Danielle Guirguis

Danielle Guirguis

Danielle Guirguis is on a mission to help purpose-driven people tell their story. As the founder of SMARTHOUSE, she offers filmmakers, artists, professors, and impact brands a platform for their message—from branding to feature films, from websites to documentaries, animations, or campaigns.

After years of working on films like Zwartboek and Komt een Vrouw bij de Dokter, she started her own production company in 2011. In 2015, an advertising branch was added. Success followed with projects like La Holandesa (TIFF premiere, Golden Calf nomination) and La Última Ascensión (winner of the Golden Calf and acquired by Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen). She worked for brands such as Tesla, Twitter, Tele2, and Toyota—until she decided: enough. The world is on fire, and things need to change. Since then, SMARTHOUSE has no longer been a traditional production house, but a creative impact studio that works exclusively with people and brands that genuinely want to change the world.

Danielle is a guest lecturer at the Netherlands Film Academy, host of the vodcast Creative Impact Makers, moderator at IDFA and the Netherlands Film Festival, and speaker at, among others, ACE Producers, Dubai Lynx, Playgrounds Festival, and Sofia Meetings. She sits on the board of ACE, is co-founder of AWARE and AdGreenNL, and represents the Netherlands on the sustainability committee of the European Film Academy.

Danielle speaks about stories as engines of change. About shifting the dominant narrative. About how, as a creator or brand, you not only say something—but truly move people.

The New Narrative

A talk about how we can use stories to shift systems. From ‘me and more’ to ‘us and better.’ Danielle shows why it’s time for new words, new imagery, and above all: new storytellers.