About

The garage is a technologically driven, visual innovation production company with a passion for making amazing visual brand stories. Fueled by our need to look at things differently and our out-of-the-box thinking, we are constantly pushing the art of visual storytelling forward.

At the garage we LOVE technology, but the story is what drives us. The brand stories we want to tell fuel our passion for pushing practical solutions to the next limit. When art and engineering come together, amazing things can happen.

Our goal is to take any tabletop job and offer multiple creative viewpoints on it, as all of our directors specialize in tabletop, but each with their own twist. Whether you’re coming to us with ready to shoot boards, or are interested in our approach, we’ll offer multiple directors' ideas to ensure you get what you’re looking for.

Our process is unique, yet flexible. We can lead a job from creative inception all the way to the finish line, or only collaborate on a certain part of it. We heart VFX supervisors and the incredibly complicated jobs that make your brain hurt. In this hybrid world where practical effects are constantly being merged with CGI, it’s important that we all speak the same language.

Directors

Steve Giralt

Giralt is a director, photographer, visual engineer, and tabletop storytelling is his passion. He is driven by a simple challenge: how can tabletop stories be told differently? He started his career as a photographer but his obsession with image-making led to his transition to motion. As part of his process, he uses robotics, 3D motion capture, pneumatics, Phantom cameras, and lots of engineering. Today, Steve is constantly building, making, creating, or doing something creative as he doesn’t really sit still.

Shanghoon

Shanghoon is a director/dop and photographer who is tech savy and dedicated to learning new things.

He is an expert in visualizing small magic moments that slow you down and evoke big feelings. He is a meticulous and detailed oriented individual, stretches his artistic boundaries to create unforgettable tabletop imagery. Shanghoon serves along side you in collaboration because he appreciates what you've gone through to come to this moment, and wants to be your partner in the next stage for your brand.

Ronald Koetzier

Ronald Koetzier is a director & DOP with an extremely refined visual style and technique.

Generally acknowledged as the pioneer in high-speed motion control, Ronald Koetzier has been directing tabletop projects all over the world for the past decade plus.

He proudly specializes in difficult projects and brings his formidable experience in VFX and camera techniques to anything involving tabletop.

Charles Nordeen

Charles Nordeen leverages his filmmaking and visual effects expertise to craft affecting, meticulously composed visuals for some of the biggest brands around. As a director with extensive lifestyle and product work, Nordeen’s versatile background fuels a comprehensive storytelling approach for any tabletop spot from concept to delivery.His work encompasses visually rich and poignant character-driven live action spots accompanied sometimes with design, visual effects, and engaging interactive capabilities.

Team

Steve

Steve is the founder and the OG (Original Garager). He founded to help push the art of tabletop cinematography forward and empower artists to create the most innovative work. He is a Director, DP, and Still Photographer with a side of Engineer.

Halie

Executive Producer: n, v, adj., and direct object of all things production related at the garage. Can usually be found marinating in estimates and boards. Georgia raised and SCAD alum to New York transplant, she enjoys baking the occasional pie for Garagers and living her best Brooklynite life at hot yoga.

Matt

Matthew was raised in a DIY household in Atlanta fixing, building and improvising everything from the plumbing to skateboard ramps. This DIY approach allows him to rethink the tools for solving visual and mechanical challenges. Matthew loves working with the crew at the Garage where he speaks the same language of pneumatics, electronics, lighting, timing, and robotics.

Dan

Dan is our primary motion control operator, and resident Star Wars fan. Born in Manhattan, raised in NJ, and educated in Chicago, he’s a former musician, IT guy, and digital tech withe years of experience on the road and on location. Chances are good that if you’re doing anything creative with a computer, a camera and/or a microphone, he knows a thing or two about it.

Carly

Carly is our Studio Manager: if you have a question, she has the answer. From the studio's needs to back-end production details, she is the glittery grease of The Garage's gears. This SCAD alumni also excels in fashion & lifestyle photography, and you also can find her scouring the city for the next best NY aura.

The Studio

The garage is a state-of-the-art creative space located in Industry City in Brooklyn. The 10000 sq foot studio is fully equipped for both photography and motion shoots of all sizes.

Our commercial kitchen will have everything you could possibly need. Our kitchen is equipped with commercial gas appliances and an Ansul hood, along with multiple refrigerators, freezers, a commercial dishwasher, baker’s racks, and every cooking tool or utensil you can think of.

And for your clients and crew, we keep our kitchenette stocked with all sorts of snacks and drinks to help you make yourself at home. The garage also has a full functioning machine shop, prop house, two client lounge area, and lots and lots of cool gadgets. We are always ready to jump on the most challenging projects!

Green at the Garage

While we love what we do, we recognize that our industry takes a huge toll on our (only) planet. We’ve partnered with caterers, homeless shelters, climate organizations, and scientists to come up with plans on how to minimize our footprint. Gone are the days of line items for thousands for “green sets”. Our plans are fully integrated into the way we work already, because, well… we care. This makes our abilities exponential with very minimal price adjustments.

Green at the Garage is one of the first of its kind,

an initiative that holds us accountable with actionable

items that minimally affect the price tag.

Here are just a few things we’re doing:

Outfitted with water taps, we’ve eliminated single-use water bottles and utensils entirely.
We’re working with GoClimate to offset carbon emissions for each shoot.
We’ve almost entirely eliminated food waste, partnering with local communities to feed those who need it (instead of our garbage cans).
An in-studio hydroponic garden that serves us as a carbon-positive tool for our stylists, or nibbles for our clients and team.

Have questions? Please reach out to halie@the-garage.tv. She’d *really* love to talk to you about it.