Arts & Sciences Adds Award-Winning Director Ali Ali for UK Representation

International production company Arts & Sciences welcomes the notorious Ali Ali to its UK directors roster. Ali’s work is not just funny, but culturally aware, simultaneously striking a balance between attentiveness to local realities while maintaining a global sense for storytelling. 

Born in Cairo and raised all over the world, Ali studied computer engineering at the American University in Cairo before deciding he preferred storyboards to motherboards. He abruptly abandoned programming to study art direction at the Miami Ad School. From his role as Junior Art Director with D’Arcy Bucharest to Art Director with Leagas Delaney, to creative director at JWT, and Leo Burnett to executive creative director at DDB Berlin, Ali has built an impressive international career in advertising. He co-founded Elephant, Cairo with his lifetime creative partner and friend, Maged Nassar. Their humble two-man shop quickly became the region’s most awarded agency, picking up five Dubai Lynx Grand Prix, and a Gold Lion in under two years. A year after its inception, Elephant was named by the Cannes Lions Independent Showcase as one of the three most exciting new agencies in the world.

Ali’s directorial debut, Never Say No To Panda, won him a Cannes Gold Lion, and with over 100 million YouTube views, was named by The Guardian as “one of the most-watched viral campaigns of all time.” He has worked for top brands including Amazon, Google, Coca-Cola, Tesla, and Budweiser in collaboration with the best advertising agencies in the world. Among numerous other awards, he garnered the D&AD Yellow Pencil for Best Direction on Du Telecom, and just recently a Gold Lions at Cannes and The One Show for his Diesel “Be a Follower” spots. Ali has been named by The Gunn Report as one of the Top Ten Most Awarded Film Directors in the World and made Adweek’s Top 10 Most Exciting Directors in the World in 2020. He recently served as Jury President for Direction at the 2021 D&AD Awards.

MD/EP/Partner of A&S UK, James Bland, says: “I’ve been a fan of Ali since his Panda films and got to know him personally when we met through D&AD. His creative instincts are razor sharp and he just gets it. Work like Diesel, Du Telecom and Rolling Stone absolutely inspire me. Ali is one of the most professional directors and excellent human beings working today. We’re looking forward to making some outstanding work with him. 

Says Ali: “I judged with James a few years back at the D&AD, and we hit it off immediately. We met later in Dubai, while James was jury president at Dubai Lynx and discussed the idea of working together. After Sonny London closed shop, joining James on his new venture Arts and Sciences was a no brainer.”

Ali is represented by Little Minx in the US, Caviar in France, Markenfilm in Germany and Austria, and his own production house, Good People, in the Middle East. He was previously repped by Sonny London in the UK. 

Arts & Sciences was started a decade ago as a boutique production company that specializes in producing award-winning advertising content, music videos, fine art projects, original documentaries, and feature films. Located in Los Angeles, NYC, and London, Arts & Sciences represents a diverse group of top directors and creators and has been named a Creativity A-List Production Company five times. Every major advertising award show has recognized its work, including Cannes Lions, Clio, AICP, D&AD, The One Show, and the Andys. Their original content work has been featured in the New Frontiers showcase at the Sundance Film Festival, The New Yorker, Nowness, and Purple Magazine. Arts & Sciences has produced work for every major global brand, such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Nike, AT&T, Samsung, Volkswagen, Ford, Toyota, American Express, MLB, the NFL, and more.