Amanda Christi

Directing is strategy, vision, storytelling, art, and leadership all rolled into one.

I lead teams to tell stories that achieve business goals. I use the tools of light, sound, and the camera frame to capture and direct attention. I make creative choices to produce outcomes—shaping what we want our audience to think, feel, and do. I collaborate deeply with my teammates, leveraging their unique strengths to create videos that work.

“SUN”

National Broadcast Public Service Announcement
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Muse Creative Advertising Award, Gold

Coming out of the pandemic, Nebraska wanted to remind stakeholders how they made strides in technology, innovation and education despite the global health crisis.

Most Power 5 schools contract with agencies and production companies to make their national commercials, but not Nebraska. An in-house creative team came to me with a script and some ideas for what to feature. I developed the creative vision for how we would visualize the story, built a production team, directed the cast and crew on set, and oversaw the completion of the project through the edit.

“MOMENTUM”

National Broadcast Public Service Announcement
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Muse Creative Advertising Award, Silver

The same in-house creative team that partnered with me to direct “Sun” (featured above) also wanted to shoot a second commercial—with production needing to happen at the same time.

In addition to developing the creative vision and building the production team, I found efficiencies between the two projects to make production possible, but to allow each story to feel unique. On set, I switched between production of both spots every day of shooting. I used my leadership and communication skills to keep the cast and crew on the right vision, overseeing the completion of the project through the edit.

“IN OUR GRIT, OUR GLORY”

National Broadcast Public Service Announcement
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Case Award, Silver

Nebraska had just completed a brand overhaul and was ready to launch their new tagline, “In Our Grit, Our Glory” with a big splash and a new broadcast commercial when their agency relationship abruptly ended.

With less than two months before deadline, there was only a rough script defined. An in-house creative team rallied behind the project and trusted me to lead the storytelling as the director and editor. I worked with the team to refine the script and define the visuals. I built a production team filled with nationally respected talent. I developed the story from storyboards through production and to the edit. Best of all, we did it in half the time and at half the cost they agency had quoted.

“NO ONE SAW COMING”

Programmatic Pre-Roll
University of Nebraska – Lincoln

Nebraska is one of the least visited states in the US, and because most people haven’t been here, they assume Lincoln and the University of Nebraska are in the middle of a cornfield. Our challenge was to connect the idea of travel to Lincoln from major recruitment markets Chicago and Minneapolis and show how interesting and fun Lincoln is, all in less than 15 seconds.

I served as director, producer, location manager, first AD and even hauled a cooler around for the crew. In addition to wearing many hats, I meticulously planned our shots (and coached our talent) to ensure everything would line up perfectly in the edit. I created a shooting schedule that allowed us to visit more than 15 locations in just a few days of production.

“LINCOLN LIVES”

Web Series
University of Nebraska – Lincoln

As another strategy to show students that the city of Lincoln, Nebraska defies expectations, I helped to conceptualize and co-write a four-part narrative web series featuring the city’s namesake, Abraham Lincoln.

Since budgets and time were tight, I wore probably as many hats as you can in a project like this—I directed, art directed animation, location managed, lead casting, coordinated all actors and background, and managed the production crew across 21 locations in just seven days. At the pace we were moving, we were only able to get two takes of each line. This project showcases my ability to make something comprehensive and beautiful out of minimal resources.