Short-Form Director

Company Overview:

Challenge Accepted is looking for a Short Form Director (with a special focus in branded content) to join our badass team.

At Challenge Accepted, we make ambitious, cinematic documentaries about what happens when you commit to doing something that seems impossible, ranging from attempting Tom Cruise's deadliest stunt to running 7 marathons on all 7 continents in 7 days. Our mission is to inspire people to step beyond their perceived limits by exploring the training, setbacks, and extraordinary people behind every challenge. Our work has garnered more than 6 million followers, generated over 1 billion views across platforms, won Show of the Year at the Streamys, and broke ground by becoming Primetime Emmy eligible as a fully independent show.

Beyond our long-form documentaries, we create viral short-form videos, premium brand partnerships, and live events that bring the same curiosity and ambition to our ethos.

We're a small, highly collaborative team of creatives who care deeply about the work, the people behind it, and the responsibility of impact we hold to our audience. Our projects are ambitious, our standards are high, and no two days are the same. If you're excited by big ideas, love solving creative problems, and take pride in making exceptional work with a team that gives its all, we'd love to hear from you.

Our Ideal Candidate:

As our Short Form Director, you'll lead the creative vision and execution of all short-form content Team MK produces, both organic and branded, from the initial concept to the final delivered cut. You have a proven track record of creating shortform content that is genuinely cool, culturally relevant, and effective.

While you'll oversee our entire short-form slate, a central focus of this role is creating exceptional branded short form videos. You've worked with blue-chip brands and understand how to deliver on a client's objectives without sacrificing the creativity and authenticity that make great content resonate. We're looking for someone who understands what makes organic content succeed and knows how to elegantly bring those same instincts, creativity, and cultural relevance to brand partnerships.

IMPORTANT

We believe the strongest directors have firsthand experience excellently doing the work they lead. We want a candidate who has spent time behind the camera, in the edit, developing scripts, and producing content yourself. In this role, you won't necessarily be responsible for executing each of these functions day to day, but that hands-on experience allows you to lead with creative authority, communicate effectively across disciplines, and bring out the best in the people you direct.

COMPETENCIES

• Has Taste: Knows what is creatively good and not good. Can look at a script, a cut, or a thumbnail and know in seconds whether it is right for us. The girls that get it, get it.
• Fluent in Internet Culture: Lives on TikTok, Reels, and Shorts. Understands formats, trends, memes, pacing, and platform norms as they shift week to week, but knows how to translate them into our brand without chasing every trend.
• Brand Whisperer: Deep experience working with blue chip brands and their agencies. Speaks their language (talking points, brand safety, usage, paid social best practices) and can hold the creative line to represent our interests with warmth and confidence.
• Collaborative: Works hand in hand with the team to share ideas so we can collectively arrive at the best solution. Communicates smoothly with all stakeholders, internal and external. Able to email, hop on calls, and present to high profile clients with professionalism and ease.
• Detail Oriented, Organized: Cares about each and every detail, from a banned word in a script to a competitor color in a wardrobe choice to the aspect ratio of a delivered file. Keeps a highly organized workflow across briefs, review rounds, versions, and deliverables so nothing slips and everyone is always working from the current cut. (This one is really big for us!!!!!)

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• Own Short Form Creative: Lead ideation, concepting, writing, and creative direction for every short form asset Team MK produces (TikTok, Reels, Shorts, paid social creator ads), organic and branded, across all MK channels and client channels.
• Own client communication: Serve as the primary creative point of contact for clients and agency partners throughout each campaign, proactively keeping them updated on timelines, deliverables, feedback, approvals, and any changes that could impact the project.
• Pitch and Concept Development: Build creative pitches and treatments that answer the brief, land the talking points, and still feel like Challenge Accepted. Partner with our agent on RFPs and proposals.
• Scripts and Client Notes: Write or oversee scripts, story beats, and content outlines for creator ads and integrations. Everything reads in Michelle's voice, natural and relatable. Know when a client note pushes us away from our voice or toward a claim we cannot make, and guide the client to a better answer.
• Shoot Direction: Direct short form shoots (in studio and on location), including batch shoot days for creator ads and integrations. Work with our DP and production team on schedules, shot lists, and coverage so every deliverable is captured.
• Post Supervision: Give creative direction to editors. Own the horizontal to vertical workflow, cutdowns (:60 / :30 / :15 / :06), textless and raw versions, VO, GFX, and captions.
• Team Leadership: Lead and manage a team (including freelance writers, editors, and shooters), give clear creative direction, and pass off tasks with confidence.

REQUIREMENTS

• 5+ years in creative direction, branded content, or social creative, with meaningful time at a creator studio, agency, or media brand.
• A portfolio of short form vertical work for blue chip brands, ideally with creators as talent.
• Los Angeles based and must able to work in person @ MKHQ.

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