Dan Gifford

Dan was born and raised in the wilds of Norfolk, where he received a classic English education.
By the age of eighteen, however, he had tired of the daily beatings and decided to go off and see the world. He ended up living in Brazil, where he spent a happy year teaching English and learning Portuguese. Returning to England, Dan studied languages and literature at Oxford, graduating with a Masters Degree in German and Italian.
His first job was as assistant to the British Ambassador to Italy in Rome, but he found he was violently allergic to bureaucracy and was forced to return to London after a few months to convalesce.
He needed a job and decided Film was the answer. After a spell as a runner he made his first short, a period horror film made alongside long-term collaborator Zak Emerson, which was called “Suspended”. It won first prize at the Stella Artois film awards in 2000.
Dan has built upon his experience since then, applying his trademark wit and sensitivity to over 100 commercials for clients as diverse as Nikon, Adidas, Toyota, Playstation, the BBC, Nike, M&S, Heineken, The Telegraph, Reebok, Maltesers, Expedia, Unicef, Ladbrokes and Virgin, to name but a few.
His work has picked up many awards including 2 World Gold Promax Awards (BBC Strictly Dance Fever, The Apprentice), the London Independent Gold Award for best global campaign (Ladbrokes) and Gold at the One Show USA (also Ladbrokes). In 2012 he collected two Silver Sharks at Kinsale (Heineken and Digicel) and the Grand Prix for Best Film at the Eurobest Awards (Heineken) which also won a silver Lion at Cannes.
Over the last year, Dan has shot major campaigns for Range Rover, Jeep USA, CNN, Google, McLaren, Toyota and most recently Ford, starring Gerard Butler.
In addition to his native English, Dan is fluent in Brazilian Portuguese.