Patricia Murphy (DP)

Patricia Murphy absolutely loves being a film maker. Film making is her life, her true vocation. She relishes the challenge; - animals, kids, celebrities – bring it on! Patricia sees herself as a visual storyteller that taps deeply into the emotional core of a project, whether it’s through the highly disciplined short-form of commercials or through the longer form of documentaries. Patricia truly understands film, it’s in her blood and bones.

Over her prolific career Patricia has accumulated a substantial wealth of experience having shot in excess of 500 projects all over the world. From the scorching deserts of Namibia to frozen high alpine passes; from Monument Valley to the fabulous Palaces of Jaipur; Patricia has directed her team, solved a million practical production problems and returned with award winning films in the can.

Patricia always operates her own camera which brings an immediacy and dynamic fluency to her work. She is widely respected for her command of a wide range of in-camera techniques, her encyclopaedic knowledge of film lenses and filters, and her sensitive mastery of dramatic performance. In this burgeoning age of digital technology Patricia is a master practitioner of the, some-say, dying art of high quality traditional film making. Having said that, possibly no-one else has spent more time making crucial creative decisions in state-of-the-art post-production facilities.

Over the span of her career Patricia has worked intensively with each successive generation of digital postproduction equipment. Most recently Patricia has happily embraced the new generation of digital cameras, in particular the Red camera. As a result of all this experience, her in-depth knowledge of what is technically possible combines with her command of the fundamental skills of film-making to create a powerful package.

Patricia continually reaches for excellence. Patricia started out as an assistant film editor but she quickly realized that she wanted to work with her own material. It was logical that she begin directing. Although broadly talented and creatively active in many disciplines Patricia prefers orchestrating the team process that film-making requires as opposed to the solo life of an artist. She loves to create a calm harmonious working environment which she believes is the best atmosphere within which the magic of film can unfold.

Patricia Murphy has been directing for 20 years. She started her own production company 16 years ago and she is still the sole owner and sole director. Presently, as well as working on several broad ranging documentary projects, Patricia is developing a slate of 3 features to be shot over the next 5 years. In 1990 Patricia was awarded a life-membership of the British Academy (BAFTA) by the incoming president. Her other honours range from more than one of the UK’s much-coveted D&AD Pencil prizes to a life-time achievement award from the French commercials industry.

Patricia works regularly with top advertising agencies throughout the world including AMV, JWT, Ogilvy, Leo Burnet, Grey, Lowe, Euro RSCG, Publicis, DDB, Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann Erikson, Krow, CST, Y+R, Chiel…. to name a few. Clients include: Peugeot; Citroen; Renault; Volvo; Skoda; Philips; Sony; Kodak; British Telecom; MCI; Barclays Bank; Deutsche Bank; L’Oreal; Samsung; Homebase; Sainsbury’s, Remington; Alberto Hair: Nina Ricci; Betty Barclay; Weller Hair; Canderel, Swatch; Oil of Olay; Heinz; Naf Naf; Pampers, Cadburys; Zoe Face Cream; Air France; Delta Airlines; United Airlines; Dulux Paint; NS+I Financial; Whirlpool; McVities, MCI; Huggies; Andrex; Beringer Winery; Echo Falls Winery; Macdonalds; BBC; Carlton TV; The Independent; O2; Kiss FM Radio; plus many, many many more.

Patricia Murphy is arguably the most awarded female commercials director in the world. With a career spanning twenty years and more than 500 projects Patricia has shown herself to be extremely accomplished with all kinds of material. Award wining work with cars (Volvo, Renault, Citroen); kids (Huggies, Mcdonalds, Kodak); celebrities (BBC "Sir Anthony Hopkins", "Billy Connolly", "Whoopi Goldberg", "Sir John Gielgud"); beauty (Whirlpool, Anna's Best, Dimagrasi; idents (Dulux for Ugly Betty). It all adds up to a very substantial back catalogue.