Imraan Ismail

Imraan Ismail is an award-winning, Emmy-nominated, writer and director, and visual artist, whose emotionally-charged, visually compelling work is a celebration of our shared humanity.

His films have premiered all over the world, including at Sundance, Tribeca, and Cannes.

CLIENTS HAVE INCLUDED: Mastercard, The New York Times, The United Nations, U2, Samsung, McCormick, Vice News, Conservation International, Ardbeg Scotch Whiskey and others.

AWARDS HAVE INCLUDED: The Cannes Lions Entertainment Grand Prix (and several Lions), The AICP Most Next Award, A World Press Photo Award, Clios, Webbys, and multiple nominations for both Creative Arts and Journalism Emmy Awards.

Recent awards have come for a National Geographic documentary short, "The Protectors" that he co-created with Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow, (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. And for a campaign he created for Mastercard about the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean that included: included a branded documentary, an art exhibit, and a first of its kind, live-stream, immersive event which connected refugees in Greece with university students in America.

Imraan started in advertising with Saatchi & Saatchi, before journeying into film, working in every department, and as a script reader. Before directing full-time, his “day job” was working in visual effects and editorial for companies like Disney, Digital Domain, and MPC on the sets of many Marvel films, like Iron Man 3, The Avengers,  and Thor, The Fast and Furious and Planet Of The Apes series, and for directors like Micheal Mann, Steven Soderbergh and Gary Ross. 

In addition to his traditional film work, he has been a pioneer and innovator in XR and immersive/spatial storytelling.