For Many Style and Substance Are Opposites – For Similar But Different They’re Inseparable
Dani Girdwood and Charlotte Fassler are Similar But Different.
They are known for their sharp wit, bold style, and a knack for coaxing out performances that feel effortlessly real – and for being a pretty good time.
Dubbed a “female powerhouse duo” by Adweek’s Lindsay Rittenhouse, the duo has been celebrated by Cannes Lions, The British Arrows, Ciclope, AICP Next Awards, The Andy Awards, and Tribeca Film Festival – while also earning nods from Rolling Stone, Billboard, HuffPost, Ad Age, and more.
With roots in the music video space, they’ve worked with global artists including Katy Perry, The Chainsmokers, Liam Payne, and Amy Allen. In the commercial arena, they’ve delivered award-winning campaigns for brands like Spotify, Diesel, and Google. Cannes Lions ranked them the 3rd most awarded directors of 2021, and Campaign Magazine placed them among the top 10 directors of the year.
Most recently, Dani and Charlotte directed their debut feature for Amazon Studios, ‘My Fault: London’ – a buzzy, wild young adult romance action thriller that weaves through the underground racing world and a steamy forbidden romance. The movie was a massive global hit, reaching #1 on the Amazon charts in over 103 countries. They’ve since wrapped its hotly anticipated sequel, ‘My Fault: London’.
Both Dani and Charlotte sat down with LBB to discuss the production of their debut feature, ‘Your Fault: London’, how their directing style complement each other and shared love for cheeky storytelling
LBB> Tell us about the feature ‘Your Fault: London’, that you both just wrapped. What was your most exciting day on set?
SBD> So hard to pick just one but we had a particularly wild day shooting the drama around one of the major car races at an old air force base.
We needed blue skies and lots of sun for continuity but on this stunning day (hint: it was not stunning) in the English countryside, fate had other plans. We spent the day dodging a patchy rainstorm with over a hundred extras, nearly all of our principal cast, four cameras rolling, a crane, a drone, plus car stunts on either end of the starting line.
We have a very energising ensemble cast of young actors who are all so insanely impressive – constantly teeing up jaw-dropping performances and then making us laugh between takes. It was a total mad dash, but so thrilling.
That’s what’s so fun about the ‘My Fault’ films – they blend multiple genres, so every day on set felt like a new adventure. Whether it was a high-speed chase, a quiet intimate moment of watching two people fall in love, or a raucous nightclub scene, we went through it all together.
LBB> Much of your career has been rooted in shortform storytelling: commercials, music videos, branded content. Now that you’ve stepped into longform with a feature, what skills or instincts carry over?
SBD> So many.
Firstly (and most importantly): leadership.
We’ve spent almost a decade learning to lead a team of a hundred or two hundred crew members towards a common goal – with care, enthusiasm, and responsibility of schedule and budget.
There’s an undeniable management side of this gig – we’re responsible for not just sailing the ship but sailing it very well and with style.
Every member of our team is there for a reason and we’re kind of obsessed with that part of the magic: the problem-solving together, the weighing of opinions, and the joint ownership of making something good. It's a team sport; be a team leader.
Honestly, it is an endless list of skills and instincts that cross over, but here’s just a few more: in short form you're constantly flexing that muscle of intentionality – how to say the most with the least. With such a quick window of time to tell your story (be it a luxurious :60 seconds or a button :06), you learn that every shot carries weight and has a job to do.
That instinct carries over in a big way and doesn’t change with a runtime of one hour and 59 minutes. So that care and appreciation for the storytelling power of the smallest details (even a brief few frames) is one of our strongest skill sets.
And we’ve learned a lot that we’ll bring back to the table as we refocus on short form; we’re coming back with some wild stamina. You’re holding a story and a tone for months (even years), through prep, production, and post. Before our first feature, our longest shoot was six days. And now it's 43 days. Carrying that kind of creative sprint definitely builds up a muscularity that we’ll get to play with – an energy and readiness to push creativity till the very finish line.
LBB> What elements of a script set one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?
SBD> For us, the thing that sets a script apart is a clear conceptual hook: a specific backbone that every creative layer needs to serve and support. Beautiful images and slick transitions are great, but without a strong narrative hook we’re less engaged.
