Daisy Ifama

Tinygiant

What was your first professionally directed work and when was it?
My first professional directing gig was for Google, called WomenWill. It was an idea I pitched and directed on how women in music across Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya were using tech to advance their careers. It was a huge responsibility to travel and shoot these six stories and to represent each of their worlds at such an exciting time for music culture coming from the continent. We actually arrived in South Africa with no talent secured and ran into singer Sho Madjozi in the airport and managed to convince her on the spot to be in the film (!!) We shot with her a few days later and had the most wonderful conversation and time with her in the studio. We then launched the film at a free digital skills event for women in all three regions later that year.

How did you get into directing?
My mum bought me a flip camera for Christmas one year and I just started filming all my friends – Little did I know that 15 years later this footage would secure me a commission from Netflix for my film Twinkleberry – I was always editing away making friendship videos for people in my school and from there I kept picking up editing gigs. At university (Goldsmiths College, University of London) I wanted to try every role and started shooting and directing for the university magazine. When I was around 21 years old, my friend (writer and director Yero Timi-Biu) started introducing me to people as a filmmaker and director. That really was the moment that I decided to fully try and make the transition from editor to director and I’ve kept rolling with it.

What is your most recent project?
My film Twinkleberry, commissioned by Netflix UK and released in 2022. It tells the story of my super gay school year that had 30+ queer students in one year group from 2005 to 2012, in a small town in England. It was an emotional project to work on, but feels like one of my most important projects to date and I’m proud to have archived a moment in Queer British history.

What is the best part of being a director?
I love the pre-production process; chucking around ideas, working out what you want to say with a piece, and problem solving with a team. I’m used to limitations and learning to work within those restrictions has made me a much more creative person. I love collaborating with people who bring different skillsets to the table, and thinking about how to represent the things I find important in life on screen. It’s especially wonderful being able to give others the opportunity to see into a world they may not have access to in their everyday lives.

Tell us about your background (i.e., where did you grow up? Past jobs?)
I grew up in the UK, moving between London and the Midlands. My mum raised me by herself and surrounded me with people from all walks of life. She taught me to embrace difference at a young age. Growing up with a community oriented perspective has influenced my work and my commitment to bringing my wide-ranging personal experiences into projects which educate whilst still being entertaining. I’ve worked in lots of different roles across the filmmaking industry, from producing, shooting, editing and directing with companies including the BBC, YouTube, Netflix UK, Vogue, and often with Google. Some of the work I’m most proud of, comes from being a founding member of the British media platform and magazine gal-dem, which sadly closed its doors earlier this year. I launched and ran the video section to our global audience of millions with the goal to address inequality and misrepresentation in the industry and platform the work of people of color from marginalized genders.

Contact

• Tinygiant, Veronica Diaferia, EP, Email: veronica@tinygiant.tv, Sara Eolin, EP, Email: saraa@tinygiant.tv