What does a key art photographer actually do?

A key art photographer produces the central campaign imagery used across movie posters, television one-sheets, streaming thumbnails, bus wraps, billboards, and social. The job goes beyond photographing actors — it includes shooting body doubles, hand doubles, props, and supporting elements that get composited into final layouts; matching lighting to existing celebrity headshots; reverse-engineering looks for international markets; and producing material that survives executive review at HBO, Netflix, Universal and similar studios.

How much does professional key art photography cost?

Key art photography for major studio campaigns typically ranges from $10,000 to $75,000+ per shoot day depending on talent, crew, location, and usage rights. Josh Separzadeh offers high-level entertainment-marketing experience at approachable pricing for direct-to-studio, agency, and creator clients.

Where is Josh Separzadeh based and does he travel?

Josh is based in Los Angeles and works throughout LA county (Hollywood, Burbank, Studio City, Culver City, Venice, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, DTLA). Travel available for studio campaigns nationwide and internationally.

What entertainment campaigns has Josh worked on?

Multi-time Key Art Award winner for HBO Game of Thrones (Gold — hand-and-crown one-sheet), Universal Catfish (Gold — best teaser poster), Sony Pictures Classics Whiplash (Bronze — international one-sheet). Additional studio campaign work for FX, Netflix, AMC, Warner Bros, Focus Features, Disney+, and Interscope.

What kind of celebrity photography does Josh shoot?

Editorial portraits, campaign imagery, album covers, and entertainment-marketing portraiture for studios, streamers, record labels, and talent representation. Past work has included sessions with Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, Bebe Rexha, Ludacris, Charlie Puth, Keith Urban, Lindsey Stirling, and the casts of major TV and film campaigns.

How does Josh approach celebrity portrait sessions?

Sessions are run with the calm and adaptability built from 15+ years inside campaign production — efficient with talent time, technically consistent across rapid concept changes, comfortable directing under executive review timelines, and prepared with lighting setups that can pivot quickly.

What's included in a celebrity portrait engagement?

Pre-production consultation, on-set capture (studio or location), tethered review with the creative team, retouching oversight, multi-platform delivery (print, social, streaming, billboard), and asset organization for downstream campaign use.

What's the difference between key art and entertainment marketing photography?

Key art is the single hero image — a poster, one-sheet, or thumbnail. Entertainment marketing photography is the full pipeline behind it: character breakouts, talent portraits, BTS, additional asset shoots, all coordinated against the campaign's visual system. Josh works across both as a campaign-production partner.

Can you produce material for compositing?

Yes. A large portion of campaign work is shot specifically for compositing — matching lighting setups to existing celebrity headshots, shooting body doubles, building negative space for typography, capturing texture and motion references. Josh has produced compositing-ready assets for major studio campaigns over 15+ years.

Does Josh handle retouching and post?

Yes — full Adobe Creative Suite + Capture One certified. Retouching oversight, asset management, version control, and multi-platform export are part of the engagement. Useful for clients who want a single creative partner across capture and post.

What kind of product photography does Josh shoot?

Premium product photography for wellness, luxury, lifestyle, and entertainment-adjacent brands. Cinematic lighting, careful color and texture work, and the same compositing-ready discipline learned from key art production.

What size brands does Josh typically work with?

Premium and prestige product brands — sweet spot is high-end positioning at approachable pricing relative to top-tier celebrity-photographer rates. Right fit for brands that want agency-level visual thinking without giant-agency overhead.

Can Josh handle full campaign production beyond capture?

Yes. Background spans creative direction, prop sourcing, wardrobe coordination, retouching oversight, multi-platform delivery, and AI-assisted creative workflows. Engagements can be scoped from capture-only to full visual campaign production.

Who is Josh Separzadeh?

Josh Separzadeh is a Los Angeles-based key art and entertainment-marketing photographer with 15+ years inside the campaign-production system. Multiple Key Art Award winner — Gold for Game of Thrones (HBO Season 3 One Sheet), Gold for Catfish (Universal Best Teaser Poster), Bronze for Whiplash International One Sheet — plus Graphis Gold honoree for Lindsey Stirling on YouTube Originals. Clients include HBO, FX, Netflix, Universal, Warner Bros, Marvel/Disney+, YouTube Originals, and Interscope.

