Nick Ball
Nick Ball’s path from film school dropout to top-flight director is as unconventional as his approach. As someone obsessed with the human condition/eavesdropping on other people, Nick, when he isn’t transcribing conversations he overhears at his daughter’s dance class, is directing Super Bowl commercials and award-winning worldwide campaigns and commercials for brands including Xbox, EA Sports, IKEA, QANTAS, TAB, Foxtel, GEICO, and Wrigley’s Extra Gum.
Nick’s passion for character development and storytelling, combined with his knack for blending empathy and irreverence have made him one of the most in-demand directors in the industry. Nick was awarded shots Director of the Year in 2022, and his work has achieved recognition across the industry and received awards from all major award shows, including at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, D&AD Awards, AICP, The OneShow, British Arrows, CLIO Awards, and CICLOPE. He has worked with talent across the spectrum including Chris Hemsworth, Glenn Close, Cate Blanchett, Mariah Carey, Tina Fey, and Christopher Walken, who once said to Nick, “Yes, I’ll read your film script, stop asking me.”
Nick Ball is not to be confused with the British featherweight boxer of the same name.
Press
Nick Ball Talks To ‘One Point Four’
Covering his latest project for Simi Wine
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry — for both a young 19th century winemaker, the star of Nick Ball’s The Untold Tale of Isabelle Simi, and for Ball himself.
See, the project first crossed Ball’s desk before the coronavirus pandemic. Simi Wines came to the acclaimed commercial director, and asked him to unfurl the narrative of Isabelle Simi, who inherited a giant Californian winery and overcame significant hardship to turn it into a bustling business.
But then, with pre-production already underway, disaster struck. The pandemic curtailed the plans, and Ball shelved the project, assuming it would never see the light of day.
It was only thanks to the passion of the Creative Director of Venables Bell, Gus Johnston, that The Untold Tale of Isabelle Simi could come to life. It was he who spearheaded the production through to its second incarnation – and gave Ball the space to craft a loving, intimate short film about Isabelle and her journey.
Indeed, the delay of the pandemic provided a unique opportunity for Ball, on that he says has translated into the work you see on the screen.
“This job was certainly special though as most of the heads of department traveled into Chile from Argentina or Europe … and that meant a forced 10 day quarantine at the hotel in Santiago,” Ball said in an interview with OnePointFour.
“It was a strange sort of quarantine in that we could all socialise with each other as we were all in the same ‘bubble’ which meant we could prep the job with access to the full crew for much longer than normal. So it felt like we were prepping a film in all honesty, and I think that shows in the work.”
Read the full interview here.