William Maher — Director, Writer & Creative Director

Live Experiences+Film As Global Force‑Multiplier

Michelob Ultra · FCB NY

Dreamcaster

A blind man's dream of becoming a sports broadcaster — realized through proprietary real-time AI technology. We designed and built the ultimate immersive experience — for one. Cameron Black live-commentated a Knicks playoff game from our experiential studio in Brooklyn. Broadcast on MSG Network.

Experiential

Producer: Max Knies · DP: Greta Zozula

150+ Industry AwardsOne of the most awarded campaigns ever

Cannes Grand Prix

7× Cannes Lions

Sports Emmy

The One Show
Corona Cero · Townhouse/Grey

Golden Venues

Take Olympic stadium seats from Paris, install them at a multitude of iconic destinations across nine countries — reminding people to take in their own life's golden moments wherever they are. Sometimes the strong ideas are simple and special.

Experiential

Producer: David Marks

DPs: Michael S. Nyman, Frank Barbian & Daniel Belinky

Slow Brew · 5 min version
Puma · DUDE London

The Biggest Goal

The first goal of Puma's Premier League era needed to be memorable. A 10.5-meter ball. Eight miles down the Thames. Tower Bridge as the goalpost. The slow goal penetrates the shield.

Experiential

Producer: Amalia Rosen-Rawlings · DP: Siggi Rosen-Rawlings
Universal Pictures · Amazon Prime Video · Illumination

Grinchmas Tree

A 30-foot Grinch Tree for Rockefeller Center, built from The Grinch's pilfered presents — with interactive lighting visitors could recolor, hidden trapdoors revealing scenes from the film, and a giant illuminated red heart that drew queues around the block. Tens of thousands of visitors, millions more through NBC's Today Show. Magic.

Experiential

Producer: Aileen Martinez
Universal Pictures

Jurassic World

Pesky pteranodons cause mayhem at the opening of the new Jurassic World in Universal City. Thank goodness for intercept drones.

Experiential

Producer: Aileen Martinez

Brand Narrative Filmmaking

American Express · Dentsu

Amex Business Class

A six-film campaign featuring Nick Offerman and Patti LaBelle — chosen both for their notoriety as performers, and because both run real businesses of their own. Nick's Offerman Woodshop has been hand-crafting exquisite furniture for decades, and Patti's Good Life has become a serious food empire. These multi-hyphenate masters both know a thing or two about raising and running a small business.

Brand Film

Producer: Max Knies · DP: Greta Zozula
A Six-Film Series

Supply Chains — Nick Offerman

Financing — Nick Offerman

Spend Capacity — Nick Offerman

Expense Management — Patti LaBelle

Scaling — Patti LaBelle

Digital Transformation — Patti LaBelle
Deloitte · Direct

The Decision

An anthem film written and directed for Deloitte's Sustainability, Climate & Equity division — finding the human connection to a topic most brands struggle to articulate. Nature has already faced every disruption you can imagine, and it can be a formidable mentor, if you let it in.

Producer: Max Knies · DP: Sidney Unga
BMW / MINI · Anomaly

MINI Launched By ___

Eight films and 32 campaign assets across four countries and six cities — from Goodwood to Venice Beach to Hong Kong. Shot at the height of pandemic pandemonium using multiple remote crews.

Original IP & projects in development

Feature · In Development

The Archivist

A gothic romantic fable set in 1930s Europe at the edge of fascism. Written and to be directed by William Maher.
Series · In Development

Ascent from Akeron

Gouden KalfNominee

Created by William Maher. Set in a world where art and literature are forbidden and forgotten. Conceived as a living story — one built to evolve with the technologies that deliver it. Its first form — as an interactive motion comic published by Submarine NL — earned a Gouden Kalf nomination in 2019. Its next iteration is now in development as a multi-season series.
Feature Film · 2008 · Overture

Sleepwalking

A cinematic tragedy featuring Nick Stahl, AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Hopper, Woody Harrelson and Charlize Theron. Written by Zac Stanford. Premiered and sold at Sundance Film Festival, 2008.

