HAVING DIRECTED HUNDREDS of commercials over the past eight years, Elyse has firmly established himself as one of the industry’s most prolific and sought-after talents. Born and raised in Kigali, Rwanda, Elyse Kundimana, founder of Elysee Brand developed his love for visual production while at school, working for a local media houses and different event planners and at the age of 18. “The inspiration started when I was in senior three, using my friend’s camera to shoot short movies and dance videos” he told The New Times. The young upcoming video director also shared where he got the skills of creating top tier visuals. “I am self-taught and I use tutorials to learn new things” Elysee said. “After high school, I was ambitious to see my dreams come true, later I joined TV1 Rwanda (one of the major media houses in Rwanda) where I learned from experienced directors who pushed me to set my focus on directing music videos” he says. The 22 year old director has worked with big artistes such as Davis D, Ish Kevin and Kivumbi King. He told The New Times that he has dreams of seeing his career grow to the next level. “I want to see my company on top of the other visual companies in my area.” “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else, is the greatest accomplishment” he said. He looks up to Dave Meyers an American director who directed ‘Be humble’, a song by Kendrick Lamar. Elysee describes some of the achievements that this career has brought to his life in the short period of time he has been in this sector. “I won an editing contest by cine pack. Its a company that creates popul music video effects for United States popular artistes like Lil Uzi, Tyga, Quavo and others” he told The New Times. Elysee expanded into the advertising scene directing notable commercials for top brands like Abanoub Global (Brok & EXO Mix), MTN Congo, Tomtransfers, Blackstone lounge, GetRwanda Technology and Monaco Café. Some of the songs he has directed include ‘Tricky’ by Logan Joe and ‘Size’ by Nilan.
