“Content” isn’t a buzzword, it’s a legitimate sea change. People can watch what they like, and skip what they don’t. And we think that’s a great thing. It means more people focusing more of their time and attention on the things they find interesting, beautiful, engaging, or just plain cool.
We’re committed to the art of telling beautiful, compelling stories. Enjoyment and passion imbue every step of our process, and we believe that our love for the medium and the depth of our engagement with each project sets our work apart. These are the ingredients that deliver films people want to share, comment on, and watch again and again.
Production is an artform. Collaboration is crucial. Limitations can be liberating. Exploration is essential. We believe every story deserves to be shown in the most beautiful light and the best work comes from a passion for the process.
These are the beliefs that guide our work, and the reasons why we started Avocados and Coconuts.
“The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.” Orson Welles said that, presumably between big swigs of champagne. He was onto something. Chasing the Big Idea is great so long as you don’t lose sight of the Big Picture. That is to say, understanding what it will take to turn a creative vision into a successful reality. We find that our pragmatic, holistic approach to the process delivers work that’s as achievable as it is awesome.
Mean streets of the tree-lined northern suburbs of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Has an acute understanding of productions of any scale. Has been in production for over 20 years and has worked on everything from large multi-million dollar budget union films, commercials, and PSA's, to sit-coms and webisodes.
Logs most of her crucial and relevant hours in the ocean. Traveling far and wide to try to find her perfect wave. She is a pioneer of what she believes to be the small wave surfing movement.
Assembled in Vermont, from U.S. and Tanzanian components.
Co-founded his first company, the seminal snowboard brand Twist, while still in high school. Owes his creative vision to the scrappy DIY ethic he learned from skate/surf/snow culture. The self-reliance, determination, and open collaboration that he values has served him well, from his boardsport roots to directing global campaigns for brands such as Adidas, Xbox, and Apple.
Carries at least one camera all the time, everywhere. Garden variety Japanophile with a particular love for ceramics.
Decatur, Alabama
Brandon has been working commercially in San Francisco for the past decade cultivating his craft of telling stories through advertising and short films. His southern roots keep his directing style humble, conversational, and honest. Brandon’s experience in advertising demands a high standard of work that is stimulating, artful, and distinct. Brandon’s first feature documentary, A Film About Coffee, explores the global culture of specialty coffee.
Coffee, Wine and College football - roll tide!
Farmed straight from the fields and swimming pools of Davis, California.
Began his career shooting professional surfers across the globe. Having earned a Masters degree in documentary from UC Santa Cruz, his award winning doc work screened in festivals worldwide and nationally on PBS. After a stint living and filming in Peru, he returned to San Francisco, building his commercial reel as a director, working with major brands and agencies. Drawing from his diverse filmmaking background, he strives to create cinematic, heartfelt and honest connections between his subjects and the viewer.
He can’t stay dry for too long. Most days you can find him surfing and photographing the rugged swells that frequent his northern California home.
Born in Manhattan and raised in the city of San Francisco.
The son of an oil painter and an architect, Spencer has been steeped in the conceptual and the functional from an early age. Beginning with a stint living in a remote Himalayan Buddhist Nunnery, he has filmed cultures across the world, developing an obsession with the alchemy that can arise from the delicate mixture of visuals, light, and sound.
Spends much of his time watching how light falls on walls, objects, and plants. Otherwise on trails in the wilderness with a backpack and sleeping bag.
Sydney, Australia
Spent nearly a decade making ads for the likes of Apple, Audi and Burger King in agencies across Sydney and San Francisco. Equipped in the arts of conceptual thinking and crafting. Shot and directed a film while running 100 miles in 100-degree heat.
Long days trail running in the mountains followed by longer naps on the couch. Has been known to buy more coffee table books than can be read in a lifetime.
Wellesley, Massachussets
Visual and gastronomic storytelling. East Coast born and raised on a diet of early Chantal Akerman, Vivienne Dick and Sadie Benning, Gaby's journey west included a stop at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she picked up an MA from the Visual and Critical Studies Department as well as a deep love and respect for sustainable and ethical butchery.
As an acclimated Californian, her best days start in the ocean where she alternately shreds and gulps mouthfuls of frigid salty sea water. In between sets she meditates on food studies, affect theory and nostalgia, which is the roux that flavors her archival films, approach to documentary story telling and what she hopes will one day be the world's best pastrami recipe.
Grand Rapids, MI
Nuances of Motion as communication, subtleties, and the technical discipline of execution. Fascination with the interaction of color, the flow of form, and our ability to perceive based in the contrast of light and dark.
City laps by way of bicycle, long journeys, and expansion of understanding through experience.
A Brazilian and Persian mutt, born in Santa Cruz, CA.
Having a slight OCD tendency when it comes to cleaning and organizing - a trait inherited from his Brazilian mother - has shaped him into a very detail orientated person. This makes producing and managing come natural to him when in the throws of production.
The greenest of green thumbs, builder of furniture, climber of mountains, and rider of frozen white waves.
St. Helena, CA (Not the island where Napoleon was exiled)
When the moon is in the right house, he directs commercials and music videos. He has been known to point his finger in random directions, saying "that's the ticket" to no one in particular. Most of the time you will find him in a dark room, punching a keyboard (Editing).
He plays guitar in two Bay Area bands and collects obsolete ephemera to soften the unease of modern living. Sometimes he wanders around Golden Gate Park asking strangers if they have seen his dog. He dreams of someday becoming the co-founder of a really good deli.
Fresno? Fres-yes.
Federally certified drone pilot. Researches, buys and maintains camera equipment. Understands the intricate workings of RED cameras, Movi stabilizers and other gear needed for high quality productions.
Spends the majority of his time visualizing how things look from an aerial perspective. Excess time is spent consuming avocados, Cabernet and episodes of Seinfeld. Also enjoys playing fantasy football and basketball (the real-life kind).
Sacramento, California. Sactown!
Growing up in the Sacramento skateboarding scene making skate films, he understands the importance of collaboration, passion and doing it yourself.
Finding reasons to be outside by cycling, surfing, climbing, skating, taking photos, and clearing the mind.
