Alberto Jaen
A lifelong commitment to storytelling began at the Complutense University of Madrid, where Alberto Jaén earned a degree in Advertising and Public Relations. What followed was an international career spanning advertising, technology, entertainment, film and television across Europe and the United States.
He began as a copywriter at Leo Burnett before joining BBDO as Creative Director, developing work for brands including Toyota, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Orange, McDonald’s and FIAT. His work earned multiple Cannes Lions and more than 20 international creative awards.
His career later took him to the United States, where he became Executive Creative Director at Wunderman Thompson, leading creative teams across New York, Miami and Mexico City and developing work for IKEA, Mazda, Sabadell Bank USA, Olympus and Johnson & Johnson. He has twice served as a jury member at the New York Festivals and twice at Ad Stars Asia.
In 2014, he joined Apple in Silicon Valley as Creative Director, working at the intersection of design, technology and storytelling.
That experience led to the creation of plus305, an independent creative company operating between the US and Europe. For more than a decade, plus305 has worked with brands and organizations including Swatch, 3M, Real Madrid, Miami-Dade County, Air Europa, Santander Bank, Nickelodeon, Miami Dade College, Baloise and MTV. His work has received recognition including the United Nations Circular Economy Challenge and a White House Climate Campaign Award. Alberto also served for seven years on the Board of Voices For Children Foundation in the United States.
Over the last several years, his work has increasingly moved from advertising into entertainment and original IP. He has worked across brand entertainment, film and television, exploring how brands, culture and storytelling can coexist without compromising the story.
His work has also expanded into long-form writing. THE UNLOCKED CONVERSATION is a nonfiction book born from an unlikely correspondence with an incarcerated man in Nevada, exploring freedom, identity, family, regret and the different ways we build prisons around ourselves.
As a writer and executive producer, he created LIGHTS UP, an award-winning short film selected and recognized at international film festivals. He was also attached as a producer to the feature film BECOMING VERA.
His original film and television development includes NEW PARENTS, an adaptation developed from the acclaimed Spanish stage play; CHEAT FATE, an original series concept; and YVONNE, a comedy series set inside the entertainment and advertising industries. His nonfiction slate includes DEMOS+KRATOS, a feature documentary exploring the state and future of European democracy; NOT SELF-MADE, a docuseries examining the people, circumstances and invisible networks behind extraordinary success; and a documentary project following a Ugandan golf coach using the sport to create opportunities for children from disadvantaged communities.
These projects now form part of the growing slate of Studio 414, the Zurich-based company he founded to develop, package and produce original film, television and documentary IP with international potential.
Across advertising, entertainment and filmmaking, the principle remains the same: find the human idea, build the right story around it, and create something people remember.