Film Director/Producer and President, Sedelmaier Films
“As TV commercials crowded and cluttered the programming environment, agencies sought
“breakthrough techniques,” creative ways to stop viewers in their tracks and engage them during commercial breaks. Enter Joe Sedelmaier. A successful Y&R and JWT art director-producer who opened a film production studio in 1967, he developed clutter-cracking commercials that featured the most unlikely, off-beat, one-of-a-kind non-actors and broke new ground. Sedelmaier’s zaniness was evident in his work for Wendy’s, (“Where’s the beef?”) and Federal Express (“Fast talking Man”), creating public and industry cutting-edge buzz.” –– From Advertising Age’s list of the top 100 players whose impact helped shape the course of advertising history).
“In the 70’s Sedelmaier gained notice for fundamentally changing the way television spots were cast and filmed. He replaced the actors who seemed too plastic, too perfect mannequins with offbeat people like Clara Peller. He directed them in a manner—doing for television what directors like Preston Sturges did for Hollywood comedies.” ––– Stuart Elliott, New York Times.
Joe Sedelmaier built an international reputation for his highly prized direction of humorous television commercials, garnering countless Clio awards, Gold Lions (Cannes), and numerous awards from the One Show, Chicago Film Festival (Golden Hugo), the Art Directors Club of New York, Communication Arts, Britain’s D&AD, and the Hollywood IBA. In 2000 he was inducted into The New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame. Sedelmaier’s film “OpenMinds” was an official selection in the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. He was featured on the cover of “Esquire” and had a dedicated segment on “60 Minutes”. In 2009 Sedelmaier was the subject of the documentary “Point of View: A Retrospective”.
