The world has come a long way in shedding its prissiness about women’s bodies. One of the changemakers is director, Fiona Jane Burgess. In December last year, she directed an honest, exuberant and, at the time, very daring film for Tommee Tippee, The Boob Life.
If that was not enough to highlight her enormous directing talent, Burgess has also directed commercials for famous brands such as Gucci, Burberry, Nowness, Nike, adidas, and Jo Malone. her first every commercial, made with Mother London, was named Campaign’s Pick of the Week.
The Silver Screen winner at the Young Director Award in Cannes in 2019 has now joined Halal. Burgess is based in the UK and specialises in music videos, commercials, documentaries and fashion films.
She owes much of her career success, she says, to having to face a number of challenges. Burgess found herself obliged to rethink her career path aged 28, a time when she was also facing the realities of motherhood and the breakup of her band, Woman’s Hour. She had been shooting her own music videos and began exploring this as a new career. Her combination of craft and originality was noticed, and she began working immediately.
Since attracting attention at YDA, with her film Pumping. Unplugged for Elvie with Mother London (her first-ever commercial), she has picked up three nominations at this year’s Aesthetica Short Film Festival in November, won the Commercials and Branded content award for The Boob Life at Berlin Commercial, and had a further four films and seven nominations at that event. The Boob Life also won Branded Content of the Year + The Chair’s Award at the Drum Magazine awards. A collection of her work is currently exhibiting at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Burgess is particularly attracted to projects that empower women and provoke debate, especially for working mothers, and she is an advocate for greater mental health awareness.
“Everyone here at HALAL is psyched that Fiona is joining us. We love her work, her style, her commitment to empowering women and her selfless work for people with psychiatric issues, but most of all we love her humanity and her generosity of spirit, her powerful story-telling and her originality,” stated Gijs Determeijer, partner and executive producer, Halal.
“Because of her background in music, Fiona is the best when it comes to films with music and movement, but she is also great at comedy, timing & dialogue. Last but not least, she has amazing taste and fashion sense. Can’t wait to show you the campaign we just shot together in Berlin. Our industry needs more directors like Fiona – and our world needs more humans like her too.”
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