The commercial film to the introduction of this amazing new member of the Porsche family was the first step of this brand to full electric vehicles.

An electric guitar with its sound amplification served as a wonderfully appropriate concept “bridge” for the E-Hybrid power train of the Panamera. Rock music and the energy of the performing artist created a highly dynamic comparison to this first E-Hybrid Porsche.

The Mighty Quinn is a 1989 American mystery comedy thriller film starring Denzel Washington, Robert Townsend, James Fox, Mimi Rogers, M. Emmet Walsh, and Sheryl Lee Ralph.

The screenplay by Hampton Fancher is based on A. H. Z. Carr's 1971 novel Finding Maubee. In the film, Washington plays Xavier Quinn, a police chief who tries to help his childhood friend Maubee after he becomes a murder suspect.
The film takes its title from the Bob Dylan song of the same name, a reggae cover version performed by Michael Rose, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Cedella Marley and Sharon Marley Prendergast, which appears on the soundtrack.

Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film an overwhelmingly positive review, calling it one of the best movies of 1989. He described the film as "a spy thriller, a buddy movie, a musical, a comedy and a picture that is wise about human nature."

Jacques’s second cooperation with director Carl Schenkel and for both of them their first Hollywood movie with the big stars.

A comedy and a completely different creative undertaken from “Out of Order”, their first film adventure. Traditionally, Hollywood comedies are bright and relatively flat in lighting. Jacques and Carl went another way.

Based on a “Film Noir” concept this timeless film was on-air in German TV for more than 20 years .
Made with little means, but to great effect Jacques shot this film using his experience with the “Film Noir” genre of the feature film “Kill Me Again”.

Jan’s latest novel, to be released in 2022/2023

Settled between the worlds of Murakami and Kafka, DER NACHBAR is a mystery novel about true love and how to find it.

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Detective Lex Darker is given an unusual assignment: he is to penetrate actor and rake Paul Parasil to make corrections inside him that will prepare Parasil for true love. Being a gentleman, Darker decides to support his client, a mysterious veiled lady in any way he can.

But the closer he gets to the track of the womanizer, the more peculiar his mission becomes. When he finally finds notes that put Parasil in a completely different light, questions are piling up.

Is the actor really the lady killer everyone thinks he is? Or is it the circumstances of a fateful past that turned him into what he is today? What are his client's real intentions? And how exactly can you succeed in penetrating another person?

As things become more mysterious and his quest seems more hopeless than ever, Darker embarks on a dangerous game that blurs the lines between illusion and reality. Eventually the solution to the riddle seems to be hidden deep in the dreamland of souls.

The AXA campaign was the first directing cooperation between Jacques and Jan and the beginning of a lasting relation till this date.

Jan went-on directing commercials concentrating on beauty and life style before he switched to writing film scripts and novels.

Jacques ventured deeply into shooting world-wide car commercials for a decade before they met again writing film scripts and documentary series together.

The introduction of the top-of-the-line Audi sports car R8 was a highly political undertaking and requested some special treatment. Jacques’s proposal to stage a power slide on down-town LA streets first was a clear no-go for Audi’s brand managers.

Nevertheless, Jacques added the slide on top of his shot list and edited a power slide version director’s cut. Finally presented to the Audi managing team it received instantly standing ovations – problem solved!

Ever since, power slides have become familiar scenes in car commercials while this film became the “bible” to many international car brand managers for car-presentation photography. Even years later storyboards used screen shots of this R8 commercial as mood pictures.

Only 6 months after 9/11 Jacques went to New York to film the new Lamborghini Gallardo. Shooting in this bruised metropolis was a very special adventure for him and his crew.

Organizing a complicated car shoot turned out to be a very positive experience in this vivd melting pot that didn’t loose its magic despite the wounds inflicted to the heart of the city .

Staged in b/w New York reflected magically on the stunning design lines of this exeptional vehicle.

A co-operation between German people director Stephan Hatjam and Jacques in China where the Peugeot 508 was introduced to an affluent business cliental.

Shot in the neighbor city to Hong Kong, the ultra-modern Shenzhen, giving the film a high-tech look – a mixture out of imposing futuristic architecture and old film-style tricks with miniature, directly in-front-of-camera shiny objects.

Novel, published by Kein & Aber, Zurich in 2012

Prague 1945. After a hasty escape to his old homeland, young Czech-German Honsa finds shelter with the attractive and mysterious Lenka.

