A.F. Cortés, creative director, filmmaker, and photographer, is a four-time nominee for the Abbey Road Studios Music Photography Awards — the most nominated artist in the award’s history — and the founder of NEUPLOT, a New York-based content studio at the intersection of music, documentary, and brand storytelling. His work spans photography, filmmaking, and creative direction, with a focus on subcultures, emotional resonance, and radical creativity.

Through NEUPLOT, Cortés has directed and produced films, series, and campaigns for brands like Google, Chevy, Toyota, Band-Aid, and more. He has also collaborated with record labels including Sub Pop, Ipecac, Sacred Bones, and Polyvinyl — crafting bold, visually driven narratives that move fluidly between underground and mainstream platforms. He is currently directing “A Film About the Underground Scene in Brooklyn,” a feature documentary chronicling New York’s resilient DIY music culture. His studio also publishes Gazette Musicale, a print and digital journal dedicated to independent music photography.

Cortés’s visual work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Art Forum, Revolver, The Guardian, and New York Magazine. He’s collaborated with artists including Zola Jesus, METZ, Dreamcrusher, Quicksand, and Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), and has been awarded by American Photography (AI-AP) for three consecutive years (2022, 2023, and 2024), as well as by The One Show and Lürzer’s Archive.

He previously led creative at ASI Studios (TelevisaUnivision), building a brand content division and producing culturally attuned films for clients like JCPenney, Chevy, and Sprite. Earlier in his career, he co-founded The Vox Collective, one of the top multicultural ad agencies in the U.S., where he helped shape major cultural campaigns before pivoting fully into filmmaking and photography.

Cortés brings a unique voice to conversations about storytelling, visual culture, and creative independence. He has spoken at events including Sundance’s Brand Storytelling Festival, BAM, Colombia 4.0, the Graphic Artists Guild, among others, and has been invited to lecture at advertising and design programs at the graduate and professional level in the U.S. and Latin America. His talks often explore NEUPLOT’s approach to building culturally resonant, visually bold narratives across both commercial and independent spheres.