Danielle Guirguis is on a mission to help purpose-driven people tell their stories. As the founder of SMARTHOUSE, she provides filmmakers, artists, professors, and impact brands with a platform for their stories in various forms. From branding to feature films, from websites to documentaries, animations or campaigns. After working for other producers for years on films like “Zwartboek” (Black Book) and “Komt een Vrouw bij de Dokter” (Stricken) Guirguis decided to start her own film production company in 2011. In 2015, an advertising branch was added, and Smarthouse became a recognized player in both fields. She was nominated for Best Feature Film for her film “La Holandesa”, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, and won a Dutch Academy Award for “La Ultima Ascención” by Kevin Osepa. However, after many years of commercials for international brands like Tesla, Twitter, Tele2, Toyota, and other brands that don’t start with a ’t’, she decided to change direction. The pandemic made her realize that the world is on fire and that we need to change. So Smarthouse shifted from a traditional production company to a creative impact studio , working exclusively with impact brands and people.
Guirguis sits on the executive board as treasurer and impact officer of ACE, is cofounder of AWARE, a talent development program for people who don’t have access to the film industry, AdGreenNL to make the advertising industry more sustainable, and is the Dutch representative for the sustainability committee (ASN) of the European Film Academy.