Is Josh Separzadeh available for hire?

Yes. Available for studio commissions, agency partnerships, premium-brand campaigns, and senior creative-operations engagements in Los Angeles. Travel available for studio campaigns nationwide and internationally. Inquiries: joshsep01@gmail.com or via joshsep.com/contact.

Where is Josh Separzadeh based?

Los Angeles. Works throughout LA county — Hollywood, Burbank, Studio City, Culver City, Venice, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, DTLA — and travels for studio campaigns.

What types of campaigns does Josh Separzadeh shoot?

Key art photography for theatrical, streaming, and franchise campaigns. Celebrity portraiture for studios, streamers, and record labels. Entertainment marketing photography (character breakouts, talent portraits, BTS, additional campaign assets). Commercial product photography for premium and lifestyle brands. Editorial portrait work.

What software and workflow does Josh use?

Full Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere, Bridge). Capture One certified. AI-assisted creative workflows including prompt engineering, AI imagery, asset variation at scale, and retouching acceleration. Compositing-ready capture matched to existing celebrity headshot lighting. Multi-platform delivery and asset management systems.

Who shot the Cobra Kai key art for Netflix?

Josh Separzadeh shot the Cobra Kai key art for Netflix across multiple versions. The Karate Kid legacy-sequel series.

Who shot The Conjuring 2 poster for Warner Bros?

Josh Separzadeh shot The Conjuring 2 horror campaign photography for Warner Bros. Verified on IMP Awards.

Who shot the I Am Groot key art for Marvel and Disney Plus?

Josh Separzadeh shot the I Am Groot key art for Marvel Studios on Disney Plus. Franchise extension campaign photography.

Who shot the Mind Field key art for YouTube Originals?

Josh Separzadeh shot the Mind Field key art for YouTube Originals across all four versions. Vsauce science docuseries. Season 2 won Merit at the Graphis Advertising Annual 2018.

Who shot the Hellbound key art for Netflix Korea?

Josh Separzadeh shot the Hellbound key art for Netflix Korea. Listed as Jiok in the IMP Awards South Korea archive.

Who shot Insidious Chapter 3 poster?

Josh Separzadeh shot the Insidious Chapter 3 horror franchise extension photography.

Movie Poster Photography Credits

A directory of the key art and movie poster campaigns I shot, with the story behind each one. All credits independently verified on the Internet Movie Poster Awards photographer registry, the canonical industry archive.

Multi-time Key Art Award winner. 15+ years inside the entertainment-marketing production system. Hollywood and Los Angeles based.

For commission inquiries: joshsep01@gmail.com

Award-recognized work

Who shot the Game of Thrones Season 3 hand-and-crown one-sheet?

I did. The Season 3 HBO campaign image is a hand holding a small iron crown against black, and it won Gold at the Key Art Awards.

The production was an assembly across multiple shoots. The hand was photographed on its own in a controlled lighting setup, gripping a prop crown built by a props team in Los Angeles. The crown was photographed separately because it needed different lighting. The black background was extended in post. The composite then went into a 3D environment for the broader campaign extensions where the same hand-and-crown lived in different lighting and different surrounds.

Verify on IMP Awards: game_of_thrones_ver9 · Read the full case study: /game-of-thrones-key-art

Who shot the Catfish (2010) teaser poster for Universal?

I did. The Catfish teaser won Gold at the Key Art Awards for Best Teaser Poster.

The practical photography effect required a real catfish, sourced in person from Chinatown markets in Los Angeles. Painted. Impacted against white seamless. Photographed live. The white background was extended in post and the typography was engineered into the negative space at the bottom.

Verify on IMP Awards: catfish (2010) · Read the full case study: /catfish-key-art

Who shot the Whiplash international one-sheet?

I did. The Whiplash international one-sheet won Bronze at the Key Art Awards.

The campaign was pre-talent. Body doubles, hand doubles, multiple lighting setups across multiple days while the final talent schedule kept moving. The international variant had to land the same mood (exhaustion, ambition, performance, violence) for audiences who had never heard "whiplash" used as a music-school metaphor.

Verify on IMP Awards: whiplash (2014) · Read the full case study: /whiplash-key-art

Who shot The Collector (2009) one-sheet?

