Breakthrough Directors Are Creating Culture. Industry Risks “Echo Chamber” Without Them

Supporting breakthrough directors is vital for brands and agencies to remain culturally relevant, production execs from across the world argue. Without them, the industry risks becoming an “echo chamber.”

Asked to make the case for why 2026 should be the year of backing breakthrough directors, Claire Perkins, executive producer at MOFA Australia, told LBB that otherwise, there is a risk of “homogenisation of tone”. Armin Korsos, director and founder of US prodco Caymanite, similarly warned of the risk of “defaulting to sameness”.

“Safe work is the enemy of impact and memorability. When younger directors aren’t given space to experiment, we risk ending up in an echo chamber where ideas are recycled over and over,” MOFA’s Claire said.

​Dal Wolf, managing director and executive producer at Neighborhood Watch Films in the US, agreed the industry feels like an “echo chamber” when “established names start chasing mid-level briefs” and the work gets “safer, not better.”

“Culture doesn’t come from recycled instincts or neutral takes. It comes from trusting the next wave of creators,” Dal added. Without that kind of cultural relevancy, brands will continue chasing culture instead of “connecting straight into it in real time,” added ProdCo’s global EP, Jon Adams. “New talent [is] the new culture.”

Up-and-coming directors also aren’t “constrained by legacy thinking or established formulas”, according to Mint Films’ head of new business, Jordan Smith.

“They are native to the platforms, tools, and behaviours shaping culture today, which allows them to create work that feels immediate, authentic, and genuinely new.”

He shared the example of Hannah Lehmann, who created, wrote, and directed ‘Two Sides’, the world’s first vertical scripted series for Snap Originals.

She was awarded an Australian Directors’ Guild Award, a Webby Award, a Streamy Award, received an NAACP Image Award nomination, and recognised as a 2022 Shot Awards APAC Finalist for Best New Director.

Jordan said this is proof “new voices can deliver both cultural impact and tangible results”.

​Siobhan Murphy, executive producer and partner at Merman, said emerging talent is “renowned for having their finger on the pulse”, and support is vital if “you want to produce authentic, culture-defining work”.

“They don’t just recognise what’s trending in the zeitgeist, they’re living it. They’re a part of that consumer demographic.”

​Sorcha Shepherd, executive producer at Caviar London, agreed. New directors have a “natural fluency with platforms that many established directors, understandably, didn’t grow up with,” she said.

She referenced Toby Allen, chief creative officer at Anomaly, as someone who “consistently challenge[s] teams to bring fresh voices into bid pools”.

“We need more of that mindset,” she said.

Importantly, directors “don’t break through in a single job,” said Victoria Diaferia, founder and executive producer of US prodco Tinygiant.

“They evolve through sustained trust, mentorship, and the freedom to push creative boundaries.” When that trust is established, continued Tanya Spencer, executive producer and co-founder of The Producers, “work often feels fresher, looser, and more genuinely engaging. Less like traditional advertising and more like something people actually want to watch.”

A strong pipeline of up-and-coming talent also future-proofs the industry. “If young directors aren’t given access now, they won’t suddenly appear later,” Caviar London’s Sorcha added. Established directors may also carry “decades of visual baggage,” as Sweetshop’s global head of director development, Gregory Fyson, puts it.

He observed up-and-comers aren’t yet bogged down by “the painful dance of navigating agency agendas that [don’t] always align with their clients.”

Managing partner and executive producer at Riff Raff Films, Natalie Arnett, echoed Gregory, saying “new directors haven't been conditioned by the commercial process”.

She pointed to Leve Kühl, who wrote and directed UNHCR’s ‘Through My Eyes’, picked up three gold Lions at the Young Directors Awards, and 'Best New Director' at the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) awards in New York. He also garnered a Vimeo ‘staff pick’ and was selected to feature on its Directors’ Library.

​Bad Rainbow EP and director Ash Bruce acknowledged the challenges of backing unproven talent: everyone, at every stage of the process, has a ‘client’ to answer to, so “it’s easy to go with a tried and true partner to stay safe.” But as GUT New York EP Bruce McDonald said, “Maybe that twinge of the unknown is a good thing?”

As AI continues to disrupt and reshape production workflows, it may become easier for agencies and brands to back untraditional directors.

​Simon Dolsten, founder of AI creative studio Dolsten & Co, argued a cutting edge director “isn’t behind the camera because the camera is no longer where decisions are made.” Instead, it is his view today’s “most interesting breakthrough directors never trained on-set”, instead learning “through software, editing timelines, game engines, animation tools, and digital worlds.

“In AI-assisted filmmaking, direction happens inside systems: models, pipelines, constraints, and feedback loops. The director’s job is no longer to capture reality, but to decide how reality is constructed, interpreted, and repeated.

Mastering a camera is “no longer” a director’s most important skill, he continued, claiming culture-creating directors in 2026 “won’t be defined by their access to crews or gear,” but rather “their ability to shape meaning inside generative environments.”

​Belinda Bradley, executive producer of Film Construction, believes it isn’t about “age or tenure” but “whether the voice is right, the instinct is sharp, and the work connects,” while Niles Roth, creative director at Greenpoint Pictures, emphasised older generations have a lot to learn from younger directors.

“We have to learn to speak their language, and they bring ideas to the table that we likely could never conjure up on our own. I love their energy. They want to conquer the world, and they don’t want to wait.

“This new generation has a point of view, they believe it has value -- and they’re right.”

Or as GUT’s EP Bruce put it, “Trust your gut and if they can make it happen, roll the dice. At one point, someone took a risk on each and every one of us.”