June, 2026.- Things are about to fall apart but never really do. That tension, Director Lucrecia explains, is what makes her work exciting. If everything is too polished and too controlled, it dies.
Lucrecia describes her style as “hyper-real”—a space between capturing reality and creating a heightened version of it. For Ensure, a campaign featuring real older adults rather than actors, she wanted something honest and real but still cinematic and emotionally heightened. The hyper-real part came from how she captured them: the music, the pacing, the composition, the scale of the images, the emotion. Bigger than life while still feeling truthful.
Her process is deeply intuitive. Ideas arrive quickly. And while she respects brand strategy and data completely, she defends instinct as something earned through years of looking at images, films, photography, music videos, people, life. Usually her first ideas are the right ones. And the reason brands hire her is because they trust that point of view.
In this interview, Lucrecia discusses what “directing with love” actually looks like on a high-pressure set: not being soft or indecisive, but creating an environment where people feel safe, present, and excited instead of fearful. Energy spreads quickly. If the director is stressed or aggressive, everyone feels it. But when people feel trusted and seen, they do better work.
She also reflects on her background directing music videos for Ashnikko, Sia, and Elton John. That work taught her how to capture raw performance and create cinematic feeling without dialogue—skills that made her the right choice for a campaign with real, non-actor subjects. The most powerful moments, she learned, usually happen between the planned moments: a look, a breath, someone laughing unexpectedly. That is what she is always searching for.
1. Hyper-real vs. Real: You describe your style as “hyper-real.” What’s the difference between capturing reality and creating a heightened version of it, and why choose the latter for a brand like Ensure?
I think my work lives in this space between something polished and something slightly unhinged, like things are about to fall apart but never really do. That tension is what makes it exciting to me. If everything is too polished and too controlled, it dies.
With Ensure, I wanted to capture something honest and real, but still cinematic and emotionally heightened. We were working with real people, not actors, so it was important that nothing felt performative or fake. The hyper-real part came from how we captured them, he music, the pacing, the composition, the scale of the images, the emotion. I wanted it to feel bigger than life while still feeling truthful.
2. Instinct vs. Strategy: Your process is deeply intuitive: “ideas arrive quickly.” How do you defend instinct when a brand or agency wants to debate every frame based on consumer data?
I’m actually very instinctual, but I think instinct comes from years of looking at images, films, photography, music videos, people, life. It’s not random. It’s this huge ocean of creativity and references that lives inside you.
Usually my first ideas and instincts are the right ones. They become the foundation of the treatment and, ultimately, the final film. And the older I get, the more I trust that instinct because it has guided me really well creatively.
Of course, brands and agencies have strategy and data, and I respect that completely. But I think my job is to bring emotional truth and energy to something. You can’t always rationalize why certain trousers don’t feel right or why a certain frame feels powerful. Sometimes you just know. And usually the reason they hire me is because they trust that instinct and that point of view.
3. “Directing with Love”: That phrase sounds soft. In a high-pressure production with a big budget and a tight schedule, what does “directing with love” actually look like on set?
Directing with love doesn’t mean being soft or not being decisive. I’m still very clear about my vision and what I want. But it means creating an environment where people feel safe, present, and excited instead of fearful.
On a big production, energy spreads very quickly. If the director is stressed, secretive, or aggressive, everyone feels it. But if people feel trusted and seen, they do better work. The creatives, the clients, the crew, the cast, everyone becomes more open and collaborative.
I realized my best work comes when I’m not creating from pressure or fear. It comes from feeling calm, connected, and completely present. That’s what I mean by directing with love.
4. From Music Videos to Ensure: You’ve directed for Ashnikko, Sia, and Elton John. What did you learn about capturing raw performance in music videos that made you the right choice for a campaign featuring real, non-actor older adults?
Music videos taught me how to capture energy and emotion in a very instinctive way. When you’re directing artists, especially performers with strong identities, you learn very quickly that you can’t force something real. You have to create an environment where people feel free enough to give you something honest.
That became incredibly important on Ensure because we were working with real people, not actors. I wasn’t interested in directing performances that felt staged or performative. I wanted to create the conditions where I could just observe people being themselves.
Music videos also taught me rhythm, pacing, emotion, and how to make something feel cinematic without dialogue. Ensure was really led by feeling, music, composition, and energy, which comes very naturally to me because of my background in music videos.
5. Real People, Not Actors: Your Ensure campaign uses real people. How do you direct a non-actor to deliver a performance that feels authentic without them “performing” for the camera?
I think the biggest thing is that I don’t treat non-actors like actors. I’m not trying to force a performance out of them or make them hit emotions artificially. My job is really to create an environment where they forget they’re being watched.
With Ensure, we spent a lot of time talking, listening, building trust, and making people feel comfortable before the camera was even rolling. People opened up naturally because the set didn’t feel intimidating or overly performative.
I’m very sensitive to energy, so I pay attention to whether someone feels nervous, self-conscious, or emotionally closed off. Sometimes it’s music, sometimes it’s conversation, sometimes it’s just slowing the pace down and creating calm.
What I learned from photography and music videos is that the most powerful moments usually happen in-between the planned moments. A look, a breath, someone laughing unexpectedly, someone getting emotional without trying to. That’s the stuff I’m always searching for.
So for me, directing real people is less about directing them and more about protecting a space where something truthful can happen.
6. The Oxfam 75th Anniversary Spot: You used a “kinetic, music video-influenced editing style” for a fashion-forward charity campaign. Why did a cause like Oxfam need energy and pace rather than slow, somber storytelling?
Oxfam is such an important cultural institution and such a huge charity that I felt there was an opportunity to create something that reflected its energy, cultural relevance, and emotional impact in a more contemporary way. I wanted the film to feel alive, stylish, and emotionally charged rather than overly traditional or expected.
For me, energy and emotion make people feel something more deeply. Fashion, music, movement, rhythm, all of those things create excitement and cultural relevance. I wanted the film to feel contemporary, alive, and emotionally charged rather than instructional.
A lot of charity work can become visually predictable, and I think audiences disconnect when something feels too safe or overly serious. I wanted Oxfam to feel powerful, stylish, youthful, and full of life because that felt more truthful to the impact and scale of the organization.
My music video background naturally influenced that approach. I love movement, tension, pacing, and emotional rhythm, and I think bringing that language into a purpose-driven campaign helped make the work feel more human and culturally alive.
