Gustavo
Leal

about the jury

Gustavo Leal is a founder of Dirty Work, a Brazilian animation production company. Passionate about stories, illustration and animation, this led him to pursue a career in advertising, prompting his move from Minas Gerais to São Paulo. From there, he worked in some of the leading advertising agencies as an art director.

In 2012, he found himself distant from his professional passions and decided to reassess his path by founding Dirty Work in 2013. Since then, his professional expertise in this field has emerged with the desire to satisfy the younger version of himself who dreamed of creating diverse stories, exploring visual universes, and experimenting with different techniques – a place where he had always aspired to work.

The pleasure of discovering inspiring and innovative visual narratives led him to delve deeper into the rich and diverse universe of creation, sometimes navigating through illustration, art direction, and animation. He has worked with brands such as Deezer, Airbnb, Sundown, Samsung, Scopely, Adidas, Fox, Ford, Chevrolet, Discovery, Uber, Coca-Cola, among others. His role as a director, alongside Faga Melo, has resulted in numerous awards in his career, including Cannes Lions, One Show, CLIO Awards, and the pleasant surprise of being qualified for the Oscar as one of the directors of the short film Footsteps on the Wind in 2022, which also won several festivals such as the CineQuest Film Festival and was selected for more than 25 festivals worldwide.

Currently, Gustavo Leal remains committed to his relentless pursuit of exploring the universe further, experimenting, studying, and infusing animation in all its facets and possibilities so that Dirty Work is increasingly recognized for its originality and boldness.