The Work That Made Me: Armin Korsos
Armin Korsos, a Cayman Islands-born Hungarian director, is known for his documentary and advertising films, characterised by their emotionally and visually vivid imagery.
Armin founded Caymanite out of a deep passion for storytelling and a desire to help brands connect with their audiences on a personal level. Caymanite was created to be a space where authentic brand stories come to life with creativity and impact.
His productions and personal work continue to take him to locations around the globe.
Frequent scuba diver, cyclist, swimmer, traveler.
LBB> The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Armin> The Mercedes-Benz “Chicken” Magic Body Control spot has really stuck with me, and I remember it came out when I was just a kid even before I started taking photos.
The music paired with the simplicity of the ad really stuck out and goes to show that sometimes the simplest concepts are the best. It was extra special to me because my brother and I grew up playing with chickens at my grandparents’ house, and we knew they kept their heads that steady.
The chickens paired with the metaphor for the Mercedes is just so simple, wonder how no one before came up with it. Also, the Jaguar response to that ad was just incredible.
LBB> The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Armin> I watched so many films on Netflix when I was younger, and it really inspired me to get into filmmaking, especially how much they pushed documentaries. The access to so many different topics really sparked my interest in potentially making my own films one day as well.
LBB> The creative work that I keep revisiting…
Armin> Some of the most inspirational music groups for my work are ODESZA and Rufus Du Sol. There’s something about their tracks that just makes my mind run wild with inspiration, and I can really see and feel the footage play out in front of my eyes when I listen to their music. I also don’t think either artist has a bad song.
LBB> My first professional project…
Armin> My first professional project was a fundraiser video for my mom’s non-profit that she works at, a centre for children with cerebral palsy. I still work with them to this day, and every chance I get to work with them is special. It’s never about the money, it’s about helping children with CP get recognition and funding for therapy.
LBB> The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Armin> The Meg movies with Jason Statham are so bad, I think people watch them for the irony of it. The only saving factor is that VFX is great in these films. The acting and the story leave a bit to be desired.
LBB> The piece of work that still makes me jealous…
Armin> I’m so jealous of Bryan Fogel for finding the story for Icarus (2017), a Netflix documentary about the Russian doping scandal.
The way he navigated the story from investigating doping and trying it himself, to then taking a huge turn and actually rescuing the Russian doctor out of Russia, is insane. It goes to show that even a really well thought out film may not pan out the way you think it will, and I love that they let the story take a huge turn to show how the story unfolded in real life.
That’s the true essence of documentary films for me, and I think that’s why that film is still so exhilarating to this day.
LBB> The creative project that changed my career…
Armin> We filmed a short documentary with paraplegic athlete Mary Kate Callahan, documenting her journey as an elite triathlete and her next steps after exiting her elite racing career.
That project was both special because she is a friend outside of filming, but also because it set the standard for the quality of the work we have continued to make with Caymanite since then. People really relate to that story because it’s shot beautifully by DP Tom Ciszewski, and because the story is so personal and relatable.
It’s opened many doors for us since we released it two years ago.
LBB> The work that I’m proudest of…
Armin> I’m proudest of a project that isn’t even complete yet and doesn’t even have a finalised title, but is currently in post as we speak. It’s a short documentary we filmed on Cayman Brac in the Cayman Islands in winter of 2023 and early 2024, about a group of climbers finding their lives intertwined with the fate of the island and the threats she faces, including threats to protected lands, the endangered Brown Booby bird, and even climbing being banned altogether.
The project is deeply personal to me, as I was born on Grand Cayman. It felt like going home, and I felt a deep pull to tell this story. We are very excited to share it soon.
LBB> I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…
Armin> Any rap music video while I was in college. All of them turned out terrible, and they were never worth it. That’s the one suggestion I have for young filmmakers. Make something productive and portfolio worthy, not a music video that will probably be buried online as quickly as it’s released.
LBB> The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
Armin> We are working on a few different documentary projects at Caymanite at the moment, and probably the most exciting was following cyclist Phil Fox around Lake Ontario with our camera car and subdivision, Dynamic Camera Systems, as he set the world record for circumnavigating the lake in one push.
We filmed 24 hours over the course of 30 hours of nonstop cycling, crossing the border from Canada back to the States, while battling weather and a constantly moving subject. The crew for this project was impeccable, and I couldn’t have done it without them. Our little five-person crew made it happen, a unique project where more people genuinely wouldn’t have made it better.
We will be releasing this film later this fall.