Excerpt: Director's Cut offline
Music Video · Nomadicus

The Rain

An analog music video for Mark Tschanz, featuring a hand-made mechanical zoetrope and a whole lot of in-camera trickery.
Reportage · Nomadicus

Berlin Annual Snow Games

Fun & Games on the Feld.

William
Maher

William Maher is a director, writer, and creative director whose career began in architectural modelmaking — a hands-on craft that led him into art direction in the film industry. After relocating to Hollywood in the mid-1990s, he joined Warner Bros. during a pivotal shift in the industry, working in visual effects on films such as Mars Attacks! and X-Men as the industry gradually morphed from using practical, in-camera effects toward CGI.

His feature Sleepwalking premiered and sold at Sundance in 2008. Dreamcaster, for Michelob ULTRA, was two works at once — a technically intricate experiential installation that used AI and machine learning to enable a blind sports journalist to commentate a live basketball game, and the film he directed about its making. It has become one of the most awarded branded content projects ever made.

His work spans experiential and immersive production, commercial and branded film, interactive, documentary and feature film. He is currently developing Ascent from Akeron, a series adaptation of his graphic novel, alongside his original gothic romantic feature The Archivist.

Directors Guild of America

Member
Cannes Lions Grand Prix — Entertainment Lions for Sport

+ 2 Gold · 3 Silver · 2 Bronze · Dreamcaster, 2023
Sports Emmy — Outstanding Digital Innovation

Winner · Dreamcaster, 2024

Nominee · Outstanding Short-Form Sports Documentary
The One Show — 3 Best in Discipline · 14 Gold · 10 Silver · 6 Bronze

Dreamcaster, 2024
Sundance Film Festival — Feature Sale

Sleepwalking, 2008

Dreamcaster named the world's most awarded campaign— The Drum
World Creative Rankings

Cannes Cannes Lions

Grand Prix — Entertainment Lions for Sport
Gold — Media
Gold — Entertainment Lions for Sport
Silver — Radio & Audio
Silver — Media
Silver — Design
Bronze — Entertainment Lions for Sport
Bronze — Digital Craft

Sports Emmy

Winner — Outstanding Digital Innovation
Nominee — Outstanding Short-Form Sports Documentary

The One Show

Best in Discipline × 3
Gold Pencil × 14
Silver Pencil × 10
Bronze Pencil × 6
Merit × 17

ADC ADC Awards

Best of Discipline / Grand Prix × 3 — AI · Experiential · Interactive
Gold Cube × 9
Silver Cube × 3
Bronze Cube × 3
Merit × 4

Clio Clio Awards

Grand Clio × 3
Gold × 5
Silver × 3

D&AD D&AD

Yellow Pencil × 3
Graphite Pencil × 4
Wood Pencil × 8

LIA London International Awards

Gold × 5
Silver × 7
Bronze × 6

ANDY ANDY Awards

Gold Andy × 6

Also

Webby Winner — Food & Beverage
Gerety Awards — Silver, Innovation
AdAge — A.I. Idea of the Year
Broadcast Tech Innovation — Standout Tech Production of the Year
Ciclope Awards — Bronze, Innovation
Mosaic Awards — Allyship to Advocacy
Dreamcaster also earned The One Show and ADC Production Company of the Year 2024, and an AdAge A-List Standout, for HELO.

Selected Other Work

IKEA "Big Blue Bag" — D&AD Wood Pencil & One Show Merit, 2024
Creative Director, HELO
Deloitte "The Decision" — Gold Telly Award, Social Responsibility
Writer & Director, HELO

Get in touch...

Visionary clients find me when they have big dreams and complex puzzles to solve. Whatever the medium — experiential, technical, film (and sometimes all at once) — I bring together the team and find the narrative thread. Whether it's never been done before or just needs doing well, let's talk about what's on your mind.

contact@nomadicus.com