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Victor Milt Biography

Born in New York, April 26, 1942, Victor Milt grew up in a small Long Island suburb called the “Five Towns” His passion for photography became apparent at the age of 10 when he received a darkroom kit as a birthday gift. By the time he was 15, he was working daily after school and weekends, as a photographic assistant. He not only was the official photographer for the school newspaper, and yearbook, he also covered the local newspapers. On graduation, Milt attended the University of Michigan, transferring after one year to Cooper Union, NY, one of the top art and architectural schools in the country.

His rise in fashion photography was rapid, and by the early 60’s he was shooting regular features for Glamour, Ingénue, McCall’s and Vogue, as well as industrial work for Levittown, Grand Union and others. His fashion ad work also appeared regularly in the NY Times Magazine. In 1969 Milt left still photography and moved to England, where he bought a 32-foot sloop. He spent the next two years sailing the Mediterranean, traveling throughout Europe and North Africa.

Upon his return to the US in 1971, he produced his first film, a 45-minute art film. Utilizing that as a sample, he commenced his new career as a director/cameraman for TV commercials.

Milt can truly be called a child of the Madison Avenue Farm Team system. Over the next 30 years he honed his advertising skills in the halls of the greatest ad agencies in the world, producing still and television advertising for the Fortune 500. His agency clientele lists Doyle/ Dane, Ogilvy, J. Walter Thompson, Wm Esty, Wunderman, Young & Rubicam, Wells/Rich and Greene among many others. His corporate accounts include AT&T, US Air Force, Colgate, Reader’s Digest, TV Guide, Cadbury, Schweppes, McDonalds, Burger King, Black Flag and dozens of others. Who can forget the squeaky-clean, whistling couple skipping across the screen and then slicing up a bar of Irish Spring deodorant soap? Milt’s rendering of Juan Valdez leading his saddle-bagged donkey through the Columbian coffee fields is a national icon. Along the way, Milt won numerous awards, including Clio’s, Cindy’s, Cine Golden Eagles and dozens of national and international film festival awards.

He has created almost 1,000 commercials, many of which are classics in the industry. His work for Time Magazine includes “Kennedy”, the most successful direct response spot in the history of Time Warner. His “Led Zeppelin” commercial grossed over $70 million dollars, making it one of the most successful music commercials ever. He writes, he produces, he shoots, he edits, but most of all, he listens. He listens to his clients, his crew, his staff and his acting talent. Mainly, though, he listens to the pulse of the American public. When Victor speaks, people laugh, people cry, people talk, and best of all.... people spend.

For a number of years, Milt also authored the popular column “Director’s Notebook” for Backstage Magazine. These columns were later compiled into a successful book, which is currently in revision for a Spring 2004 release.

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