What initially looks like a happy escape quickly turns into a nightmare of obscure occurrences. Who is this strange boy Honsa keeps bumping into?

And what about the aged coroner Dr. Pavelik, who offers Honsa work and help, but then seems to show a hidden hostility towards him?

When Honsa decides to get to the bottom of things, he entangles ever more in a dark story that ends with him becoming part of a horrific truth that has been hidden for too long.

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Jan's first novel was nominated for numerous renowned book awards as best German debut in 2012.

An exciting mystery thriller that fundamentaly established Jan’s second career as a novelist alongside directing.

The concept of this project announcing the extremely sporty Lexus for the Japanese market was staged in a Hollywood film studio environment - no better place for a shooting like this.

Shot as a one-taker with numerous parallel running cameras, a lot of this film was relying on excellent timing and rehearsals. Apart from the process of preparation and the details of lighting and stage decoration it was the breath taking precision of one of the best stunt drivers of the world that made the concept work. Racing through people and equipment at high speed and finally hitting a button with one of the rear wheels first seemed an impossible thing to do, but work out incredibly concise.

Five making-of episodes were released one per week on the web, creating a build-up to the release of the TV commercial in an attempt to embrace a broader audience triggering an emotion for the car.

LALIQUE Les Ondines, spec

After being 1st AD to Jacques for almost two years, Jan decided to lounch his own directing career by writing and shooting, resulting in this stunning commercial speculation for Lalique Parfume “Les Ondines” as a first attempt.

Shot in breathtaking New Zealand landscapes, the 4x4 range of different Mitsubishi vehicles were staged as athletic fellows in various difficult driving situations.

The dangers the cars had to meet resulted in an appropriate strong-boy commercial for the Russian market.

How do you shoot a commercial for a car you are not supposed to touch or move?

Starring the unique hand-made model of the extreme dynamic Lamborghini Reventon, this film concept by Jacques demanded unorthodox creative solutions, opening-up the classical film trick-box with all kinds of 35mm in-camera gimmicks.

There are times when things just seem to be against you. After starting to shoot in Budapest for half a night faking the sites of Paris, Jan and his crew got stuck in a heavy snow storm and had to cancel the shoot due to reasons of continuity.

Fabulous Chilenean producer Ingrid Bragemann took the descision to fly back to Santiago to shoot the interior shots of the opera starring over 250 extras first.

After scouting in Buenos Aires for the rest of the exteriors, the crew finally went to Paris where Jan and his DoP Jens Harms had to shoot without putting a tripod on the ground due to a lack of filming permissions.

The idea to fix all camera gear to cars finally made not only the day, but delivered extraordinary images on top.

REGRESSION was the first out of a row of commercials Jan directed for South American beauty brand EBEL.

Only three weeks after airing, the product was sold out in South America. A fact that opened up a lasting career opportunity for Jan in Peru and Chile.

On a Friday evening, the elevator in a Frankfurt office block got stuck. In the dressing room are the supposedly successful advertiser Jörg, his attractive colleague Marion, the unconventional Pit and the staid accountant Gössmann. Since the incident apparently goes unnoticed, the four trapped have to come to terms with the unfortunate situation. Tensions are soon boiling up.

Shot in 1984, directed by Carl Schenkel, starring Götz George, Hannes Jaenicke, Renée Soutendjik and Wolfgang Kieling.

For his outstanding camera work featuring nothing but an elevator and a narrow shaft Jacques was awarded with the Deutscher Filmpreis (German Oscar). For his career it turned out to be a game changer since Hollywood kept calling after this stunning success.

The very first commercial film Jacques realised for the Chinese market was tough since it was not easy to gain the confidence of the agency and Chinese clients.

After a difficult debut with many meetings things started to turn around during shooting and became warm delivering the final film and this was the start of a series of successful commercials for Shanghai GM different brands and models.

If your main character in front of the camera is an award winning super star, things throughout all departments of the shoot get tense.

The super star of this multiple film project was the Porsche Hybrid Race car, arriving on set at the Slovakia Ring race track directly after winning the 24hrs of Le Mans. Like any celebrity, the Porsche didn’t come on its own, but was accompanied by an entourage of 15 technicians plus truckloads of machinery and equipment.

For Jacques it was a welcome challenge to shoot and direct such a special car and its equaly amazing hybrid fellows.

