Stephanie Zapolska
I direct moving images, create music platforms and build spaces around independent culture.
zapolska.stephanie@gmail.com
Stephanie Zapolska is a director, founder and cultural producer based between Riga and London.
Her practice moves across film, music and live cultural formats, bringing a cinematic and image-led approach to both commissioned work and independent scene-building.
She is the founder, owner and curator of SOUND MOUSSE; founder of PAIR Production; and a co-curator and key partner at The Lodge. Her films, photography and installations have appeared through Vogue Scandinavia, Vogue Italia PhotoVogue, MTV, KAZARJ Magazine and exhibitions in Riga.
Founder · Owner · Curator
A live-music platform made in the Baltics for listeners across genres.
SOUND MOUSSE gives emerging artists a carefully filmed and recorded space to be seen and heard alongside a growing international programme—from electronic music to metal.
Moving image
Music videos, art films, social films and commercial work
A directing practice shaped by music, performance and atmosphere.
Stephanie has directed moving-image work since 2014, moving between music videos, art films, social projects and commercial production. The work is cinematic and image-led, with a strong attention to performers, rhythm and constructed worlds.
Recent
direction
- Kingdom of Giants — Respawn Music video · Director
- violet veil — letters Music video · Director
- Self Deception — The Wedding Music video · Director
- Amber Creek — Shapeshifter Music video · Director / DoP
- Annisokay — Silent Anchor Music video · Director
- Heavy Weight Short art film · Director / DoP
- Unsainted — Decimate Music video · Director
- SXIMA — Eleventh Sun Music video · Director
- Short Life Social film · Director
- Whisper Compassiviste Social film · Director
- BODE Studios Perfume film · Director
- Where Echoes Fade Short art film · Director
- Nick Neo — Astrale Music video · Director
London · 2017—2021
Other film work
Before returning her focus to directing and founding her own projects, Stephanie spent several years working across London productions: independent features and short films, television, music videos, commercial sets and pilots.
Directing, co-directing, producing, writing, camera assisting, focus pulling, operating and cinematography built a practical understanding of the whole set—from creative development to the last technical detail.
Other
film work
- Where Echoes Fade
- Heavy Weight
- Kingdom of Giants — Respawn
- Cleartrip — Summer Offer
- and 24 further productions
- THROWN — Rehearsed
- Oliver Marson — Cocaine Romance
- The Stage
- Amber Creek — Shapeshifter
- Heavy Weight
- Bleachers television pilot
- HÆLOS — Kyoto
- and five further productions
- Faulty Roots
- From Alena for Alena
- The Eternal Moment
- Love Is Not Enough
- and four further productions
- BBC EastEnders
- The Choice
- Indulgence
- Peter Kindersley — Women of Faith, including a portrait sitting with Dame Judi Dench
- L&Q
Album covers and artworks
Visual identities for sound.
Alongside moving image, Stephanie develops artwork and photography for musicians and other artists.
A space where projects can begin before they have a name.
The Lodge gives independent music a physical home: a place to record, perform, experiment and build lasting relationships.
The Lodge · 2024—present
Underground studio, events and community.
The Lodge is a private underground studio and cultural community in Riga, owned and led by Valentins Mitrofanovs. Stephanie works alongside him as co-curator and key partner, helping shape its music programme, events and creative collaborations.
Its cultural value comes from continuity. Artists can develop work, test ideas and meet one another outside the pressure of a conventional commercial venue. Intimate concerts, recordings and community gatherings become part of the same evolving ecosystem.
A project from The Lodge · 26.09.2025
Intense Fest
The Lodge’s wider programme included the first Intense Fest: a one-day metal festival at Angāra Koncertzāle bringing together six bands from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland. Led through The Lodge by Valentins Mitrofanovs and its partners, Stephanie contributed as part of the core organising team.
Role: Core team / Event organisation
Video production that understands your brand.
PAIR Production is the professional video production company Stephanie founded in 2024. It develops and produces commercials, branded content and music videos—carrying projects from the first creative conversation through production and delivery.
Based across Riga and London and working internationally, PAIR is the commercial home for Stephanie’s production practice.
Projects &
milestones
SOUND MOUSSE — Founder, owner and curator of the independent live-music platform, launching publicly in late September with carefully filmed performances from the Baltics and a growing international programme.
The Lodge — Co-curator and key partner at the private underground studio and music community in Riga, launched in 2024 and owned and led by Valentins Mitrofanovs. Its programme includes concerts, recordings and Intense Fest 2025, the one-day metal festival Stephanie helped organise as part of the core team.
PAIR Production — Founder of the professional video-production company working across commercials, branded content and music videos from creative development through production and delivery.
Moving image — Music-video director and producer working across performance, art film and commercial production, with a practice shaped by music, atmosphere and a practical understanding of the full set.
Photography and visual art — Award-winning photographer, including an Honourable Mention in the Fiverr Work Life Photographer of the Year 2023. Work has been exhibited at STIHIA Film Festival, MASA and CON–NON–CON, and featured or published by Vogue Scandinavia, Vogue Italia PhotoVogue, MTV, Cherrydeck and Classic Rock.
BA Film, Middlesex University London.