A native of Colombia, Simon Brand started his career very young as director and producer. Simon is an extremely versatile director, in 2003 he moved to Los Angeles to make his first feature. It wasn’t a lucky break that led his first movie, UNKNOWN starring Jim Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper and Joe Pantoliano, and was distributed by the Weinstein Company/ IFC Films and GreeneStreet films.
In January 2008 he premiered his new film called PARAÍSO TRAVEL, a story that brings him close to his roots. The Spanish- language feature is based on the best-selling book by the famed international author, Jorge Franco. Starring Aldemar Correa, Ana de la Reguera and John Leguizamo. The film has been called by TIME magazine one of the best latin films of the last decade, comparing it to City of God and Amores perros. When it premiered in Colombia, it became one of the top grossing films in Colombia’s history.
In 2010, He finished his first documentary film ENCUERE. Produced in cooperation with DIAGEO’S Learning for life foundation, about the life of displaced families in the northern coast of Colombia.
He was later asked to participate in the TNT original TV Series FRONTIERS produced by Oscar winning director Juan Jose Campanella, writing and directing the sci-fi pilot UMBRELLA. He released his third feature DEFAULT in the US in 2013.
In 2022 his TV Series RITMO SALVAJE was released by Netflix. This year he will premiere two of his TV Series, ELDO (HBO) and HAMSA (Amazon).
His creativity and drive gave him the opportunity to work with artists such as Jessica Simpson, Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Ricky Martin, the legendary Celia Cruz, Juanes, Alejandro Sanz, Chayanne, Arjona, Thalia, and Paulina Rubio. Simon quickly became popular in the UK after directing several pop videos for artists like Westlife, Steps and Gabrielle, and it was in Europe that he built his stellar commercial reel. His visionary music videos and highly visual spots earned Simon awards and honors such as: an MTV Awards, Clio, Telly, FIAP and Four Grammy nominations for best music video.
Simon is one of the most sought after directors today, thanks to his bi-cultural background. Simon has been written up in Variety Magazine as “one of the 40 most influential Latin people in Hollywood”. He was recently honored by being included in the “100 Colombians” book as an example of success among the likes of Shakira, Sofia Vergara, Falcao and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Nominated for 5 Grammy awards.
Winner of 4 Premios lo Nuestro, MTV Music video of the year, Telly Awards, Cannes Lions and New York Festival.