Gimenez Zapiola, DJ Snake, and ‘Breaking Glass’: The Work That Made Nico Bori

Nico Bori is a commercial and branded-content director whose work blends cinematic storytelling with an eye for authentic human emotion. Originally from Argentina, he is now based in Berlin. His work often explores themes of resilience, determination, dreams and change – capturing characters at moments when they push forward, adapt, or rediscover what drives them.

Versatile by nature, Nicolas moves fluidly between tones – from emotionally charged storytelling to sharply observed comedy, where irony and warmth meet in unexpected ways.

In 2024, Nicolas was recognised at Shots in the Best New Director category, following multiple wins at Clio, YDA, LIA, Ciclope, One Point Four, The One Show, Cresta, Gerety, The Andys, New York Festivals, Kinsale Sharks, Berlin Commercial, and numerous other festivals across Spain and Latin America.

With a background in documentary and narrative filmmaking, Nicolas brings a human-centred sensibility to his commercial work – always looking for truth in performance and elegance in form. His films invite audiences into moments of transition and discovery, celebrating the beauty of everyday life through a cinematic yet grounded lens.

Nico sat down with LBB to look back on growing up in Argentina watching ‘The Clio Show’, his unique road into directing, and the influential work of Daniel Wolfe.

LBB> The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me...

Nico> One of the oldest memories I have from watching an ad has to be ’What if feels like having a moustache’ from the Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival, directed by Agusto Gimenez Zapiola.

If you speak Spanish, it is way funnier, since the performances were so hilariously on point. I love how the story weirdly sucks you in, you have to know what is going on, what is the deal with these moustaches? It is so odd and entertaining you gladly keep watching and at the very end, it is the claim that gives meaning to everything.

I love when the commercial message gets so organically integrated into the story that it becomes the key to making sense of it all. I grew up in Argentina watching a lot of great, creative and entertaining ads actually. Watching good ads was kind of a thing back then.

I remember as a kid, sitting with my mom on Sunday nights to watch ’The Clio show’ on TV, where they presented the most creative stuff from around the world. It never crossed my mind back then that I would go on to win a couple of Clios myself.

LBB> The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…

Nico> My road into directing commercials was not a straight line actually. I did a business degree in the Netherlands first, got an office job that I did not enjoy and at some point, I got the courage to quit that life and somehow ’work doing films’.

First I managed to become a travel filmmaker for a British adventure company. They sent me to over 40 countries to bring back the essence of the places. Central Asia, Africa, Latin America and always special off-the-beaten-track places. It was beautiful but at some point, it became a routine. I wanted bigger challenges, to collaborate with bigger teams and tell bigger stories.

I stumbled upon the work of Daniel Wolfe ‘Hennessy - The Piccards’ and ‘MINI - Faith of The Few’ and I was blown away. How he managed to compress in such a short time, such beautifully crafted and emotional stories. It was like watching a full feature film in under two minutes. I knew it immediately when I saw it, that is what I should be doing. The impactful images, the creative concepts, the storytelling, it was like the sign I had been waiting for.

During my childhood I had enjoyed watching those ad shows with my mom, but I had never actively considered getting into this industry. I just knew I wanted to tell stories, but I had not connected the two.

LBB> The creative work that I keep revisiting…

Nico> One of my favourite films that I often revisit is ’Mercedes Benz - In the Long Run’ from Niclas Larsson.

I just love everything about it, the music, how the editing flows, the cinematography, the cast, their wonderful performances and the deeper characters. How he misleads you thinking the daughter is maybe not supportive of her mom or just too attached to her phone only to later reveal the real reason at the end. How he plants some clues throughout the film, without ruining the twist and the emotional punch, it gets me every time.

It's a beautiful piece full of humanity and beauty. It feels like a gift he created for the viewer to enjoy. And that is how I want my work to feel. If I am taking something away from the viewer, their time, their attention, I want to at least provide them with a beautiful moment, an entertaining story, a well-timed joke. Of course there is a commercial message involved, but there is no reason why both these things cannot coexist. Yes, it's hard, but that is what I want to strive for.

LBB> My first professional project…

Nico> Although it was more of a branded documentary and not a commercial per se, and I was not playing the role of director but more of a one man show, doing everything alone, this was the first time I got paid anything at all to do a film, so I guess that is the genesis of my story.

I had actually started film school in Buenos Aires, when after one year this British company called Dragoman that had seen the films I was doing across Africa approached me. They offered to send me five months across Asia by land on a truck, from Istanbul to Beijing. They didn't give me any brief or concept. They just told me ‘We like what you do, do that but in Asia, see you in five months’. And that was it, complete freedom and trust for the project. It was wonderful, but of course I put a lot of pressure on myself to deliver something worthy.

I would get lost in the cities and towns we were visiting, I always look for the human connection, even when the language barrier is huge, a smile and some hand gestures open a lot of doors. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I was with the camera in my hand from the moment I opened my eyes till I went to bed, trying to find unique places, people, situations across incredible nature and towns that seemed like frozen in time in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia or deep China. A lot of those learnings and experiences keep finding their way into my commercial work years later.

The film got spotted by National Geographic too, and got featured on their website, which was a massive boost of confidence that I was onto something with trying to make films for a living.

LBB> The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…

Nico> I think it's Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner spot. It makes me want to take my eyes out with a spoon. Every single thing about it is so wrong, that I feel dirty just by watching it. The story, the message, the stereotypes, the shallowness and the utter underestimation of the viewer’s intelligence. I am frankly quite amazed this passed all the kinds of filters that are in place so that this film saw the light of day.

LBB> The piece of work that still makes me jealous…

Nico> DJ Snake's ’Magenta Riddim’ by Vania & Muggia. I love the concept, the execution is spotless and it’s so creative and packed with details, jokes and things to explore in more than one viewing. Hell, years later I even discovered one of the directors doing a cameo dancing in the background. Love those guys. The images are also so impactful and beautiful. And the setting for the story is so different and interesting.

I love how it manages to blend the music and an upbeat situation to tell a rather fun story that feels like we know where it’s going, only to have that amazing dark turn in the end. I think that the way they managed to pull off that social commentary, in the middle of a colourful cheerful dancing Bollywood firemen scenario is so amazing.

LBB> The creative project that changed my career…

Nico> In 2024 I got to release a project that was very close to my heart. It’s called ‘Breaking Glass’ and it’s a branded short film for Scandinavian Airlines. It tells the story of the first women who managed to break into the male dominated aviation industry as pilots. Scandinavian was the first airline to hire a female pilot in 1969, before being diverse and inclusive was a trend. I managed to reach out to three of these pioneering women and they were kind enough to share their stories with me, which I used to write the script. Authenticity and respect for what they had done was very important for me.

It took a massive amount of work to pull off. We had air to air scenes with vintage planes, full CGI sequences, three time periods and a big cast. The resources were limited, but the commitment from everyone involved made it possible to find alternative approaches to bring the story to the screen in all its glory.

The film was launched for Scandinavian Airlines Christmas campaign; it was present in big screens in airports around Europe and can still be seen on the in-flight entertainment on their planes.

The project went on to win in almost every single major international award show, and I feel it was a huge turning point in my career. My work was shown side to side with so many others that I highly respect. Thanks to it I began working more internationally, and companies from different markets reached out to represent me like Common people in the UK or Madre in the US. I also started to work in Canada, Mexico and the Scandinavian markets since then and it gave me a push in markets where I was already active, like Germany, Switzerland and Spain.