Juliana Curi, a Brazilian director who gained her first U.S. representation in 2019 when she joined Honor Society, has now returned to the company which has since evolved into Honor Society x MacGuffin. The move also marks her return to the U.S. market after spending considerable time honing her skills and creative vision internationally.
Curi traveled extensively, developing projects across different cultures–which established her multicultural and global signature. The most significant milestone was her feature-length directorial debut, Uýra – The Rising Forest. Shot in the Amazon, Uýra captivated audiences worldwide, reaffirming that an authentic point of view and emotional resonance remain at the core of Curi’s craft.
The film has been showcased at venues including the Barbican in London, BAM in Brooklyn, Fondazione Prada in Milan, and the DGA Theater in Los Angeles, and earned awards recognition, including a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Documentary, a Special Programming Award win at LA Outfest, and the London Film Week Jury Prize. Watching a story born in the Amazon resonate with audiences around the world–from New York to Geneva–affirmed her storyteller’s path: creating work that is culturally grounded, emotionally truthful, and globally relevant.
The director’s experience creating Uýra further developed her storytelling, craft, and emotional architecture instincts, which then enriched the way she directs for brands–especially in collaborative branded content environments working directly with agencies. The film allowed her to approach commercial and branded content with a deeper narrative maturity, and challenged a long-held segmentation: that socially driven narratives can’t also be cinematic, premium, crafted, and visually ambitious. Uýra proved the opposite, and this understanding continues to shape how Curi builds stories today, whether for cinema or for brands.
Curi took these thorough learnings to Unilever, helming “The Dove Code” in close creative lockstep with agency Droga5 Brazil in 2024, which garnered accolades from Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, The One Show, and The Shorty Awards, among others. The campaign–produced by Saigon Films–demonstrates that AI cannot be manipulated to override its training; it learns from our human archives and reflects what we’ve historically deemed beautiful, brave, or powerful. To make this point land, Curi drew on her multifaceted background as a director, creative director, journalist, and screenwriter. While the shoot itself was short, Curi’s work behind the scenes took many months. The prompts featured in the spot couldn’t be manipulated to prove their point; they had to uncover AI’s stereotypes on their own, and as such, the spot garnered awards without modifying the generations presented whatsoever. The work represents her signature, which merges aesthetic precision and purpose, achieving lasting cultural resonance.
Over the years Curi has turned out varied work for U.S. clients, including Coca-Cola, Walgreens, No.7, Unilever and Nestle. After her first tour of duty at Honor Society, she had been repped in the U.S. market by production house Institute.
Megan Kelly, founder and managing partner for Honor Society, said, “Juliana’s post-feature global growth and experience working with AI have given her fresh and powerful perspectives that she’s now bringing back to the U.S. market. This invaluable insight will strengthen Honor Society’s position moving forward.”
Curi added, “Returning to Honor Society feels natural–and genuinely exciting. It’s where I first built meaningful work early in my U.S. career, and I’m coming back with a wider global perspective and a sharper creative voice.”
Curi also holds the distinction of being selected for the 2024 mentorship program of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in Los Angeles, which prepares a new generation of storytellers in Hollywood.
