Spindle welcomes Joshua Neale to the roster

Director Joshua Neale crafts beautiful films full of heart and humanity, influenced by his unique background in both acting and documentary filmmaking.

Neale joins the Spindle roster from Smuggler, where he’s spent the last decade directing award-winning commercials, charity films and documentaries. From subtle humour to powerful emotion, his eclectic body of work is unified by compelling performances, cinematic imagery and impeccable storytelling.

His TVC breakthrough came with two outstanding films for Lurpak with Weiden & Kennedy, which helped shift the tone of food advertising through their authenticity and spontaneous feel. After this came the much referenced Morning for Johnnie Walker, which evolved Neale’s filmmaking into a more cinematic realm. Commercial campaigns for the likes of Huawei, Stella Artois, IKEA, and Nike Jordan swiftly followed. His charming spot for CBeebies shows how we’re not born with prejudice, when various paired up children discuss what makes them different from each other. The inclusive and insightful film was shared over 50million times in its first week alone, and went on to be awarded at D&AD, British Arrows and Cannes Lions among others.

Neale has directed a range of acclaimed charity films, including for Water.org, which features Matt Damon highlighting that it is only when people have their basic needs met, like clean running water, that they are able to focus on their dreams. Neale’s spot for men’s health charity Movember playfully celebrates the dodgy moustaches grown for a good cause. And his heartbreaking piece for UNICEF powerfully parallels the lives of a World War II child refugee and a Syrian child refugee, with striking similarities despite decades separating their stories. The poignant film received an array of award recognition, including Cannes Lions, AICP, APA, EPICA and the British Arrows.

Neale’s filmmaking skill was immediately evident in his early documentaries for Channel 4 and the BBC, notable for their candid intimacy and playful use of form. His directorial debut was the inventive musical documentary Karaoke Soul which was nominated for the BAFTA Breakthrough Award. This was followed by his feature debut Despicable Dick & Righteous Richard, which premiered in competition at Tribeca Film Festival and was hailed by Screen International as ‘a bold, engaging and moving documentary’.

Neale is currently developing his first feature drama script with the support of Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute, and aims to continue working in branded, documentary, fiction and anywhere in-between; making emotive and cinematic films with powerful human stories at their core.