The objective of Oakley’s “Be Who You Are” series was to use their athletes to reach and inspire new audiences by highlighting the unique stories that led them to greatness. We created the series to show when society teaches us to fit in, to adapt to an idea of normal, we end up losing sight of the quality that makes us unique. But this ‘thing’ is oftentimes the same thing that leads us to greatness. The story of Ítalo Ferreira was the surf episode and turned out to be Oakley’s most successful campaign of the year by far. On Oakley’s instagram alone, it generated over 3.7M organic views (the next closest video is 700K). The engagement across platforms was an incredible testament to an incredible story.

Born in Los Angeles, Novis has a degree in Advertising in Brazil, specializing in Direction of Photography from UCLA and Film Direction at the New York Film Academy in Burbank (LA). For his work in advertising, documentaries and TV, he has received awards at festivals such as LAMV (LABRFF), in the USA; the Mimpi Film Festival, in Rio; the Cologne Surf Film Festival, in Germany. He was also named one of the top three surfing film directors by Surfer magazine. In his professional experience, he has worked for brands like Nike, Chloe, Louis Vuitton, Corona Extra, Samsung and Coca Cola. He is recognized in the industry for its flexibility and highly stylized look. His dynamic aesthetics give his work a fashionable and innovative touch. As a director trained on the road, Novis is able to direct from sets on the go - with a reduced team - to traditional sets. Passionate about travel and culture, he tries to bring some of that "lifestyle mood" to all the films he signs.