Commercials / Narrative

Mara Okonkwo

Performance-led commercials and quiet, funny short films

Playing:

for Veldt

Portrait of Mara Okonkwo

Mara Okonkwo started out in casting, and it shows in every frame she directs. Her commercials are built around performance: long takes, real rooms, and actors given space to find the line rather than hit it. Brands come to her when they want people on screen who feel like people, and athletes and first-timers tend to give her their best work.

Her short Last Orders, a night-long walk home after a bartender's final shift, won the Grand Jury Prize at Harbourside Shorts, and Twelve Rounds, her film for Veldt, took Silver for Direction at The Vantage Awards. She is developing her first feature with Offscreen.

Based in

London

Directs

Commercials / Narrative

Films

2

Awards

2

Buy template

Notes from a river shoot

notes-from-a-river-shoot

Behind the scenes

Samir Haddad

What a week on a mountain riverbank for Dust and Daylight taught us about tents, weather, small crews and carrying less than you think you need.

Tags

The clapperboard is not a prop

the-clapperboard-is-not-a-prop

Craft

Theo Lindqvist

Why slates, scene and take discipline and proper sound sync still matter on a digital set, and how we run them on every Offscreen shoot.

Tags

Lighting a room with one lamp

lighting-a-room-with-one-lamp

Interviews

Yuna Sato

Yuna Sato and cinematographer Ama Boateng on lighting interiors with practicals for The Long Field and Signal, and why they rarely bring a light the audience cannot see.

Tags

The Long Field premieres at Northlight Film Festival

the-long-field-premieres-at-northlight

News

Hannah Reyes

Yuna Sato's short about a woman walking out across a winter snowfield has its world premiere this week as an Official Selection at Northlight Film Festival.

Tags

Grading Night Drive

grading-night-drive

Craft

Eun-ji Park

Colourist Eun-ji Park on building the look of Night Drive for Halden: two colours, one face, deep blacks and four nights of Manchester rain made to match.

Tags

Annelise Vogt joins the roster

annelise-vogt-joins-the-roster

News

Marcus Bell

The Berlin-based documentary director behind Low Water joins Offscreen for long-form, branded and commercial work, represented by both our London and Los Angeles offices.

Tags

Casting real people

casting-real-people

Craft

Mara Okonkwo

Mara Okonkwo on street casting non-actors for Twelve Rounds, from gym noticeboards and casting tapes to contracts, consent and the first day on set.

Tags

What a treatment is for

what-a-treatment-is-for

Craft

Hannah Reyes

A director's treatment is a promise about a film, not a description of it. Hannah Reyes on what a good one does, what it should never try to do, and how we read them.

Tags

A week in the edit of Feedback

a-week-in-the-edit

Behind the scenes

Daniel Okafor

Editor Daniel Okafor on one week of cutting Feedback, Kofi Mensah-Hart's tour film with The Lowlands, from 300 hours of rushes to a seventy-two minute film.

Tags

Create a free website with Framer, the website builder loved by startups, designers and agencies.