Alice Britton is co-founder and director at creative digital studio Squint/Opera. She tells the Dezeen Jobs careers guide what it's like to produce award-winning films and content about the built environment.
Britton's position as director at Squint/Opera sees her guiding a team of designers, animators and visual-effects (VFX) artists to create immersive content centred around the built environment.
The creative studio produces digital media for organisations including the V&A, the Empire State Building and the Weill Cornell Medical Institute, through a varied portfolio of short films, animated CGI and virtual reality.
As part of her role, Britton is constantly on the lookout for talented artists to collaborate on content, whilst simultaneously exploring potential clients to partner with.
"Media design is at the core of our studio's work and my role includes finding opportunities to design immersive content into the built environment and visitor attractions and how that can inspire new interactions and different forms of participation," Britton explained.
"The aim is always to engage the audience through amazing content."
Britton co-founded Squint/Opera with a group of friends whilst at The Bartlett in London. She reveals that although she was passionate about architecture, she is more interested in telling stories, making films and creating visual imagery.
Choosing not to pursue a career as an architect, Britton states her architecture degree still provided her with "the foundation to approach projects from different angles".
"It instilled an understanding that there are myriad ways to portray a vision and a story, through different styles, different techniques, and on different platforms," she told Dezeen Jobs.
Britton now oversees a team of 50 designers, creative directors, editors and CGI artists at the company's London office, with a smaller team of ten in New York.
Describing what it's like to work in an industry that combines architecture with digital media, Britton explains: "the pace of change and the opportunities for real creativity within emerging technologies means we never repeat the same work twice".
She reinforces the importance of teamwork at Squint/Opera, adding that the company are keen to invite people who not only have "creative individuality, ambition and a passion for their work", but also those who are keen to "collaborate, communicate, and show kindness and support to colleagues".
"It's important that we are all team players, people who are keen to get stuck in, work together and learn from each other but also want to become part of the wider culture at Squint/Opera," she said.
Her advice for individuals at the start of their careers includes having a strong sense of enthusiasm, paired with self-belief and the ability to work with others.
"If you believe in creating something passionately, you can make it happen," she said. "Crucially, trust within teams and collaborating with wonderfully talented people will enable it to happen."
Read the interview on Dezeen Jobs ›