Peer Review: Angie Bird

Who are three contemporaries that you admire?

Kim Gehrig, who, like me, started on the agency side and then transitioned to directing, is a huge inspiration of mine. Her work always champions amazing characters from different walks of life. Her work is epic and authentic at the same time. It’s stylised and art-directed but in a way that still feels raw and real. 

I love Kim’s The Greatest commercial. It’s the perfect blend of technology and humanity. It makes me feel hyped and hopeful as a human and artist.

Raine Allen-Miller has incredible style. Her work is always so colourful and attention-grabbing. I love her ultra-creative camera moves, transitions, and multi-media approaches. She makes all of her subjects look so damn cool, whoever they are.

All I wanted was to be on set and create as much as possible. 

I love Raine’s spot for Virgin. The creativity is wild in every scene. There are so many layers, like in the opening when the hero says, “I can daughter,” instead of just a pose, there’s a camera move back, a new drop cloth rolls in, and two flamethrowers ignite. I love the attention to detail, the choreography, and the extra-ness of everything.

I love Lou Escobar’s work. Her photography and directing style is so rich and cinematic. She has an impossibly cool aesthetic to everything she does. It’s equal parts modern and nostalgic, raw yet hyper stylised. She’s awesome!

What was your path into directing and photography?

In my final year of university, my best friend Elle Bullen and I won the global competition Young Guns Student Of The Year. The prize was a three-month paid internship at any Leo Burnett in the world. We chose Toronto on a whim, which was the start of our careers. Elle returned to Australia after a few years and became a big-shot ECD. All I wanted was to be on set and create as much as possible. 

Photography can move much quicker, allowing me to flex my creativity easily and get a good old hit of dopamine between directing gigs.

When I left the agency world, I was torn on whether I should become a director or a photographer; I felt that I had to pick one thing to focus on and throw myself into it. I’m glad I chose directing first; it made sense for me. I’m grateful to have been supported by so many amazing people over the years, honing my creative eye as a director – most recently by the Curfew crew, who I signed with last year. 

And now that I have spent the last few years training as a professional photographer, I’m so grateful that I get to do both. Photography can move much quicker, allowing me to flex my creativity easily and get a good old hit of dopamine between directing gigs.

What do you like most about the work that you do?

My favorite part of directing is finding unforgettable characters. Whether they are actors or non-actors, I love telling emotive characters' stories. In my career, some highlights have been telling the stories of the LGBTQ2S+ community, people surviving through a cancer diagnosis, and domestic abuse survivors. 

I try to embody the mindset of a boxer, get back up, and dust myself off again. 

In Malawi, I interviewed Queen Theresa Kachindamoto, who had convinced her district to abolish early marriage and annul existing unions so those children could go to school - that interview was a surreal experience for me. I’m honestly so captivated by the resilience of the human spirit. My favourite thing ever is to tell an underdog story.  

Above: Bird interviewed Theresa Kachindamoto, who  convinced her district in Malawi to abolish early marriage. 

What is one thing all directors need?

Resilience! It’s so brutal putting your heart and soul into pitching and constantly coming up with so many creative ideas and then getting rejected repeatedly. How the industry is set up means rejection is a big part of our careers. An exec told me early on that I was too sensitive (which many creatives are), and she said I need to have the mindset of a boxer to survive in a creative field. She said I have to learn to take the punches. I try to remember that every time I’m disappointed. I try to embody the mindset of a boxer, get back up, and dust myself off again. 

I’ll always love Steven Spielberg for making my childhood magical.

Who was the greatest director of all time? Why?

There’s not one, I admire many. I’ll always love Steven Spielberg for making my childhood magical.

Lukas Moodysson ripped my heart apart with Lilya 4-Ever and then repaired it with We Are The Best. I love Taika Waititi’s sense of humour and filmmaking style. Nothing cures my blues like a Paul Feig / Mellisa McCarthy combo. Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird and Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart are the blueprints for the angsty teen film I dream of creating.