Shooting a naked couple in bed for a cinema commercial with an age rating of 12 was the special challenge of this project.

Jan created a low light visual concept and decided to shoot the film with two professional porn actors.

Due to the huge success of the commercial and the various awards he won with it, Jan became widely known as a specialist in beauty and nudity advertising.

Since they speak four different languages throughout the country, Fressnapf Switzerland decided to film a concept talking directly to its main clients: the animals themselves.

Although adressing cats and dogs, Jan wrote human dialogue lines for his actors to rehearse before the message was “translated” into animal language. What a fun to shoot!

Fay Forrester, an attractive young lady wants to escape from her violent and jealous boyfriend Vince. She hires Jack Andrews, a second class private investigator to arrange her death. She wants to restart her life with a new identity and the money she robbed together with Vince. With an eye on then money Jack trails Fay after her fake death. Unfortunately Vince finds out that Fay's still alive. The hunt for Jack, Fay and the money begins ...

Shot in 1989, directed by John Dahl - Kill Me Again was Jacque’s fifth Hollywood feature starring Val Kilmer and Michael Madsen along side with Joanne Whalley.

Although based on a classical black and white “Film Noir” concept, Jacques and John decided to do things a little differently and go for a colored look instead.
Jacques’ visual approach of high contrast and deep rich colors was adding emotion to the storyline and led to an astonishing, refreshing result diverse from conventional Hollywood photography.
Although »Kill Me Again« opened the doors to Hollywood even wider to Jacques, he decided to step back concentrating on kids and family and focused on shorter commercial projects ever after.

POLIZEIRUF 110

90min tv feature, directed by Bodo Fürneisen, written by Jan and co-writer Felix Mennen in 2007

Polizeiruf 110 is a sunday evening prime time tv crime series and Jan’s first 90min film project as a writer. Highly recognized in reviews, it opened a whole new career for him. Ever since this successful crime story, various series, features and books were to follow.
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»The bad guy is a desperate man whose greatest torment is his own desire. The man's incidental glances at the unsuspecting child who dreams of a model career, the fleeting touches with him - they seem more oppressive than any gunfight. This is how “Polizeiruf 110” turns into a captivating chamber play in which the most powerful emotions break out in a very small space.«
FAZ (mayor German newspaper Franfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

Jan wrote and directed this award winning short film together with his long time co-writer and close friend Yvonne Görlach.

Although it was a very difficult topic for actors, the performance of all three was stunning. This and the dencity of this highly emotional story were the main reasons why LULALAND did very well on festivals across the globe.

Three decades after spending two years on four different feature films in India, Jacques came back to shoot and direct local Indian commercials.

The concept is inspired by Bollywood, the largest film industry in the world. Jacques adapted this distinctive style of filmmaking and comedy to create a highly successful commercial for the Indian market.

This film for the American market was one of four HONDA commercials released during the Super Bowl weekend, the biggest American sport event of the year.

“Sun” looks like a simple film, but the shooting was a huge technical onslaught with 3 different Motion Control Units build-up in the Californian desert.
Two days of build-up and rehearsals, shot on one very tense day from sunrise to sunset made this film to a forthright straight and honest document presenting the Honda Accord “The One” as such.

“INVESTMENTS” is another commercial of the AXA campaign Jacques and Jan did together as co-directors. Both shot seqeunces around the world for this high class bundle of vignette commercials.

The famous German rock star Peter Maffay is known for a big heart when it comes to helping kids in need. During a five day trip to India, Jan had the pleasure to write and direct two spots and two image films with him for World Vision.

How does it look when a Hollywood star comedy director and writer is in charge of a chocolate bar commercial?
To work as a DoP with amazing Rick Friedberg (Spy Hard, Bad Golf Made Easier, The Twilight Zone) turned out huge fun for Jacques.

Shot on-stage in Paris for the French market during a period when crazy and expensive advertising concepts were still state of the art.

A commercial shot in Vancouver, Canada for renowned French director Jean-Pierre Roux, based on a feature film action-movie style.

Jacques’ earlier experience in action-movies came-in handy and helped Jean-Pierre in creating an action-laden stunning commercial for the exciting first versions of surround-sound at the beginning of the 90-ties.

It is rare in the commercial world that a film concept totally relies on the acting skills of the cast. Most protagonists in this business are well trained models and rarely highly educated actors.

