W. Ross Wells is a film director with a resume including national advertising, music videos, documentary films and viral media. He made his first film after finding his dad's hand-wound movie camera in a closet at age 9 and hasn't stopped yet. He began his professional film career as an editor, cutting TV spots and working with a number of directors and major agencies. It was here that he learned to apply his sense of comedic timing to film along with the numerous visual effects skills he uses in his work today. in 1988 an opportunity to direct travel programming for the original Travel Channel and the direct-to-video market presented itself. Ross took the job and spent 5 years traveling the globe making travel documentaries. He filmed on a great many overseas locations from China to Germany, Ireland to The Carribean. On an early travel jaunt to the Swiss Alps in the winter of '89 he teamed up for the first of what would turn out to be hundreds of projects with Producer Merideth Melville. Tired of living out of a suitcase and washing his clothes in the bathtub at The Grand Hyatt Taipei, Ross started directing commercials in the early 1990s. As a Commercial Director he has lensed many national and regional spots, collecting numerous awards and clients along the way. Ross will tell you that his many hours spent helping other directors realize their vision in the edit suite has shaped his approach to the role. His instincts as an editor and as a director work in harmony on the set. In recent years Ross has chalked up credits for Shell Oil Co, Merck, US Pro Tennis, TireMax, Kidde and many more. When conceptual artists The Art Guys teamed up with Designer Todd Oldham to create the year-long performance project "Suits: The Clothes Make The Man", Ross picked up the camera once again to document their travels in suits covered with advertising. The task of documenting an art performance inadvertently was transformed into a feature-length film when the Art Guys art turned into a commentary on advertising, art, media and society. Ross co-owns Zenfilm with his longtime partner and executive producer, Merideth Melville. Zenfilm is a film production company and HD post production boutique located in Houston,TX. Zenfilm specializes in comedy and visual FX oriented TV commercials, music videos and viral media for national and regional markets in the US and abroad. Ross is represented in on the West Coast by Yvette Lubinsky of Yvette Represents and in the Midwest by Valerie Gobos of Gobos Film & Entertainment. He can also be contacted through the Zenfilm offices in Houston.
