Nice and Polite Directors

Did you know that Paul Banks used to be in Shed Seven!? Well you do now… since the heady days of being a chart-topping superstar he has turned his creative light-sabre towards being behind the camera instead of in front of it – with impressive consequences. Having worked with global superstars The Script on their latest album campaign, and shot commercials for Sony Headphones – we have high hopes. 

Barry Gene Murphy is an award winning film maker – and multi talented individual. Having mastered the world of 3D, animation, design, editing and filmmaking single-handedly whilst being held hostage in an Irish monestry for the first 23 years of his life, he then made the trip to London at which point we snapped him up.

Taking a more left-field, experimental approach, Barry wants to make creative videos and is not afraid of a challenge. 

For over 10 years , Alex Grazioli has created video concepts for high profile clients including Sony Music, MTV, Diesel, Vodafone, Dodge, and Renault.

In 2003, he founded Filmmakers Entertainment with Martino Properzi, collaborating on the feature documentary “Odyssey In Rome”, starring Abel Ferrara, Juliette Binoche, Forest Whitaker and Matthew Modine. Other projects soon followed including James Morrison’s “One Life” Jamie Cullum’s “Remember When”, Robert Miles “Miniature World”, the award winning “Shine” by Louderbach on Ritchie Hawtin’s Minus Records” as well as the TV series “Bottom of the World”.

Alex is currently working on a five year feature documentary featuring and produced by Bristol music legends, Massive Attack. 

Forging his early career at the BBC – director Michael Holyk was responsible for the growth and success of their online content – since Radio 1 & 1Xtra, Michael has built relationships with many emerging and successful artists – including Sam Smith and Jake Bugg – meaning he has been able to get a real insight in to how they work and who they are. This strength, to be able to get to the heart of what the artist and music needs, is Michael’s super power – and means he can transfer this skill to any form of content. 

Chris Hugall is a London-based film-maker. In his teens, he toured Europe and hitchhiked across the US drumming in punk bands, then studied fine art at St Martins and worked in art departments on film and TV before picking up a camera and turning it on. The DIY punk ethos has influenced his hands on approach today; he is as excited by picking up old Hi8 or Super 8mm cameras as he is by directing crews on larger productions. 

Jake Jelicich creates work through a lens of melancholy, humour and stylistic flair. His ideas, direction and cinematography manage to bottle current zeitgeist. Jake focuses on a surreal and stylised treatment of work, but maintains an emotional and engaging core. With a varied portfolio including commercial, music video, short film and even live concert, Jake has the ability to be dynamic while maintaining his own aesthetic. 

Introducing new member of the Nice&Polite family, director Jade Mortimer — Jade is a director with a distinctive visual style and flair for art direction, whose background in photography informs an aesthetic lead by bold ideas. She creates worlds that combine the surreal with a sense of playful and often humorous imagery, bound together with a strong narrative. 

Ivan has a passion for narrative driven stylized imagery – his experience is drawn from travelling the world in pursuit of the story, and his handling and management of the subject matter is second to none. 

Introducing new member of the Nice&Polite family, director Dominic O’Riordan. 

Sophia Ray is a fountain of ideas which are can be realised in a multitude of formats – utilising her background in graphic design and illustration, she is highly skilled in film-making, graphics and animation – the idea is always king and her keen eye for quality combined with an energy and versatile ingenuity – Sophia is a positive force and integral part of any project.