The Directors: Luiza De Moraes
Luiza De Moraes tells riveting stories through the art of documentaries and commercials.
Adventurer first. Director second. She’s just as comfortable running a big crew as she is holding her breath for over five minutes while free-diving in the ocean.
Inspired by her adventures in far off lands such as Papua New Guinea, Luiza made a progression into the world of filmmaking by directing documentaries. In 2016, she produced, directed and filmed her first TV series - a ten month, 35,000 mile odyssey from Alaska to Patagonia as she searched for waves, adventure, and culture.
Since then, Luiza has split her time between directing documentaries and commercials. She has directed films for major brands such as Degree, AXE, Dove, Johnson & Johnson, Santander, iFood, Discovery Channel, Red Bull, Billabong, Discovery+ and others.
Name: Luiza De Moraes
Location: Los Angeles, California
Repped by/in: Fresh Film and O2 Films
Awards: Two Silver Cannes Lions and One Cannes Bronze Lion
LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?
Luiza> Scripts are tricky and there are so many ways I can possibly answer this question. Some scripts are simple - yet they have a limitless visual potential. In the simplicity you can find unexpected and clever ways to showcase something through symbolism, gestures, camera movements, easter eggs and so much more.
Other scripts are more complex, and boy do I love a challenge.
Any script that lands on my lap and I find myself waking up in the middle of the night with a vision as to how I can possibly solve a problem, or propose something unique, is a script that really gets my heart pumping. And lastly, some of my favourite scripts are the more organic and authentic non-scripted scripts.
Some may hate this, but I love it when the agency and client need certain markers and phrases to be hit but want it to feel original to the personality delivering the message and give me the freedom to extract that through my documentary director vein.
LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?
Luiza> Treatments for me are always an immersion, and I honestly take them too seriously. I majored in literature so everything to me is storytelling and I believe my treatment has to be exactly that. A story that has a beginning middle and end taking its viewers on a journey both visual and literary. No matter what the product or spot is about - I always try to find a personal connection to the theme.
I then immerse myself in an intense process of looking through hundreds of references and always trying to find things that are completely out of the box so it’s not just work that has already been made being recycled - but proposing new takes and POVs on how to create an ad. I pull from movie references, music videos, different era’s genres.
I also love giving more than necessary because in a way a treatment is a creative vomit (sorry for the crude word). But a lot of times if a treatment gets the creatives in the agencies seeing new ways to do the spot or sets a lightbulb off - a connection is made.
LBB> If the script is for a brand that you're not familiar with/don’t have a big affinity with or a market you're new to, how important is it for you to do research and understand that strategic and contextual side of the ad? If it’s important to you, how do you do it?
Luiza> I think my biggest super powers are that I am a huge nerd and feel extreme curiosity. This ties directly to my start as a director in the documentary world where you have to craft a story, find characters, and know enough information to interview people and get something no-one has ever said or heard from that person before. I approach scripts for brands that are new to me just like I would a documentary - intense research.
I go so far back that sometimes I even surprise the clients with information about the brand that they themselves didn’t even know.
I find connections in brand names, etymology, chronological timeline of commercials, what other competing brands have done. I am completely incapable of speaking with propriety about things I don’t know about, so I will always make sure I have the most amount of information possible. I love learning, I love research, so this never poses as a problem but rather an invitation to learn more.
LBB> What type of work are you most passionate about - is there a particular genre or subject matter or style you are most drawn to?
Luiza> Humans are what I am most interested in - so that about covers everything. Also - sports. As an athlete myself who grew up surfing, skateboarding, motorcycle racing along with other extreme activities and adventures - I have a huge affinity for athletes and explorers, their journey and all the content that is created around them.
For as long as it has been registered humans have had a fascination with humans pushing their bodies to the limit. Olympics will bring nations together over conflict. There is a power and beauty behind every athlete that is admirable and insane, and I love working in that field.
I will also admit that I am insanely in love with making documentaries. They are painful, long, exhausting and it’s not worth to mention the pay because that is not the reason to do them. Yet, they are extremely rewarding and always make me feel as if I am of service to the subject and society by posing as just a vessel through which a message is conveyed.
LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?
Luiza> That my work is simple and documental. Because I have the documentary background I get mostly spots that focus on feeling humane and real. That combined with my documentary films - I get my work aesthetically classified as “docu style”. And that couldn’t be far from the truth. I am a true cinephile and try to bring inspiration from that into all of my work.
An example would be in the true crime series I directed for Discovery+ called “Abdelmassih: From Miracle to Crime” that focused on telling the story of the victims that were abused by a famous fertility doctor. In Hitchcock’s Vertigo he used colours to differentiate between Madeleine and Judy - two identities of one single character.
I brought that into the documentary by assigning a colour to each victim integrating that into their interview art direction. When I did re-enactments of their abuse, the same colour was used in scene to separate each victim and give them individuality.
LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?
Luiza> This question makes me giggle because the kind of problems one encounters filming sports and nature are surreal. The last experience that comes to mind was shooting a perfume commercial for a brand in Brazil. The idea for the film was to create a link between the name of the perfume - O2, and the oxygen that comes from the ocean. The visual idea was all surrounding shooting people in the ocean doing different activities and taking deep breaths after they broke the surface.
