Episode 39 – Anna Ginsburg

This Way Up

For this episode, I interview the super inspiring Anna Ginsburg. Anna is a filmmaker who specialises in traditional hand-drawn and stop-motion as well as live-action videos.

Her films have earned her a lot of well-deserved accolades over the years, including a Bafta for the Bombay Bicycle Club's for the music video 'How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep?', ‘Private Parts’, a film that features, you guessed it, women and men’s private parts, which was screened at film festivals worldwide. And most recently Anna has directed a short film called 'What is Beauty?', released for International Women's Day in 2018, which has received over 15 million views.

Her work stands out and so does she. From the get-go, I was hooked by her story, especially how it was thanks to a tutor at university that she ditched the world of architecture; for the somewhat uncertain world of illustration and motion graphics. It was then that she saw the value of taking risks, something that she goes back to over and over with her work.

We also talk about how she made it as one of the few female film directors and the disappointments, anger and misogyny she encountered along the way. It was not easy but she unashamedly; and rightly so; credits her self-confidence and ability to speak up as skills that were key to getting her where she is today.

Finally, we discuss her work processes and the importance of feeding the ‘creative’ flame so to speak that makes your work stay relevant and stand out from the crowd – I’m not going to give it away now but it’s really good so you’ll have to hear it from Anna!

You’ll hear the occasional train noise coming from above her studio which is based in a railway arch in London. I had an absolute blast and I urge you to listen to the full hour, it is well worth it as Anna is full of great advice and is really fun to listen to!