Meet Carly –  on the Director Roster at BearJam

Get to know Carly...

Some people know exactly what they want to do from the start.... i for sure thought i wanted to design the Olympic sports kit but, for Carley, it began at 14, with a work experience placement in a post-production house in Manchester, and a fascination that’s never really left.

It all started the summer before, when she watched an advert for laundry detergent being filmed at the end of her road. Something about the process stuck. Not just the cameras or the crew, but the transformation, how something so ordinary on set could become something so polished, powerful, and persuasive on screen.

Curious to see more, Carly did what most teenagers wouldn’t: she cold-called production companies across Cheshire and Manchester until one finally said yes. She and a friend were invited in for a week of work experience, and that week changed everything.

One moment in particular stayed with her, being completely mind-blown by how raw, slightly chaotic footage and sound could be shaped in the edit into something seamless and emotionally compelling. She didn’t know it at the time, but her path toward storytelling — and the edit suite — had already been set.

After university, Carly joined Deluxe London, working across the Mastering and Localisation of Hollywood features and trailers. One of her first roles involved formatting and placing multi-language subtitles across films — repetitive work on the surface, but foundational in a much deeper way. It gave her a close-up understanding of editorial decisions and how even the smallest choices can shape the meaning, rhythm, and impact of a scene.

Fast forward 18 years (her words: gulp), Carly is now directing and editing short films, documentaries, and commercials, with a strong focus on human-centred, impact-driven storytelling.

Her work has contributed to real-world policy conversations, with campaign films influencing both the Flexible Working Bill and the Crime and Policing Bill. Her films have also been shortlisted three times at the Charity Film Awards, where she won the People’s Choice Award for a powerful short film exploring women’s experiences of giving birth during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her Why

At the heart of Carly’s work is a deep curiosity about people.

Her interest in human behaviour and storytelling is rooted in her own early experiences, including a difficult period of being bullied during childhood. Rather than turning away from that, it shaped her perspective, driving a lifelong interest in understanding people, their mindsets, and how we relate to one another.

That empathy now sits at the centre of everything she creates.

She’s particularly drawn to documentary and unscripted work — the kind of projects where you don’t just tell stories, you discover them. For Carley, these environments feel like the best kind of education: unpredictable, revealing, and full of moments you could never script.

It’s where she feels most at home — observing, listening, and turning real human experience into film that connects.

Check out some of Carly work here:  Directors Page