Rachel McDonald is an award-winning director and writer whose body of work spans commercials, music videos, documentaries and short films.

Rachel was born and raised in a small coastal town in Mississippi, where she absorbed the rhythms of storytelling from a young age.  On a mission to tell meaningful stories, she sought inspiration in unfamiliar places like Jordan, Uganda, Morocco, Nicaragua, and Egypt.

Rachel has directed multiple award-winning short films including “Thirst” starring Melanie Griffith which made it’s world premiere at the Locarno International Film Festival (2014) and won at the Emerging Cinematographer’s Awards. Her “Behind the Post” film for the One Love Foundation earned multiple awards including a Silver Cannes Lion and continues to be used as part of the organization’s curriculum for recognizing and preventing relationship abuse.

Rachel’s narrative short film “Hermanos” is currently screening internationally across a select range of film festivals.  It follows the journey of two immigrant children who are separated from their mother and escape a detention center in Texas.

Her documentary short, “Dancing Warrior” is making its world premiere at Mountain Film Festival in Telluride (2024).  The film follows a Lakota youth horse racing team as they support each other and compete in the traditional sport of Native American relay.

In the commercial space, Rachel has directed campaigns for major brands like BMW, Mercedes, Ikea, Toyota, Ford, Facebook, Gatorade, Volkswagen, Cadillac, Chevy, Microsoft and HP.

Rachel lives in Ojai, CA

AWARDS:

Cannes Lion (Film Craft)

Webby Awards

LIA Awards

Voice of a Woman Award

Source Creative Top 100 Spots

Shorty Awards

The One Show (Craft Direction,

Addys (Gold and Bronze)

Clio Awards (Gold)

Cresta Awards