How Alina Kulesh Is Always Evolving and Expanding her Range

Alina Kulesh is a Ukrainian-Canadian director who creates empathetic work with aesthetic sensitivity. Captivated by the tension of opposing truths, she blends style and tone to craft memorable content. Her narrative work has screened internationally at festivals, streaming, broadcast, and in-flight.

Name: Alina Kulesh

Location: Toronto and Los Angeles

Repped by/in: Coup de Grâce in Canada

LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?

Alina> I adore the craftspeople I work with on set, and they’re so priceless in bringing it all together. 

I do think my most important working relationship is with the creative team. With a background in advertising, I understand that creatives live and breathe the brand, have worked tirelessly on the campaign, and are super excited to bring it to life. If we are all on the same page and vibing, then that will trickle down to other talented collaborators on set.  

LBB> What type of work are you most passionate about - is there a particular genre or subject matter or style you are most drawn to?

Alina> My work has predominantly been centred on both emotional storytelling and telling the stories of real people, and that’s been a really beautiful thing in my life. For example, the work I’ve done for SickKids (Cossette and FCB) and Make Happy Tummies (Crew Marketing) has helped raise money and create special moments for the kids involved. Sometimes, it’s not just the love for craft but the change we can make. 

Lately, I’m feeling drawn to spots that feel like little movies, even in 30 seconds. Maybe that’s because I’m also a narrative filmmaker, but so much in our worlds is fragmented, that it feels like a breath of fresh air when you see an ad that is little cinema. Usually that means taking a risk and breaking the ad mould somehow. Also sports, there’s so much drama, I find that every sports story has the perfect cinematic arc. 

LBB> Which pieces of your work do you feel show your range and why? 

Alina> I love that you asked about ‘range’ because to me that’s the exciting part: getting to create different kinds of work while evolving my skills. You can definitely see the range, so far, in my DoorDash 'Favorites Thai BBQ' piece, it’s a docu-style spot but with aesthetic sensitivity, the Walmart work I did with Cossette, there’s subtle humour in it, and a bird! All the way to a current Nike-style spot, it’s stylish, dynamic, has an attitude, and was pulled together quickly to showcase Laowa’s new anamorphic lenses. The SickKids work also shows that I can work with people of all ages and can pivot how I direct to accommodate the talent, and I just love that team.  

​LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?

Alina> I don't protect the idea like it's mine, it belongs to all of us. But I do advocate for it. My job is to help us get to the version of this idea that doesn't just work, but actually resonates and sticks with people. When conversations start to drift – and I mean when others begin pulling away from what's on the page – it's usually because valid concerns come up: Will this reach the right audience? Will leadership see the value? And I get it. Brands have a lot on the line. 

That's when I lean in, not to overpower the conversation, but to help us see the path forward. I'm strategic by nature, so I try to root every creative decision in intent, and I'm not afraid to speak up when I think we can push an idea further. The best work happens when we challenge each other in the right ways, and I genuinely believe that collaboration makes everything stronger. 

LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them? 

Alina> When there’s a very specific tone in a script, that’s exciting. Tone can come through in the cadence of how it's written, the dialogue, the art direction, even what's not said. For example, is it understated and intimate, or bold and unapologetic? Is there tension we need to hold, or warmth we need to lean into? Sometimes people have a hard time articulating what the tone is, but I like digging into that, pinning it down so we're all speaking the same language and working toward the same feeling.

When a creative team is after something incredibly specific that’s an exciting kind of challenge; I can elevate it, make it sing, and we’ll all create something unique. Which, in a visually saturated world, is one of the keys to resonating with an audience. 

LBB> If the script is for a brand that you're not familiar with/ don’t have a big affinity with or a market you're new to, how important is it for you to do research and understand that strategic and contextual side of the ad? If it’s important to you, how do you do it?

Alina> It's really important. I always start with the script itself, studying what this specific spot is saying about the brand, what feeling it's trying to create, and what it's asking the audience to believe or do. I trust the creative team because they've been living and breathing this brand, and a lot of the strategic thinking is already baked into the work.

From there, I'll look at what the brand has done before to understand if we're building on their existing identity or if we're trying to shift perception and do something different. I also approach it from the audience's perspective: if I'm a viewer who's never heard of this brand, what is this spot saying? How will they be perceived? It has to be clear and intriguing enough to make someone want to engage further. So I'm balancing respect for the creative team's vision with that instinctive, audience-first lens.

LBB> Your work is now presented in so many different formats - to what extent do you keep each in mind while you're working (and, equally, to what degree is it possible to do so)? 

Alina> To me, different formats means different audiences or audience behaviours. For example, if it’s a social ad, I know people are scrolling in an algorithm that’s bidding for their attention, so that first second has to grab them, so I think, what’s that first frame? 

I definitely think about who is seeing this and how it’ll find them, more than the technical format itself. Because actually, a lot of great creative work breaks the mould, but it’ll definitely be captivating. 

LBB> Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set? 

Alina> Yeah, I definitely want to provide an opportunity for people to learn - especially on well-funded projects where there’s appropriate time for it. I’ve never had the experience of being mentored on set, but I’ve had many people around me give me a chance and champion me. It takes a village to raise a director.