Even in a 15-second piece, there has to be something clever that sparks character and performance.
Our Spotify work is a good example; it is such a simple setup, but the memorable tagline (Match instantly with music you love) gave it real personality and tonal identity; we knew we had to stir that feeling of falling in love on a first date.
Our Diesel spot ‘Enjoy Before Returning’ had that too. The subversive idea of wild and fashionable youth culture wearing the clothes out before returning them the next day— all perfectly encapsulated by the spot’s voiceover, aka Diesel’s return policy.
Or with Nestlé’s ‘Extreme Night In,’ we loved flipping the usual tropes of a girls’ sleepover you might see in an ice cream commercial and turning it into an action movie.
At the end of the day, it's the story that excites us, it’s the seed we can build on and layer creatively.
LBB> As a directing duo, how do you feel that your partnership elevates the ad and what do you feel is unique that you both bring to the table when directing?
SBD> As a duo, we really complement each other and bring different strengths to the table, which ultimately helps elevate the work. We feed off each other creatively, challenge ideas in a constructive way, and bring multiple perspectives to every decision.
Having two sets of eyes and ears on set allows us to stay fully tuned into both performance and visuals at the same time, which can make the work richer and more nuanced.
Not to mention, we’ve also spent years building a shared language – visually, emotionally, rhythmically. Shortform taught us how to communicate quickly, trust our instincts, and move fast without losing intention. Those habits became a huge asset in longform, especially when you're deep in the chaos of production and trying to hold onto the emotional arc of something much bigger.
LBB> What type of work are you most passionate about - is there a particular genre or subject matter or style you are most drawn to?
SBD> We have a real love for cheeky storytelling – stories and work that has humor, attitude, and strong characters at the centre. That playful energy is where we feel most at home, and it’s also where we get to show that our work is always a balance of style and substance. We’re not interested in compromising either; the visuals are bold, but they’re always carrying something pretty connective on an emotional level.
We’re also drawn to stories that speak to young women. If making our movie (with its *mostly* young female audience in mind) has taught us anything, it is how powerful, passionate, and wildly smart they are as a core audience. They’re a powerful contingent to create for and they know their worth and want to see it reflected on screen. From a stats perspective, our movie generated over a billion TikTok video views in the two weeks post release – a reminder of just how hungry this audience is for stories that celebrate their wants, their perspective, and their power.
LBB> What misconception about your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?
SBD> This is a hard one. But we’ll take a swing: before people engage with our work (maybe they’ve only seen stills or a quick clip), they might think that because our work is so stylised, it must be detached or purely aesthetic. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. (And they learn that pretty quickly when they watch).
The visuals are always in service of the emotion. We use colour, composition, and surreal moments not as decoration, but as amplifiers of feeling. The misconception comes from the idea that style and substance are opposites – but we believe they’re inseparable. The right style makes the substance unforgettable.
LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?
SBD> Juggling all of the curve balls that come with shooting on a volume stage. Some challenges were technical and some were part of the learning curve of experimenting with new techniques.
But with multiple car chases and races now under our belt, the volume stage feels like a well known instrument that we can riff with and improvise with. Like any new tech, once you have the confidence you can play with it and find use cases that people don’t expect – push limits and help solve problems. We joke that it's the dark arts of believability – the textural and sensory layers that help your brain buy into authenticity.
LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?
SBD> While every job has its own dynamic, at our core we’re a very collaborative duo. We’re all on the same team (agency, client, and crew), and we’re all working toward the strongest version of the idea. It's as simple as that (and sure, sometimes personalities make that feel less simple, but we find that to be very rare).
Clear communication and trust are key – everyone needs to feel heard and understood. And it's our job to foster that and create the best pipeline for us to do exactly what we were brought on to do: bring the vision to life. For us, that balance means the process isn’t about compromise, but about creating the best possible outcome together.
LBB> Your work is now presented in so many different formats - to what extent do you keep each in mind while you're working (and, equally, to what degree is it possible to do so)?
