Film
THE PEACE THAT WAS BEFORE
The Peace That Was Before follows two young freeriders, Mikhailo from Ukraine and Alex from Russia, who meet to escape the memories of war and disappear for one day in the mountains.
The Peace That Was Before is directed by Paris-based Roudy Doumit and Munich-based Florian Handschuh. I wrote the script, inspired by reading French and Lebanese poetry from the 1920s. The narration is from the perspective of the mountain. Lea Pietrosante of the Aegean Film Festival wrote, “the script is strong, poetic and beautifully crafted."
The film's world premiere takes place in Beirut at Metropolis Cinema on September 21st, 2025 at 8:30 pm at the Lebanese Outdoor Film Festival. It will also be screened at other film festivals. It was filmed off-piste in the Alps, on the border between France and Italy. It's an adventurous short piece of poetry, meant to question war and identity.
Projects
THE ADIDAS SPEZIAL BOOK
In a gallery in East London, adidas launched a star-studded exhibition of rare trainers along with a hardback book. They asked me to edit the book and craft the words of its famous contributors including Noel Gallagher (Oasis), Yohji Yamamoto, Ian Brown (The Stone Roses), and Steve Jones (The Sex Pistols) among others. The book is now a collectors’ item.
The Iannis Xenakis Book
The National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens, Greece (ΕΜΣΤ) asked me to proofread and co-edit their new book on the pioneering composer Iannis Xenakis. Xenakis, who once worked with Le Corbusier, was an avant-garde composer, activist, music theorist, architect, engineer, and mathematician.
Advertising (Integrated & TV)
The Ad Makeover
While working as a copywriter at Ogilvy London, I created the Dove Ad Makeover app. The aim was to empower people to affect the ads they see online and create new messages that help each other feel positive about their appearance. The app has now run in Australia, the UK, Brazil and 17 other countries and displaced 3.3 billion negative ads. We made the app in-house.
The Dove Ad Makeover was Dove’s first widely awarded idea since their 2006 groundbreaking anti-photoshop film Evolution. The Ad Makeover was so successful it convinced the client to put their support behind new proactive ideas such as Dove Real Beauty Sketches, which went on to win a Titanium Grand Prix at Cannes.
Comfort Bike Seats
I’ve worked on various accounts including Dove, Ford, Coca-Cola and Comfort, creating 360 degree integrated campaigns. One campaign involved the knitting craze in London…
After the coldest winter in Britain for 50 years, Comfort, a famous fabric conditioner brand, decided to do a little something for people to warm their hearts…and butts. Focusing of little acts of love, they surprised commuters and children by fitting their cold bike seats with individually designed seat covers. These not only brightened up their bikes, they made riding more soft and comfortable. Each cover was unique, knitted by hand, in bright and cheerful colours. Each seat cover also carried the brand’s logo and slogan Comfort, An extra dose of love. This was part of a larger campaign of knitted-themed happenings, digital content, and adverts.
TELEVISION
As a senior copywriter at Ogilvy London I conceptualized and implemented successful integrated campaigns and won 30 international awards, including 3 Cannes Lions (2 Silver, 1 Bronze). I worked on Dove's global account and wrote the ideas and scripts for the following TV commercials.
( The best part was they sent me to Thailand, Germany, Texas, and Jordan for work where lots of wildness ensued...from sleeping alone in a jungle after fighting off giant spiders, dancing with sexy astrophysicists, scorpion invasions, and fleeing a hotel that had caught on fire… Once I left the shoot and set out on my own all kinds of things happened. They always do! )