One at Optimus director Duncan Wolfe is packing up his Washington, D.C. apartment after a 14-month gig at the Obama White House and will head for Los Angeles as his base for the next phase of his filmmaking/social media career.
“And I’m looking forward to the positive effect of sunshine,” adds the St. Louis native about his move to LA.
Wolfe, who has been on One’s directorial roster since late 2014, specializing in documentary and life style commercial, had been tapped by the White House in late 2015 for the job as a senior digital producer/filmmaker within the White House Office of Digital Strategy.
The job was the culmination of 10 years of hard work, says Wolfe, 28, “a combination of a lot of things. Amazing people, including my parents, supported me and I got lucky. The right things lined up for me.”
Washington, politics and government weren’t new to the director when he got the call. He had jumped into politics as an Obama volunteer in 2008, when he was an 18-year old freshman at Indiana’s DePauw University.
After Wolfe, now 28, finished college in 2011 with a BA in art history, he became a White House summer intern and also started freelancing as a director who also did his own shooting.
In 2012, he volunteered to work for Obama’s reelection and became the deputy digital director for Obama’s North Carolina campaign.
In 2015, the White House called “to ask me if I were interested in a job with the Digital Strategy Office. I interviewed and was told I had the job,” he recalls.
“I am incredibly grateful for having had this incredible experience. From a personal perspective, I was able to witness history close-up and use my skills to help connect the White House through social media to people all over the world.”
Wolfe also documented President and Mrs. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden as he traveled with them to five continents and 19 countries.
“I traveled from the Oval Office to Africa with Mrs. Obama, to the president’s history-making trip to Cuba, to Baghdad, Iran and Midway Island and so many other places.”
Now back in civilian life, Wolfe says he has no thoughts right now to go into politics. “However, I’m not done helping the Progressives and those causes I believe in. I’ve strengthened my Progressive values and look out for the people who don’t have a voice in the world.”
Says Lisa Masseur, ONE’s EP/Managing director, “We’ve always been impressed with Duncan’s documentary-style storytelling which was greatly enhanced by his recent Washington experience. Our clients will benefit from his fluency in the fragmented and increasingly youth-driven media landscape.”
Wolfe’s first ONE project back to earth in the commercial world was a spot for Ronald McDonald House Charities from agency Sapient Nitro.
Masseur notes that Wolfe had been busy non-stop since the day he signed with ONE at Optimus. She expects more of the same now that he’s returned ONE’s list of commercial directors.