This film demanded a couple that would be able to show something that only really skillful actors are able to perform: true love.

On a tight budget, it seemed a promissing approach to cast real people really in love instead of middle class actors performing it.

An approach that delivered the desired result.

The Smart car is by all means perfect for cities. But who are the people who drive it?

The concept of this documentary style film was portraying local creative characters, their backgrounds and the social / political aspects of the cities they live in. An idea to adapt to every vivid city in the world.

Shot on very tight budget with a mini crew, this project announced somehow the trend of smaller projects for less money that has been established ever since.

Introducing this top-of-the-line car to the world was a job with creatvie restrictions. Certain major markets imposed limitations to the basic concept of the project focusing on luxury and the outstanding design of the car.

The idea of reflecting the stunning new architecture of one of Chinas most vivid spots, the city of Shanghai was a perfect fit to underline the breath taking design of the new Jaguar XJ model.

Being the ultimate 4x4 performer of the Mercedes-Benz model range, the G-Class had to be staged under severe conditions in extremely difficult terrain. The winding snow-covered roads of the North Italian Alps seemed to be just perfect for this undertaking.

All available car-shooting techniques had to be pulled to create stunning impressions of what the G-Class is able to perform.

What could work better to introduce the brand to the Chinese market for the first time than staging a race between two models of the Mercedes Benz AMG line?

Naturaly, there can’t be a winner among two cars of the same racing team - thus, the film turns out to be a never ending climax showing a lot of stunning driving shots.

This longer introduction film came with an unusual dilemma; part of the designer team where proud of the rear, roof and flank lines of the car.
However, not all were so enthusiastic about the “face” of the Laguna and they called Jacques in to find a creative solution to their political impasse.

Setting a car beauty commercial in NYC’s Meat District was quite unseen and surprising in those days. The intelligent hiding of the car’s “face” by eye-catching foregrounds, or seeing it too briefly to realise made the film a success.

The film ended up being the basis for numerous commercials in many countries where the Laguna Coupé went on-sale.

Re-introducing a car brand with an almost 100 years history is not an easy undertaking. Being the one car topping the high-grade Mercedes Benz Brand is even more challenging.

Everything on this car is ultimate, gargantuan and perfect, the film is the same.

One film introducing all Audi models to the Chinese market during the Olympic games in Beijing 2008.

Audi being the main sponsor of the games needed a monumental introduction and decided shooting new material of several models and using shots from existing films of other models.

It turned out that Jacques had shot most of these films* so “Countdown” can truly be presented as a film directed and shot by Jacques Steyn.

*Except the part of the Audi TT, pure CGI post work.

After the challenging debut with Shanghai GM confidence rose to summits. This project came to Jacques with an open brief for the concept. He could do what he desired creatively and forged a collage of dynamic images with all kind of time-lapse inspired techniques.

The result was refreshing at the time and helped the time-lapse dynamic images to become more & more popular.

The second Honda Super Bowl commercial demanded another complicated technical challenge to knack.

The camera starting almost under the driving Honda Accord and moving up to a huge height showing the car in an amazing Utah desert environment.Shot from a helicopter with the remotely controlled camera hanging on a stabilized pod 25mtr. under the copter starting merely an inch from the ground and moving up to about 200mtr. at the end of the film.

Hours long practise runs getting ever closer to the wanted result without damaging the camera, remote stabilized head or helicopter in fantastic and highly concentrated team-work.

The dynamic 159 needed extreme roads to fully perform. Norway, the UAE and the Spanish island of Mallorca finally provided the right environment showing the car in its “natural habitat”.

What a fun to do this kind of big-boy shoots!

Back in the USA Jacques took the time-lapse imagery to another level shooting this Amtrak commercial for the only high-speed train to date in the USA.

Ever since the Acela feels faster than any other train in commercials films on the other side of the Atlantic.

One of the follow-up commercials for Shanghai GM. Jacques ventured more & more into time-lapse sequences adding dynamic and showing the design surfaces of the cars as liquid metal in the flowing night lights.

The start of a trend that has endured till today.

Jacques’ experience shooting Mercedes Benz G-Class “Snow” came in handy shooting this dynamic film on Europe highest mountain road. Very slippery and normally closed during the winter season. A dangerous undertaking close to steep precipices with many hidden pifalls.

This film presented the Audi S4 on the Frankfurt car show on an impressive 50mtr. wide screen.