After stints as a junior creative producer and editor in television and a debut as a documentary filmmaker in his native Germany, Basil moved to New York City in 1991 to work as an editor and post-production supervisor on television commercials and music videos.

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In 1993, following his return to Germany, Basil directed through his own creative shop, Torpedo, in Frankfurt. He helmed  music videos for breakout hits by artists like Jam and Spoon, The Free, Blümchen, and Das Modul and produced, wrote, and directed news and entertainment content for Germany’s largest broadcast networks ZDF and ARD.

 

Basil’s first ad campaign for Journal FFM got him shortlisted at the Art Directors Club of Germany, Epica France, the New York Festivals and won him top honors at the London International Advertising Awards.

 

In short order, he helmed the launch campaign for the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum in Spain as well as spots for the National Museum of Photography, Film, and Television in the UK, Deutsche Telekom in Germany, Sony in South East Asia, and Miller Beer in the US.

 

In 1998, Basil moved to Los Angeles, where in 2000, he wrote, directed and produced the independent movie Night All Day, which was shot in California and distributed by Allied Entertainment. 

 

In 2007, Basil started American Media & Film Services, a production service agency consulting and facilitating the international advertising industry in the United States with clients including Saturn Media Markt, Line, and Life & Style.

 

In 2013, Basil became Executive Creative Producer and Head of Film Division at Germany’s largest PR-agency Fischer-Appelt where he continued to work on TV commercials. His direct clients included Daimler, Mercedes-AMG, Smart, and Bosch Automotive.

 

In 2018, Basil continued as Head of Creative Department at multi-national marketing agency Palmer-Hargreaves where he worked for clients such as Toyota, Ford, Porsche, Nissan, DHL, PWC, SAP, and BASF. During his tenure, the agency received a Best-Agency-Award.

 

In 2021, Basil followed his interest in music and joined the Southwest German Philharmonics and affiliated educational institutions with over 2,000 students as Chief Marketing Officer.

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To date, Basil has worked on a combined total of 300 film, advertising, and marketing projects in 30 countries worldwide for Fortune 500 clients. His work has won numerous international awards including gold for best media campaign at the London International Advertising Awards, twice gold and silver for best film at El Gran Jurado (Mexico), silver for best film at Promax BDA Asia (Hong Kong), silver for best film at the Chinese Advertising Awards (Shanghai), silver for best director and bronze for best film at the Kancil Awards (South-East Asia), silver at the Malaysian Video Awards, and bronze at the Creative Club of Austria. Basil’s pieces were finalists at the Art Directors Club of Germany, The New York Festivals, Epica (France), the Chinese Advertising Awards, the Kancil Awards, the LIA (UK), and the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts. For his music video work Universal Music Group / Motor Music (Germany) awarded him his own gold record.

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Basil's work has been recognized by industry publications including Shoot, Raging Artists, Professional Production, Campaign Brief, Campaign Brief Asia, Latin Spots, Anuncios, Publicidad & Commerciales, W&V, Horizont, New Business, and PR-Journal.