Growing up with a father who made music and a mother who painted, director at hazazaH Film & Photography Daan Groot naturally found the perfect blend of these arts in film. His passion for film led him to the Dutch Film Academy, where he graduated in 2017 with the short film “Aimée.” This film won the award for Best Fiction Graduation Film and premiered at the Academy Award-Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival.

Fascinated by human emotions and experiences, Daan strives to make his work as vivid and real as possible. His commercials are known for their strong moods, cinematic and poetic style, and willingness to explore rough edges. Daan loves working with actors to achieve authentic and honest performances. He also values music highly in his films, often composing his own music to integrate with his work when fitting.

Daan’s first commercial film, “MARTAN” for L’Oréal Paris, won the Young Discovery Award at the Fashion Film Festival Istanbul and was nominated and selected at numerous other festivals. He shot his first international campaign for Brooks Running in London, Rome, and Germany. Daan has also created commercials for brands such as Carhartt, Gall & Gall, ReumaNederland, Ben, TW steel and Radio 10.