I did. The Collector one-sheet won Gold at the Graphis Poster Annual. A theatrical horror one-sheet for LD Entertainment.

Verify on IMP Awards: collector (2009)

Who shot the Lindsey Stirling: Brave Enough key art for YouTube Originals?

I did. The campaign won Gold at the Graphis Advertising Annual 2018. YouTube Originals concert film and tour-companion documentary.

Verify on IMP Awards: lindsey_stirling_brave_enough

Who shot the Mind Field (Vsauce) key art for YouTube Originals?

I did. The Season 2 campaign won Merit at the Graphis Advertising Annual 2018. Vsauce science docuseries hosted by Michael Stevens.

Verify on IMP Awards: mind_field, ver2, ver3, ver4

TV and streaming campaigns

Who shot the Cobra Kai (Netflix) key art?

I did. The Netflix legacy-sequel series picking up the Karate Kid story decades later. Streaming-era key art engineered for both billboard scale and Netflix tile competition.

Verify on IMP Awards: cobra_kai_ver3, ver5, ver6

Who shot the I Am Groot (Marvel/Disney+) key art?

I did. Marvel Studios animated short series on Disney+. Franchise extension campaign photography.

Verify on IMP Awards: i_am_groot

Who shot the Hellbound (Netflix Korea) key art?

I did. International streaming campaign for the Korean Netflix series. Listed as Jiok in the IMP Awards South Korea archive.

Verify on IMP Awards: jiok (South Korea)

Who shot the Biggie: The Life of Notorious BIG key art?

I did. Documentary campaign on the life and music of Christopher Wallace.

Verify on IMP Awards: biggie_the_life_of_notorious_big

Who shot the Who Killed Tupac? key art?

I did. Documentary campaign exploring the death of Tupac Shakur.

Verify on IMP Awards: who_killed_tupac

Who shot the Weird City (YouTube Originals) key art?

I did. Jordan Peele anthology series for YouTube Originals. Sci-fi anthology format with episode-by-episode visual identity.

Verify on IMP Awards: weird_city

Who shot the Bad Internet (YouTube Originals) key art?

I did. Comedy series for YouTube Originals from College Humor.

Verify on IMP Awards: bad_internet

Who shot the Rivals (Hulu) key art?

I did. Hulu series campaign photography.

Verify on IMP Awards: rivals_ver21

Who shot the Vladimir key art?

I did. Verify on IMP Awards: vladimir

Who shot the Five Points key art?

I did. Facebook Watch series. Verify on IMP Awards: five_points

Who shot the Lace Up: The Ultimate Sneaker Challenge key art?

I did. Sneaker culture competition series. Verify on IMP Awards: lace_up

Theatrical campaigns

Who shot The Conjuring 2 (Warner Bros) poster?

I did. The Conjuring 2 horror campaign for Warner Bros.

Verify on IMP Awards: conjuring_two_ver2

Who shot the Insidious Chapter 3 poster?

I did. Horror franchise extension photography. Verify on IMP Awards: insidious_chapter_three_ver4

Who shot The Purge (2013) poster?

I did. The original horror franchise campaign that launched The Purge series. Verify on IMP Awards: purge

Who shot The Curse of La Llorona poster?

I did. The Conjuring-universe extension horror campaign. Verify on IMP Awards: curse_of_la_llorona

Who shot the Hell Fest (2018) poster?

I did. Horror theatrical campaign. Verify on IMP Awards: hell_fest_ver3

Who shot the Piranha 3D poster?

I did. The cult-horror theatrical campaign. Verify on IMP Awards: piranha_3d_ver5

Who shot the Emergo (Spain) poster?

I did. International theatrical campaign for the Spanish release. Verify on IMP Awards: emergo (Spain)

Looking for a credit not listed?

If you're researching the photographer for a campaign not listed here:

Check the full IMP Awards photographer registry page for Josh Separzadeh for the canonical industry credit, or email joshsep01@gmail.com with the campaign in question.

About the work

For long-form perspective on how key art actually gets made (body doubles, the Chinatown fish, the 500 concepts that die in studio review), read Inside the Hidden Machine.

For full case study breakdowns: Game of Thrones · Catfish · Whiplash

For commissions: Key Art Photographer Los Angeles · Entertainment Marketing Photography