Dan Lester

Hi there!

I’m a creative video director with a decade of industry experience of making things move for global brands, charities and education.

I particularly specialize in projects that combine animation and live action in inventive, fresh ways, whether creating zany, wild rides for the likes of Red Bull and Lee Kum Kee, or educational content that provokes thought and intrigue for the BBC and National Galleries of Scotland.

I fully direct and oversee videos from start to finish, leading creatives and assembling teams, whilst also being hand-on across all stages of post and production, starting with scriptwriting and research, through to directing on shoots, and finally overseeing or directly working on post-production in After Effects, Premiere, and Cinema4D.

At Heehaw in Edinburgh I have spent the majority of my eight years at the company as Head of Animation and Illustration, directing a team of creatives and freelancers, on international projects that have taken me from Cairo to Geneva to the Scottish Highlands and back.

I currently work as a freelance director and motion graphics artist, and continue to work part time with Heehaw.

Through my career, projects I have directed have won multiple awards including Best Animation at the Scottish Design Awards 2023 and 2022, Evcom Clarion Gold and Silver awards for Education and Diversity in 2021, and I was nominated for Best Young Creative in Scotland at the Nods in 2017 - though alas I’m now a little less ‘young’.

When not knuckling down on projects you can find my hiking the highlands with my whippet and cycling Scotlands gravel routes.

Check out some of the clients that I’ve worked with below

Got a project you'd like to chat about? Get in touch via email Phone: (+44)7890 911668

'Scottish Design Awards 2022' logo'Scottish Design Awards 2023' logo'Evcom 2021' logo'Red Bull' logo'BBC Bitesize' logo'World Health Organisation' logo'United Nations' logo'Chillhop' logo'Lee Kum Kee' logo'National Galleries Scotland' logo'National Museums Scotland' logo'Now TV' logo