
Washington Square Films Signs Director Jihye for Commercial Representation

Washington Square Films has signed director Jihye for commercial representation. With a successful background as a producer and director, Jihye’s directorial work is guided by fun and effective collaboration. She has directed spots for top brands including Ford, Jordan, Bud Light, Toyota, HBO, Equinox and McDonald’s among numerous others. Most recently, she was tapped to direct a piece (“Art from the Start”) for Instagram featuring photographer and digital artist, Natalia Seth, out of creative agency, DEPT.
Click HERE to view her reel.
Notes Washington Square Films EVP of Production, Han West, “Jihye is everything we hope for in a director: she has a breakout voice and visual sensibility that is potent, effective, and no doubt informed by her unique journey. And yet she’s approachable, compassionate, and relentlessly dedicated to her craft. We’re beyond excited to be working with her.”
Jihye’s journey into the film industry is a distinctive one. She spent the first seven years of her life on a farm in the boondocks of South Korea before making her way onto the streets of New York City. Fluent in both Korean and English, she has an innate ability to connect with diverse people and their stories, a skill she attributes to her unique and adaptive upbringing.
In middle school, Jihye broke her mom’s brain by announcing that she wouldn’t be pursuing any of the five careers that had been presumed for her: doctor, lawyer, teacher, pastor, or pastor’s wife. “Instead, I told the both of us that I was going to become a director. Neither of us knew how to actually get there.”
When she started as a production assistant, she supplemented her income with voice-over work and became the Korean voice for legacy landmarks like the Empire State Building and the Van Gogh exhibit in Amsterdam. Jihye then cut her teeth as a commercial and interactive producer working with the likes of Lady Gaga and Bud Light while directing her own self-funded stories. This parallel approach combined her proficiency in effectively leading projects and teams with her creative sensibilities and directorial voice.
Jihye brings an intimate human-centered approach to her directing. She has a fierce yet compassionate talent for distilling complex creative to intimate, approachable and emotional films. The intention that she brings to her process is rare in the industry. She adds, “I’m thrilled to make good stories with good people like Han and the team at Washington Square Films. With them, I’m confident we will level up interesting ways to tell stories, both classic and new.”