Diana Ellis-Hill on Her Documentary Work and Creating Be the Fox
Diana started her career making documentaries at the BBC, after a childhood and early adulthood of being torn between the arts and sciences. Although she chose the more sure pathway of science, her love for photography and film led her to quickly switch lanes and enter the BBC as a runner during her final year of university. There, her career took off and she embarked on the journey of documentary making. During that time she made the BAFTA award-winning ‘Horizon’ and the RTS award-winning ‘Wonders of the Universe’.
After amassing 12 years of experience at the national broadcaster, Diana started toying with the idea of moving out of the BBC for a freelance career. However, her ambitions were cut short by a better opportunity - her colleague, Megan Price, had an idea that she couldn’t miss out on. Together, they made the leap into the world of brand content and set up the female-founded creative content agency, Be The Fox.
Today, Diana combines her deep editorial and storytelling experience with high-end production values, to make authentic, memorable brand films. She aims to build on compelling narratives and drive maximum audience engagement for clients including Samsung, Ford, British Airways, and Glenfiddich.
And although Be The Fox is set to reach a major milestone in 2023 - turning ten years old - the company’s values and its passion for storytelling have only gotten stronger, with Diana and Meg working like a well-oiled machine alongside their team of creatives.
LBB’s Zoe Antonov spoke to Diana about her TV background, the roots of Be The Fox and what’s most exciting on the horizon for the company.
LBB> What were your career inclinations when you were growing up? You pursued biology for your Bachelor's, so how did the shift to creativity/journalism happen?
Diana> Growing up, I always loved both arts and sciences, but the academic system isn't set up to continue to study both, so I chose the 'safe career' route of science on advice of my teachers!
While I was studying for my Bachelor’s I took a course in documentary photography and would spend whole nights in the darkroom developing my films. For the third year of my degree, I took a year in industry and worked in the Nature Conservation department of the National Trust. I was lucky enough to travel the country interviewing their conservationists about the work they were doing and I fell in love with science journalism. I looked at ways of continuing this career and applied for a Master’s Degree in Science Communication at Imperial [University].
While I was there, I learned documentary making and the arts and sciences came together perfectly. I knew it was what I wanted to do for my career. I was fortunate enough to land a four-week long work experience at the BBC's Specialist Factual Science department working on a series called ‘Dangerous Passions' about human emotion and crime. I was hooked. I worked really hard to stay at the BBC after the four weeks and was offered a runner position. I was able to complete my Master’s remotely by writing my dissertation while I was working.
LBB> Tell us more about your time at the BBC and what it taught you. How does your journalism career help your creativity today?
Diana> As a junior, I was able to learn from the best documentary makers in the world. I saw how they kept an audience interested for a whole hour. I learned how creativity was paramount in making an intangible concept visually interesting - dark matter, black holes, whatever is under the surface of Saturn's moons! Whilst also being scientifically accurate through meticulous fact checking and reaching out to the most eminent experts in the world. I learned to interrogate both sides of a story - your audience will! I also learned not to be afraid to explore, to speak to people, to trust my instincts for a story and be brave enough to pivot if there is a more interesting one evolving.
It also taught me what it's like to film in every corner of the world with small and incredibly agile crews - something I’ve taken with me throughout my career. The understanding of how to make the best content with the audience in front of mind.
LBB> In 2013 you founded Be The Fox. What is the story behind that moment?
Diana> While I was directing ‘Horizon’ at the BBC, I met Meg Price, who was also in the department. She had been working across lots of different departments from comedy to factual entertainment and documentaries, and was also freelancing in commercials. I had been thinking about leaving the BBC to go freelance and Meg suggested we team up to create a company that offered documentaries to brands. She had a very insightful premonition that brands would become commissioners to filmmakers more and more over the coming years - and she was right! We started the agency and landed our first job with agency Cheil Worldwide for Samsung on day one! I never did go freelance in the end.
We’re still in touch with the guys at Cheil and lots of our work is based on our brilliant relationships with agencies and the reputation we’ve worked hard for - not only do we produce beautiful work but we’re efficient, knowledgeable and reliable. Our senior team all have years of top agency experience, from account management to running new business, so we really do understand the pressures agencies are up against.
LBB> Tell us more about Megan's involvement in the beginning of Be The Fox. How did you two work together to make it happen and how did her expertise contribute?