SBD> It’s true: the lifespan of what we create has a lot more scope and shape-shifting than ever before. We even thought about that when making our movie. We weren’t designing for it, per se, but embracing it and living for the virality and cutdowns to come from audiences themselves.
But in commercials especially: format is definitely something to creatively calculate for versus ignore. Every project (hell, every shot) has different wants and needs. But we don’t approach it with every frame guide on screen, trying to find one safe middle ground of the aspect ratio venn diagram that works for all. That usually flattens the creative and waters down the visual language.
Instead, once we understand the key format the piece will live in, we design for a priority platform and then thoughtfully adapt for others. Not to mention what those formats mean for how audiences are engaging with what you’ve made (where are you finding them, what is their attention span like, etc.)
LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work?
SBD> We’re definitely curious about how new tech can push boundaries. Virtual production opened our eyes to the thrill of learning a new tool to expand what we do – new creative layers, new collaborators, new problem solving. It gave us freedom to experiment in uncharted terrain.
When it comes to AI – of course AI isn’t one monolithic thing, it’s a range of tools. And tools can be useful, no doubt. But we’re also really protective of the collaborative heart of filmmaking. The way we see it is that AI will not (and cannot) replace human creators, but can be used as a tool for human creators to explore new types of experiences in film.
LBB> Which pieces of your work do you feel show what you do best – and why?
SBD> ‘My Fault London’ (Amazon Feature Film) – We’re so proud of what we’ve been able to achieve in both of our feature films for Amazon and how they show off such a range. We used to think our reel didn’t have enough dialogue, now we have four hours worth! Both show off a muscular side of us with the action stunts and car races we were able to pull off that we are excited to bring back to commercial work.
Diesel – Diesel was always a North Star brand for us to work with. Their creative is so subversive and playful – and tonally it has always felt the most ‘us’ as far as our work goes. As far as clever advertising, the hook of this concept and its tongue-in-cheek call to action feel so bold.
Nestle – Nestlé shows how turning a female lens on a pillow fight taken to new heights. Women are trained to be ‘nice,’ to be accommodating, to avoid being dramatic. But that line of thinking doesn’t apply to this creative – this project let us color outside the lines, push the boundaries of what people expect, and be powerful and disruptive.
LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?
SBD> We see the treatment as the very first taste of the world we want to build. For the reader, it’s the first impression of the emotional and tonal experience. So the energy, attitude, and pacing of the spot should be felt right away in how the treatment itself is designed. The way we lay out the pages, the cadence of the writing, the texture of the references – all of that is part of the storytelling and needs to grab and hold the attention of whoever is reading.
LBB> What are your thoughts on opening up the production world to a more diverse pool of talent? Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?
SBD> This is a very enthusiastic, very loud, whole hearted yes. We feel strongly that the production world can and will only benefit by having more diverse voices in the mix. It's undeniable: the work strengthens immensely by having a wider range of perspectives and experiences – and leadership.
It is essential for creating stories that are meaningful and resonate with audiences. We are always keen to candidly share our experiences and mentor emerging talent whether it is on set or in prep.
That real life experience and participating in the room is huge when it comes to building confidence and your own instincts and taste as emerging filmmakers. We don’t believe in gatekeeping. We have been lucky enough to benefit from female mentorship and it's a huge part of who we are and where we are today – we want to play a role in the next generation of confident, bold, empowered storytellers.
LBB> What excites you in the advertising industry right now? Any trends or changes that open new opportunities?
SBD> We’re obsessed with how young audiences are reshaping what they expect from brands. Through our films, we have a front-row seat to how young people think, talk, and connect. They have a high bullshit meter and they crave candid, off-the-cuff, unfiltered connection. They’re unafraid to challenge brands to be more transparent and interesting. They respond to ideas that feel true to their world, and that’s pushing us to experiment with more interactive, culture-driven ways of storytelling.
Additionally, we want to bring our world-building and VFX experience into our ad work – using style and technology not just for spectacle, but to make stories hit harder.
Working on both of our movies and extensive VFX processes has taught us how powerful visual effects can be when they’re woven seamlessly with performance and story. Having built strong creative partnerships with VFX artists, we want to channel that into commercial work – spots that feel as immersive, elevated, and emotionally charged.
