The Work That Made Me: Martina Magorin
Martina Magorin is a Stockholm-born, LA-based director. As the daughter of a former critic, she grew up with film all around.
She spent the first chapter of her career as an advertising creative, making content for global brands. Since transitioning to directing, she has shot commercials for notable companies such as H&M, Amazon, and Meta.
Martina’s short film, ‘Oh Boys,’ which explores the social codes of masculinity, recently premiered on Nowness. She also directed two short documentary projects: 'Preach', an eight-episode miniseries about faith and anxiety, and 'Night All Day', an exploration of life above the Arctic Circle when the sun doesn’t shine. Martina is represented by Golden LA.
LBB> The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Martina> I’m a Swede, so we grew up with all of Roy Anderson's iconic commercials filling the airways. His deadpan humour cracked me up every time.
The one that stuck is his 'Felix Ketchup' spot. It's brilliantly simple and funny. An older couple is sitting at the dinner table. The man starts putting ketchup on his meatballs when he realises it's sugar-free. He grumbles to his wife, "Did you fall for this nonsense?" And she just replies, "You've been eating it for two weeks." That's the whole spot. No gimmicks, no nonsense—just pure, understated comedy.
LBB> The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Martina> For me, it was a movie—‘Let the Right One In’ by Thomas Alfredson. A love story between two tweens, a vampire and a bullied boy (way cooler than Twilight). Not only is it a stunning film, but it was shot at my local high school in the neighbourhood where I grew up. Hoyte van Hoytema captured my everyday surroundings in a way I had never seen before and, in a small way, helped me understand that stories could be made anywhere, even where I was from.
LBB> The creative work (film/album/game/ad/album/book/poem etc) that I keep revisiting…
Martina> I’m not a very nostalgic person—I’m a bit of a one-and-done type of gal. But I admit that I have seen ‘Poor Things’ three times in theatres. Yorgos Lanthimos' work is just that captivating to me.
LBB> My first professional project…
Martina> My first attempt at something doc-style was a short film I shot above the Arctic Circle in the dead of winter with no daylight. It was –5°F, and I hadn’t fully prepared for the extreme conditions. We had to pack the cameras with heat packs to prevent the batteries from draining too quickly and keep an eye on our small crew to make sure no one froze or lost a toe.
LBB> The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Martina> Like half of the stuff I consume. My dad was a critic, so having strong opinions comes, shall we say, naturally to me.
LBB> The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that still makes me jealous…
Martina> I alluded to this earlier, but when I watched ‘Poor Things,’ I was completely blown away. It brought me back to the movies I loved growing up—like ‘Amélie,’ ‘Delicatessen,’ ‘The Science of Sleep,’ and ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.’ The theatrical and magical elements made me go, ‘I really want to make a movie like that one day.’
LBB> The creative project that changed my career…
Martina> Not long after I was out of writing school, I represented Sweden in the Young Lions competition at the Cannes Advertising Festival. The opportunity led to my first job abroad as a Creative at AKQA and a foot in the door.
LBB> The work that I’m proudest of…
Martina> I made my first narrative short last year, ‘Oh Boys’, and it was a blast to have more control over not only how things look/feel/sound, but also the type of story I want to tell. I’ve always been drawn to satire, and this was me just getting my toes wet.
LBB> I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…
Martina> I’m highly critical of my own work, and when I watch it back, I mostly think, ‘I wish I had done this’ or ‘maybe I could tweak that.’ There is nothing worse than being in the room when other people look at your finished product—it makes me want to melt through the floor.
If I’m being nice to myself, I think this also pushes me to always be better, grow, and constantly iterate and be creative. But a screening with my friends—oof, brutal.
LBB> The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most
Martina> I just finished a commercial for Pearson that was highly dialogue-driven. It was super fun to figure out how to do comedic justice to a script filled with historical Theodore Roosevelt puns. It challenged me to dive into the archives and experiment with a new tone, a sort of ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ vibe that I thought the script was really begging for.
