Nicole Ackermann is a commercial director whose work centers emotional storytelling, performance direction, and polished visual craft. Born in Johannesburg, she studied film at Wits University and on scholarship at NYU Tisch, moving from theatre writing and directing through TBWA/Hunt/Lascaris and the duo PHI into solo commercial work. She signed with Merman in December 2018, appears on Bonaparte’s US/EU roster, and has been a DGA member since 2021. Client work includes Pepsi’s 2025 “Refresh the Game” women’s football film (with COPA90), Hyundai’s FIFA-linked “How Far We’ve Come” (2023 Bronze Clio Sports), Dell “Inspire,” the Bethesda Starfield live-action trailer, a Universal Studios Super Bowl spot, Lexus “Keep the Light Alive,” Guinness Africa “Everything is possible,” Burt’s Bees authenticity-led beauty, and early McDonald’s with PHI. She has directed Morgan Freeman, David Beckham, and Simone Biles. Strengths sit at sports and athlete narrative, automotive, premium brand storytelling, and celebrity-led performance, with recurring women’s sports empowerment work. She lives between Cape Town and Los Angeles and is developing feature and television projects with Merman.