Dave Straus
Lead Visualizer
Dave began his career over twenty years ago in Tokyo, Japan at Leo Burnett-Kyodo Advertising. After four years he returned to the US, where he worked for several world-class advertising agencies, including Ogilvy & Mather, JWT, and Element79, before landing at Central Coast.
Dave’s focus has been on the production of print and TV commercials for both domestic and global clients Craftsman, DieHard, Fosters Beer, Gatorade, Heinz, Kellogg's Japan, Kraft Foods, Lay's, Nabisco, Nestlé, Oscar Mayer, P&G, Principal Financial Group, Philip Morris Japan, Quaker, and Sears. Much of Dave’s work has been recognized by awards shows and design communities.
In recent years Dave started Happy Tokyo Productions, through which he has produced numerous animation projects. His animation style is inspired by the vintage Japanese pop culture from the 1960s and 70s that influenced much of his childhood. His first film, Futagoyaro, was awarded Best Film at the Element79 Film Fest at the Gene Siskel Center. This film was also showcased at the No Spot Short Film Fest in New York, where it competed against short films directed by Neill Blomkamp, Gwyneth Paltrow and Spike Jonze.
The son of a commercial photographer, Dave was influenced by his upbringing in a cross-cultural, Japanese-American home. Dave is married to a local TV news producer. They have two daughters.