Ian trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. After a stint in theatre and Opera, he went on to become a Copywriter and Creative Director in some of the biggest and more respected ad agencies in London, Paris and Auckland. He’s created global campaigns for brands like Air New Zealand, BMW and Guinness. His advertising work has won awards at Cannes, D&AD, Clios, One Show, Axis and the YouTube awards. He is perhaps best known for writing a string of Air New Zealand safety videos which have often gone viral and been picked up by media outlets all around the world. Men In Black – Safety Defenders become was Aotearoa’s third most watched YouTube video the year it was released. His short film Time Tourists was the first short in Aotearoa to be shot entirely using virtual production. The film won Best Screenplay at Show Me Short 2022 and Best VFX at the Poppy Jaspers Film Festival. It has been screen at London Sci.Fi Film Fest, Sydney Science-Fiction Film Fest, Lund Fantastic Film Fest, Leeds International Film Festival, Cinequest, Trieste Science+Fiction and many more. It’s has also sold to Rialto Channel and Canal+. He was again nominated for Best Screenplay at Show Me Short last year for his dystopian experimental short Good Luck. His latest short film Figment stars Jen Van Epps (M3GAN, Don’t Make Me Go) and Matt Wheelan (Narcos, The Luminaries) and is a sci.fi take on loneliness and imaginary friends. Ian is represented for commercial content by Fish&Clips. He’s directed ads for some of Aotearoa’s most loved brands, like Air New Zealand, Noel Leeming, TVNZ, Samsung and The Black Ferns. He’s also a prolific music video director whose narrative approach to promos won him Best Music Video at the Aotearoa Music Awards in 2019 and Best Music Video at Show Me Short in 2023. He was also a guest judge on the music video episode of TVNZ’s Survive The 80s. You can see some of his work at ian-sweeney.com