophy recipient, and a three-time silver medalist in the sport of modern romance.