Growing up in the former West Berlin, Matthias Hoene's ambition was to be a helicopter. In the absence of a propeller, he settled for lobbing Molotov cocktails over the Berlin Wall. At least that's what the 25-year-old director would have you believe - his wry delivery makes it difficult to determine if he's telling the truth or taking the piss.

This playful nature is part and parcel with Hoene - currently signed to Partizan Midi Minuit, London. He says his favorite filmmaking genre is anything cheeky that undermines cliches. In less than two years, this approach has earned the newcomer top honors: namely, a Gold Lion at Cannes last year for a Club 18-30 spot.

The word 'cheeky' comes up often in conversation with the First Boards Awards-winning director, and is an appropriate description for each of his recent projects. For instance, he calls the explosive, gritty power-to-vote spot for the UK's Central Office of Information (COI) from London's St. Luke's "adrenaline cheeky". His recent video for Tom McRae: "rhythmic cheeky". A tricked-out post-apocalyptic veggie-love promo for DJ act Two Heads: "radioactive cheeky". And his doggie copulation spot "Doggie Style" for Club 18-30 from Saatchi & Saatchi, London: well, that's just plain cheeky.

"I try to do work that people will like rather than get annoyed by," says Hoene. "It's all rather naughty, or subversive."

Hoene's success in making the COI's "Unstoppable" spot interesting and compelling - dealing with the dry subject of prompting young adults to vote - is a perfect example. "We wanted something hard-hitting that looked like a revolutionary underground piece of filmmaking. We kept the look like propaganda-land, where ideologies and the power of your voice rule."

Then there's the much talked about "Doggie Style", which stars a horny pup who emulates the actions of a randy couple vacationing at the resort. Inspired, he searches the Mediterranean locale for pooch partners, showing his proficiency in many different positions.

"The goal was to make it stunningly beautiful while corrupting it. I was the only director who recommended using dogs rather than animatronics," he says. He did, however, have to prepare the dog handlers for the lewd requests he made of his canine cast - adding, tongue-in-cheek, that his close director-dog relationship ensured they performed well on cue.

Hoene recently completed a beautiful, rhythmic scene-changing video for McRae's "A Day Like Today". With each beat, elements of the background - captured with a motion control rig - change: items are moved and reconfigured, and candles burn up and down while McRae sings. "Because the song has nice rhythmic patterns and a strong sound signature, I wanted a video that picked up every beat and reflected it visually," he says.

Despite his often playful parlance, Hoene is focused. "I give controversial subjects humanity so people can relate to them," he says. "It's interesting to tread the line where things could go wrong, but you make them right."

Visually, he doesn't adhere to one specific look. He's influenced by the do-it-yourself aesthetic that surfaced with the emergence of mass-market software. "I'm one of the first bunch of people who grew up with desktop video. I was able to do it all at home on a Mac."

He was also an avid experimenter while a student at Central St. Martin's college in London, where he studied graphic design and eventually got a taste for film. "I take the DIY attitude into a bigger scale in my work. I create looks that are different."

Since launching his directorial career less than two years ago, Hoene has enjoyed a rapid rise to success. But he's determined not to let breakthrough events like his Gold Lion cause him to stray from quality projects.

"I'm not interested in quick success," he says. "I try to stay unaffected by all that."

Staying unaffected means keeping busy. Between commercial jobs, which he's currently pitching, Hoene works on mini docs and is also helming a feature-length documentary with Partizan. He's also continually writing short films and scripts because he feels the leap to features is inevitable. "We all have to make a fool out of ourselves one day, don't we?"

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