Black Label Signs Directors Beverley Fortnum & Chris Gaffey

Black Label is excited to announce the signing of award-winning Directors, Beverley Fortnum and Chris Gaffey to their Director roster this month.

Dom Freeman, Managing Director of Black Label comments, “These two directors are going to be a fantastic addition to the team, they’re bringing two starkly different but wonderfully creative styles and a wealth of experience between them.”

Beverley Fortnum is an award-winning Director with an industry wide reputation. She is one of an elite few who is a true specialist in Beauty, Fashion and Lifestyle. After gaining a degree in Graphic Design and Advertising, she pursued her career as a Creative within some of London’s top agencies including Saatchi’s, Publicis, Grey and Leo Burnett. She combines her phenomenal creative vision with a natural talent for Directing and as a result has shot commercials for global super-brands such as Max Factor, Pantene, Wella, Lynx, Hugo Boss, Dove, Nivea, Olay and Clairol to name but a few.

Beverley comments “I have a passion for working in the fashion and beauty sector, and my success is driven by an obsession for attention to detail and creating memorable, beautiful images. The most rewarding and effective work is realized through collaboration with like-minded, talented people, and this is why Black Label is the perfect fit. They understand and embrace the creative process and the craft of film making; you could say they are the ‘Haute Couture’ of beauty and fashion production.

“Over the coming months, I hope to continue to work in close collaboration with high profile fashion, retail and beauty brands both in the UK and globally, and influence and develop emerging brands.”

Executive Producer at Black Label, Greg Magloire comments, “We could see Beverley would be the perfect fit for us considering the client base that we have. I can’t wait to see how she tackles projects with Black Label. It’s going to be brilliant to have a director on board who has such a full knowledge of the creative process and who can produce beautiful work with authentic stories.”

Chris Gaffey comes to Black Label from the North. He survived the same school as Danny Boyle and after studying graphic design and advertising he embarked on his creative career in late 80s Madchester. For the best part of two decades Chris was an award-winning conceiver of commercials, campaigns and content for brands all over the world. His visual versatility saw him switch to directing in 2003. 

Chris comments, “I guess the driving inspiration behind switching from ‘creative' to ‘director' was a desire to return to the thrill of making something." 

"As an art director I was attracted to the problem-solving aspect of visual communication and especially fascinated with images and ideas that moved. So progressing from directing photography to directing live action and animation was a natural transition for me. I had the good fortune to work with many great directors on my scripts - and a few bad ones too - and I learned from both.  Comparatively, I personally didn’t find life as a CD as satisfying - managing the creative process wasn’t as stimulating as inventing or making anything myself and I missed the buzz of realising an idea."

“I enjoyed the impulsive, unpredictable nature of production. I’d always felt confident with a camera and at ease with performers. Directing offered me the opportunity to combine doing the things I loved - images, music, sport - and avoid doing time for murder!  I get a kick from collaborating with creatives - I get to ignite their ideas to life and polish them until they sparkle. I take pleasure and pride in that."

“Black Label have a commitment to quality and craft. They care about what’s on the screen, they have a confidence and passion for what they do and they enjoy it. They’re also thoroughly decent and nice people to spend time with. I’m very excited to be joining and the new opportunities it’ll afford me. I’m looking forward to playing on a bigger pitch.”

Greg Magloire comments on Chris’s arrival, “Chris has worked with some of the top brands in the industry; Jaguar, Sony, EA Sports to name but a few and that’s not to mention his short sports films for the likes of Everton, Manchester United, Arsenal and the England Rugby Team. We’re hoping to really expand on the areas of commercials that we work in and Chris couldn’t be a better person to help us do it.”