Faculty
Instructor's Clients Include Netflix, Warner Bros, and Walt Disney
Jörg Wallrabe, started his career in fashion and worked as a women’s designer for companies including Halston, Versace, Bill Blass, Calvin Klein, and Sanyo. Needing a change, Jörg moved to Los Angeles in 2004 and opened up a creative and public relations agency called BIW [BrandingIron Worldwide INC]. Being in Los Angeles, the agency started to pick up entertainment clients, and the business grew from there.
Clients now include Netflix, Warner Bros, Walt Disney, DC, and Stage 13. In maintaining and servicing these clients with the best of creative work across all platforms, Jörg has pulled a young and vibrant team together, many of whom are FIDM alumni.
Jörg was introduced to FIDM while working on the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, holding an event on the FIDM grounds and museum that highlighted the Ruby Slipper Collection, a collection formed by 20 of the top shoe designers in the world.
Eventually, Jörg was invited to teach as an industry insider and has enjoyed the position immensely ever since. Teaching at FIDM is the highlight of his career. Seeing so much talent in one room is “mindboggling” and inspires Jörg to no end and, he feels, it keeps him relevant and on his toes.
“Whatever class I am teaching in that moment becomes my favorite. I feel that by each semester I improve as an instructor and can get across exactly what is required from the students. What inspires me is to see the assignment come to fruition and the creative surprises and solutions I see along the way—every semester is unique and extremely special to me.
The best part of teaching is to meet the students on the first day. Some are shy and reserved, some like to take over the room, and some you don’t even know are there. My biggest thing is communication and how to push the ‘big idea.’ No matter how brilliant ideas are, if you cannot explain them and excite people, the idea will never take off. My challenge is, ‘How are you going to do it?’
My joy is, over the course of 10 weeks, to see how polished the students become—eloquent and direct. I teach as if they are my peers and work for me—no kid gloves—experiencing the real world while in the classroom, is my point of difference. What I realize is that each student, even the ones who in the beginning you didn't know were there, have amazing talent and by encouraging confidence and ease, a star is born!”
Jörg Wallrabe is an Outstanding Faculty Award Winner, an award given by the student body to outstanding faculty members.
Categories: Digital Marketing Faculty
