French-Japanese director Masato Riesser was born in Paris and started his filmmaking journey at the age of 10. He went on to study cinema at Sorbonne Nouvelle, before completing a master’s in filmmaking at London Met Uni in 2002. He forged a career working on films, advertising and music videos in the English capital.

His directing and cinematography skills have attracted a variety of nominations and awards. He has worked with the likes of Dr.Dre, Jamie XX, and Richard Ashcroft. Now established in Paris, he focuses on beauty and luxury brands (Mont Blanc, Cartier, Lancôme, Valentino) with talents such as Hugh Jackman, Zendaya, Lily Collins, Amanda Seyfried, and Julia Roberts. Masato’s favourite collaborators are those closest to him. “My dear friend Geoffroy Guilbert is my producer and French agent, we have been working together for about 10 years. Alexandre Jamin is a cinematographer I often work with. We have a great connection.”

Masato recently shot an artistic Japanese short film called Kamikiri which has been well-received, earning awards in directing and cinematography. “My biggest influence is the minimal sensitivity found in Asian cinematography culture,” he says. “I like focusing on compositions, meanings, symbols and always push my commercial projects towards an elevating object.”