Dan Gifford
INFINITI
Bio
Dan was born and raised in the wilds of Norfolk, England, where he received a classical English education. By the age of eighteen, however, he had tired of the cricket and daily beatings and decided to go off and see the world.
He ended up living in Brazil, where he spent a happy year teaching English, learning Portuguese and staying with a Brazilian family in Londrina, Parana.
Returning to England, Dan studied languages and literature at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, graduating with a Masters Degree in German and Italian.
His first job was as assistant to the British Ambassador to Italy in Rome, but he found he was violently allergic to bureaucracy and was forced to return to London after only a few months to convalesce.
He needed a job and decided Film was the answer. Before long Dan had got a position as a runner, buying skinny-decaf-cappuccinos and carrying huge U-Matic tapes all over Soho. It was considered the worst job in the world, but Dan loved it and saw immediately that his future lay on film sets.
His first short, a period horror film, was called “Suspended”. It was financed by a student loan and the crew stayed at his Mum and Dad’s house. It won first prize at the Stella Artois film awards in 2000.
Dan has built upon his experience since then, applying his trademark wit and sensitivity to over 200 commercials for clients such as Mercedes, Jeep, Nikon, Adidas, Toyota, the BBC, Nike, Heineken, McLaren, Ford and many, many others.
His work has picked up many awards all over the world including Cannes Lions, World Gold Promax Awards, the London International (LIAA) Gold Award for best global campaign, Golds at the One Show USA, Silver Sharks at Kinsale and the Grand Prix for Best Film at the Eurobest Awards.
He speaks fluent Brazilian Portuguese (he returned to live in São Paulo from 2012 -2014) and now lives in Los Angeles.