The problem was that the budget really only allowed us to shoot in the real ocean - one of the most unpredictable places in the world during off season for good weather. We set the window for a two day shoot in a place that has the clearest water possible - which also meant a very cold water temperature.
The first day we went out on the boats (oh boy that’s a whole logistical nightmare of it’s own), a huge wind storm had hit and it was howling. The water was like a murky brown lagoon. The boats were rocking so much, most agency and talent were getting sea sick.
As a diver I was in the water with the sub aquatic cinematographer trying to make it work, but the currents were dangerous to the point of him almost coming up underneath a boat. We ended the first day of shooting with zero shots from the storyboards. I went to sleep exhausted and knowing that the next day would be our only day to try and catch up on something impossible.
The next day I woke up extra early and went out on the jet ski. Conditions were way better - not perfect - but there was clear water. We were able to anchor in a place and the madness started - shooting two days in one. We were actually getting it done even though there were still talent getting sea sick, equipment issues and just the logistical nightmare of shooting in the ocean.
The last trial was that our main talent became hypothermic and the medic said she could no longer go in the water. The last shot was a hero shot of a man and woman against a sunset coming up for air. I put on a bathing suit and dove in and acted in the last shot to guarantee delivering the whole storyboard. We all ended the day like we had won the World Cup with tears streaming from our eyes - for a perfume commercial.
LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?
Luiza> This is the Bermuda Triangle of making advertising films.
The agency has an idea, the client has their ideas on top of it, and then we come in with all our ideas to triple layer the cake. Which ideas get to live and which ones must disappear and die? My approach is always to be as light as possible and try to find solutions instead of focusing on frustration the problem. How can I deliver what everyone wants? How can I deliver that, but still bring in my POV? What can I let go of and live without?
I always try to take the process as a fun creative exchange with the fact that the client and the agency are the original idea creators. I am a facilitator. And if there is always something that I feel will work but has been shot down, I try to find a sneaky way to do it on set without it hindering the schedule and surprising/over delivering.
LBB> What are your thoughts on opening up the production world to a more diverse pool of talent? Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?
Luiza> I wish I had a mentor. Everyone needs a mentor and there should always be more room and acceptance of that. The feeling of being on set and dying of intimidation and fear of doing something wrong, or not knowing exactly how something works is mortifying. It hinders growth and creativity.
Having mentorships cuts that out and helps people cross over a bridge and get to what matters - creating. I have mentored before and absolutely love the process. And the most gratifying experience is seeing those you mentored flourish spreading their own wings and flying away.
LBB> Your work is now presented in so many different formats - to what extent do you keep each in mind while you're working (and, equally, to what degree is it possible to do so)?
Luiza> This is something that can’t be fought against. Just like we always have to keep up with technology evolving, we also have to keep up with how media is being consumed. I take each project for what it is, try to maintain its authenticity while always taking into account where it is going to be displayed and what is the final goal with what is being filmed.
LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work?
Luiza> Like Bob Dylan once said, “If your time to you is worth savin’ and you better start swimmin’ or you'll sink like a stone.” The only way forward in my opinion is to embrace all of the new and scary advances that are being made that completely encroach on our jobs and creative space. I try to look at it like a documentary. I want to learn all about it. That way, with knowledge, I can use what serves me and leave aside what doesn’t.
One example I can give is that through such tools as Midjourney I’ve been able to showcase ideas in my head by creating imagery to put in a treatment. Where before it used to frustrate me that I could only pull from already existing things (which in my opinion creates a cycle of recycling material and kill originality), I now can show and express an idea by creating it through AI.
LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why?
Luiza> The latest film that I did for Degree with basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo I think beautifully mixes both my documentary style with the advertising world as well as showing my work ethic. The deliverables did not include a :60 film. After crafting the :15 and the :30 I knew there was an longer unscripted version of the film that existed and was given the freedom by the agency to make a cut. When both agency and client saw, they asked me to take out the deodorant application scene. The message was clearly there - there was no product placement needed.
This AXE film was such a fun shoot. I think it once again shows how much documentary background comes in handy for effective advertising. This film was not rigged at all. We truly did a smell test and had no idea what the outcome. Through planning of how to orchestrate the experience, how to shoot it and what questions I would ask and in what order we were able to craft this fun, and truthful piece which was a huge win for AXE.
This is the perfume commercial I spoke of earlier. The fact that we had impossible difficulties, filmed out of a boat in the real ocean and this actually came out exactly how it was storyboarded is a huge feat. I also love how in this film I worked with the DP to used a split field diopter on one of the cameras - something that no one on the team had every done before. It created a texture and shifted the focus in the film creating a more visceral experience.
I had to include a documentary trailer in here. I absolutely love this film. We were a rag tag group of five in the crew shooting for over a month with no lighting equipment. I always get complimented on how cinematographic this documentary looks and feels and no-one believes me when I say we had no lighting equipment. A true passion project.
