Director's Works
NSPCC, The Most Dangerous Time of Year Sara Dunlop
Celebrated for her distinctive visual style and narrative depth, Sara Dunlop is a director with multiple industry awards. Her work spans commercials, television, and film.
Her narrative short Dreamlands was the only UK film in competition at Cannes 2016, later winning Best Narrative Short at Brooklyn. A meticulous storyteller, Sara layers authenticity and performance—from street-casting to script—to craft films rooted in humanity and nuance. Her work explores the personal within the epic, weaving cultural moments with emotional storytelling across all forms of media.
Sara has collaborated with brands including Nike, Apple, Vodafone, Sky, Levi's, Facebook, Expedia and the RAF, showcasing her ability to translate cinematic storytelling into compelling brand narratives. Highlights include the award-winning He's Coming Home for Women's Aid and the poignant McDonald's teen-love spot It Must Be.
Her socially-driven films—for NSPCC, The Havens Crisis Centre, Women's Aid, Barnardo's, The Big Issue and Plan International—have been recognised at D&AD, Creative Circle, the British Arrows Craft Awards, amongst others including Best Director.
Beyond the screen, Sara is a passionate advocate for equitable representation in the creative industries. She served as a UK ambassador for Free The Work and supports emerging talent through Channel 4's 4Skills programme, helping to shape a more inclusive industry from the ground up.
The use of the ‘RIng’ theme in the Carol of the Bells Christmas song is central to the idea, as we use our little girl's ‘ring' mantra to make the point of remembering to call Childline if you need help. To do this we had to record and edit the track before the shoot so we knew where this motif would fall.
The film required setting up Christmas time (lights, decorations excitement) but balancing this with creating an atmosphere where the audience also senses something isn’t quite right. Through cinematography and art direction we designed the school to be warmer and more inviting in stark contrast to the cold atmosphere at home.
The casting process was rigorous - and we ended up recalling about 10 children. We needed a child that was mature enough to understand the concept, but also who looked young enough that we feel her vulnerability.
It was also important to find a little girl that naturally had the perfectionist traits of the character, because making a mistake has grave consequences.