Diana> Meg had great experience and vision. She foresaw a change in the market where brands would invest in strong, watchable content and our skill sets had a unique offering for the market. We’ve always worked really well together but have very defined focus areas within the business - I run the commercial and client side, whilst Meg is all over the ops and process. Having said that, we’re both super involved in all the creative projects we have going on too. It’s sometimes hard to let go of the creative process and step back into more of a ‘managerial’ role - which is what I think a lot of founders experience.
LBB> What kind of company pillars did you put in place for Be The Fox and how have they changed through the years? Or, alternatively, how have you managed to help them withstand the test of time?
Diana> We’re ten years old next year - it has flown by - and I’d like to think we have the same fundamental values as when we started out.
Exquisite work will always be our driver. And while we are growing and moving towards a more integrated offering with in-house strategists and creative teams, film will always be at the heart of BTF. Content is what makes brands shine. We care about the team. Be that the full timers at BTF or the specialised freelancers we lean on for certain projects or the agency partners we plug into as part of a wider crew and the clients whose brands we are representing.
Diversity, equality and inclusion have been front and centre of BTF from the very start - with a 50:50 split across the directors we work with, we try really hard to have a gender balanced crew on our productions. We’re female founded and led, LGBTQ+ allied and also proudly independent and not in the London bubble (hello from Brighton!). Meg and I have always strived to cultivate a progressive culture. That will never stop.
LBB> What is the most exciting project of your career to date? One that you still find yourself going back to because of the scope and lessons you learned through it?
Diana> The biggest scope was an AFP project called ‘The Ones to Watch’, from Samsung/Sky. We were asked by Cheil to work with its creative team to launch a TV series for Samsung that they had an initial concept for. In the space of just 30 days we had developed a TV format, brought in the Fresh One TV production company to produce the TV element and secured a commission on Sky One in a prime time Sunday night slot. We also secured incredible talent - Idris Elba, Paloma Faith, Rankin and Gizzy Erskine and the engagement was immense - over 2.5 million people watched the videos online and nearly four million liked and shared on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. We realised our strength was in bringing the right people together and we continue to build on our partnerships network as we move into different sectors.
LBB> Going from documentary making, to branded work is quite the leap. What made you do it and what were the growing pains you felt most acutely?
Diana> The biggest learning curve which I had to understand quickly was that the two industries are back to front. In documentary TV, usually the ideas are yours, and if a broadcaster has commissioned you to make it, they trust that you will make the decisions on what content will be in the film and how you will go about filming it. Of course, you have to keep the commissioners in the loop, but often some of the big decisions are made along the way. This means the film may not turn out as everyone first thought but it gives the opportunity to twist and turn for the better.
In branded work, almost all of the decisions are made and signed off right at the front. We had never heard of a pre-production meeting; we wouldn't have dreamed of making grade reference decisions before we went filming and had never ever storyboarded. We had to learn fast. Although, we have consciously kept certain elements of TV production as it is more flexible and definitely more cost effective.
LBB> In your experience, what is the biggest personality difference between a commercial director and a documentary director?
Diana> I’m making sweeping generalisations here, but commercial directors tend to come to the job through film school, music videos or through narrative drama. Whereas documentary directors - just like documentary producers - come from a variety of backgrounds. At the BBC this tended to be through a variety of academic disciplines, or through journalism.
I find that documentary directors have a vision very early on in the process and execute it with precision. Documentary directors often weave multiple threads together, storytelling through the creative. There also tends to be a smaller crew to allow for agility to capture that once of a lifetime shot! Even though documentary directors have longer to work out a plan, the sense of control is far less on set.
On the other hand, commercial directors work with large crews and HoDs. They have to make decisions quickly in a short period of time - particularly on a shoot - and have a huge responsibility for the outcome of the shoot. For commercial directors, it’s all about visual creativity and performance intuition.
Needless to say, both are deep thinkers!
LBB> Where do you find inspiration and what is your biggest day-to-day creative challenge?
Diana> There is a huge amount of content out in the world today. It is a constant challenge to stand out and be different to the rest. Like most creative people, I find inspiration from the people and the environments I'm in. Things I've seen, read and experienced. However, I think the truly creative bit is how you process that into something new and meaningful and inspiring. Now my biggest challenge is finding more interesting people who are clever and creative like those already at Be The Fox to come and join us!
