Spotlight on Female Directors: Ali Cameron
As part of a regular series with Free The Bid Australia, Campaign Brief shines the spotlight on top female commercials directors in Australia and New Zealand…
Ali Cameron is a director at Taxi Film Production.
Three best spots:
1. CUA
Ali is a hands on director with a love for telling real stories about real people. Her background in photographic art and journalism tints her work with an aesthetic that is simultaneously nostalgic, genuine, creative and experimental.
Having lived on four continents, Ali is enamoured with capturing the stories people have to tell. She cut her filmmaking teeth in the fast-paced world of the São Paulo film industry whilst also working as a freelance photojournalist for the city’s largest newspaper Folha de São Paulo, producing work for their magazine and daily journal. During her time there, she was exposed to unique and innovative ways to approach film production amidst the South American market.
Says Ali: “Starting my filmmaking career in Brazil whilst also learning Portuguese taught me that in visual storytelling, connections don’t depend on language and creative instinct is everything. In those early days, I learned the importance of weaving a very understandable human subtext into everything I make, because at the end of the day, the connections found in every story are derived from simple human values and emotions.”
Ali thrives in the space between control and the unpredictable and has an affinity for creating authentic environments that allow stories to emerge. The strength in her storytelling comes from a very wholehearted investment in each idea, cause, and client. With each brief she finds honest and unpredictable perspectives within the intervention of the commercial craft.
Says Ali: “There is so much power in the medium of creative advertising, and I feel a real sense of responsibility when taking on any project. In one way or another, we are creating a representation of society that infiltrates people’s daily lives. I want to make sure that we are telling stories that are inclusive, diverse and progressive. For me, the best stories are those that really make you feel something and that are true to the subject. I’m drawn to projects that are challenging, celebratory, optimistic and unafraid of being different. I feel like I’ve only just scratched the surface and am so excited for what lies ahead.”
From mosques in Istanbul to the Normandie coastline, Ali has worked on campaigns with Hyundai, CUA, Red Bull Brazil, Qld Ballet, Suncorp, Qld Government and Olympikus amongst others.
Since launching a year ago, Free The Bid has 200 Australian Women Directors on its searchable database. Free The Bid now has over 20 major agencies that use the database to find the right director for each of their projects and have committed to putting one female director in the mix for every job.
2 Comments
Go Guuuurrrll!
The future is bright. well done