Featured Director
Darren Durlach
Seeking honest moments and deeper meaning.
Featured Director
Director, Founder
Stories are like an onion, all about the layers.”
Darren is drawn towards narrative work that allows for deeper exploration. A firm believer that every shot, word, and moment should advance the story, he’s tireless in refining his work so every moment is intentional and emotionally engaging. His unique style has been developed over a decade of meticulously crafting award-winning films and commercials…. Darren Durlach is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, commercial director, and screen writer based in Baltimore, MD. He’s directed for networks like NBC, Discovery, and Nat Geo as well as clients like Microsoft, Audi, Payactiv, Hollister, Callaway and more. The work he’s best known for gravitates towards deeply personal stories couched in a bold, realist visual style. He seeks ways to visually, sonically, and narratively give the audience chills. But his favorite part of the process is collaboration and discovery. He loves the ‘a-ha’ moments that spontaneously combust during script analysis or tech scouts or on set when everyone is bringing ideas and the energy is frothy. EVERY part of the process is fun, grueling, and contributes to the final tapestry. He learned to tell stories by doing it every single day as a photojournalist for TV and Newspapers. In 2008, he traveled to an earthquake ravaged Haiti to tell the story of a small team of US doctors who set up a triage center in the courtyard of a destroyed hospital in Porta Au Prince. In 2014 he directed The Boston Globe’s first television documentary 5 Runners about the tragic Boston Marathon bombings. These are just two examples of hundreds of stories he told in journalism and the experience was invaluable in teaching him how to help people feel safe in vulnerable moments, sharpened his nose for finding stories in the most unlikely of places. And it taught him how to structure stories for maximum emotional impact. Darren has had the honor of being named the Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year three years in a row in 2009, 2010, and 2011 by the National Press Photographers Association while working for WBFF in Baltimore and has been awarded 23 Emmys© by Chesapeake Bay and New England NATAS. At The Boston Globe, he was awarded the prestigious George Polk award from Long Island University with a team of investigative journalists for his contribution of a short documentary on the leniency Massachusetts judges show toward accused drunk drivers, as well as six national Edward R. Murrow awards. Most fulfilling have been the opportunities to teach. Darren was a featured speaker at ‘Video Playground’ in Denmark and has guest lectured at Harvard Extension School. He has had the honor of teaching visual storytelling in 18 states for various organizations and thrives on meeting passionate people with the shared goal of raising industry standards for the betterment of society. Darren believes there is no more effective way to communicate the human experience than to tell a story.
