FILMMAKER. JOURNALIST. COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIST.
The best story in your organisation isn’t always the one in the brief
Welcome, I’m Emily! I work with communications, marketing and impact teams to get clear on what a film needs to do, find the people and moments worth following, then produce and direct it.
Come to me with the research, the change, the campaign, the people you think we should interview, or simply: “We should make a film about this.”
You don’t need to know what the film is yet.
I START WITH THE STORY
People are busy… and pretty sceptical
They don’t care about information just because it matters to your organisation.
They care about people.
So, a brief might say:
“We need a film about our three-year transformation.”
The way I approach it is, I want to know what things were like three years ago?
Who wanted them to change?
What got difficult?
Who changed their mind?
What’s actually different now?
That’s the work I do before deciding what the film should be.
Sometimes it confirms the original idea.
Sometimes we find a much better one.
I’m also looking for the person I believe.
Not necessarily the CEO.
Not necessarily the person everyone says is “great on camera”.
I want the person who was there. Who remembers what happened. Who can take me back to a particular moment instead of repeating the company line.
They don’t need to perform.
They need to have something to tell us.
And I want something to film.
A relationship. A place. Something unfolding now. Old footage. A photograph. Something sitting on somebody’s phone.
I don’t want to shoot generic office footage just so there’s something to put over an interview.
The pictures should be telling us something too.
What I do
Story + communications development
I get clear on the audience, what the organisation needs the film to achieve and what actually happened.
Then I research, speak with potential contributors and recommend the strongest way to tell it.
Producing + directing
I can take the project from that first conversation through interviews, filming and edit, building the crew around what the film needs.
Interviews + editorial direction
Already have an internal team, agency or crew?
I can come in for contributor work, interviews, directing, story structure or the edit.
DOCUMENTARY FILMS FOR ORGANISATIONS
Some of my best organisational work can’t be shown here. A lot of films are made for employees, leaders or internal events rather than the public. But take a look at these:
AMINATA TOURÉ
Obama Foundation · Germany
A short portrait of Aminata Touré ahead of President Obama’s Berlin Town Hall, exploring the experiences that led one of Germany’s youngest politicians into public life.
Director · Producer · Shooter · Editor
DR LAVINIA CODD
Queensland Brain Institute
Lavinia survived a stroke at 31. She later became a researcher studying the brain at the Queensland Brain Institute. A deeply personal story sitting right inside the science.
Director · Producer · Shooter · Editor
SCHOLARSHIP PROFILES
University of Queensland
A series about the people behind university scholarships and what those opportunities made possible in their lives and work.
Director · Producer · Shooter · Editor
WE ARE THE TRILLIONAIRES WE NEED
Future Super · Climate Action Week
What would you do for the climate if you has $100, a million or a billion dollars? The film follows that question all the way to the trillions held in super.
Director · Co-Producer · Shooter · Editor
I learnt to find stories as a journalist
Before working with organisations, I spent years reporting and making documentaries in Australia and overseas.
That’s where I learnt to interview, notice what’s happening around the obvious story, work with real people and keep digging when the first answer isn’t the interesting one.
I’m a Walkley Award-winning journalist and filmmaker, with work across SBS VICELAND, HuffPost, BuzzFeed and independent documentary.
That experience is now the foundation of how I make films for organisations.
Got something important to communicate?
It might be research people need to understand.
A change happening inside your organisation.
A campaign or event.
A story of impact.
Or something you know is worth telling, even if you don’t know what the film is yet.
Bring me that.
We can work out the film from there.
SELECTED CLIENTS & PLATFORMS
SBS VICELAND · BuzzFeed News · HuffPost · Obama Foundation · Network 10 · Future Group · University of Queensland