Nancy Paton is a Polish-Australian filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and writer based in Abu Dhabi. Across nearly three decades in film, television and writing, Nancy’s path has moved through Sydney, New York, London, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, shaping a creative perspective that is international in experience and deeply connected to the Middle East.
Nancy’s interest in film was nurtured through performance and study, including time at Newtown Performing Arts High School, the University of Sydney and the Atlantic Acting School in New York. That grounding in performance continues to inform how she writes characters and works with actors.
Working around independent film in New York helped expand Nancy’s understanding of screenwriting and production. It also sharpened a creative approach that connects story development with the realities of bringing a project to screen.
While living in London, Nancy wrote the screenplay for Daisy, later directing the featurette and building an international award-winning project around a story of empathy and unexpected connection.
Teaching and filmmaking in Saudi Arabia opened a closer view into the region’s creative life. Nancy later wrote, produced and directed Postpartum there with an amateur all-female crew in Saudi Arabia, creating the film within the Kingdom’s emerging creative community.
Abu Dhabi became the base for Nancy’s filmmaking, producing and mentorship work, including Desert Rose Films, founded in 2015. She was also instrumental in starting the first chapter of Women in Film & TV MENA and currently serves as President, helping build stronger pathways for women across the regional screen industry.
While based in Riyadh, Nancy lectured at Raffles Design Institute in Digital Photography, Screenwriting and Storyboarding. This period became an important foundation for Nancy’s education and mentoring practice.
Nancy began developing and delivering practical workshops in Saudi Arabia that translated storytelling, visual thinking and filmmaking into hands-on learning for emerging creatives.
Workshop themes include screenwriting, story structure, character, visual storytelling and storyboarding, grounded in Nancy’s experience taking projects from concept through production.
Education and mentorship remain part of Nancy’s wider mission: helping women and emerging filmmakers develop confidence, practical craft and a clearer route into the screen industry.
Nancy’s work is driven by curiosity about people, culture and the perspectives that become possible when audiences are invited to look beyond familiar assumptions.
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Nancy’s brand is strongest when Nancy’s work is presented as one connected practice. Filmmaking brings the visual language. Writing brings depth and authorship. Speaking brings presence. Mentorship brings generosity and long-term impact.
The expanded website uses more real imagery and fuller narrative content so the client sees not only what Nancy has done, but the perspective that connects it all.
A filmmaker’s eye for emotion, performance, tone and the cultural detail that makes a story feel specific rather than generic.
A producer and founder’s understanding of collaboration, decision-making, visibility and the realities of moving creative work forward.
A writer’s instinct for language, structure and the meaning underneath the surface of an idea.
A speaker and mentor able to translate lived experience into useful, engaging conversations for audiences and emerging creatives.
Nancy's official biography describes nearly three decades across film, television and writing, with training that included the Atlantic Theatre Acting School in New York. Nancy’s work has developed through an international life and a long-term creative base in the Middle East.
Nancy founded Desert Rose Films in Abu Dhabi in 2015 to develop original, independent and female character-driven work while deepening understanding of the Arab world through new voices and perspectives.
Nancy’s practice crosses directing, producing, screenwriting and writing, allowing Nancy to approach projects from both the story-development side and the realities of production.
Nancy’s international perspective has been shaped across Sydney, New York, London, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, giving Nancy’s work a genuinely cross-cultural foundation.
Nancy's official bio also notes postgraduate study and ongoing novel writing, strengthening the authorial and intellectual side of the personal brand.
