The team

Daniel Martins

Founder

Where the strategy starts and the call gets returned.

Education

BA Motion Picture Medium, AFDA

SAFTA

Best Short Film, The Suit (2016)

Miami Sci-Fi Film Festival

Best Soundtrack, 2022

Licensed

Commercial Drone Pilot

Daniel founded Emoji in 2016 with his long-time friend Carlos Williams (now a senior paid media strategist for a Times 100 firm in the UK), and has run the studio since Carlos's transition in 2019. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Motion Picture Medium from AFDA, South Africa's leading film school, with deep specialisation in music composition and sound design.

His film and music work runs alongside the studio: composing for The Suit (2016, directed by Jarryd Coetsee, starring Tony Award-winner John Kani), which won Best Short Film at the SAFTAs and screened at three Oscar-qualifying festivals, and Weapon of Thought, which took Best Soundtrack at the 2022 Miami International Sci-Fi Film Festival. He's been playing piano since he was six.

But Daniel's day job is running the business. He leads client strategy and is the studio's primary client face: every relationship Emoji has, he holds personally. He onboards new clients (including national and multi-national brands like Marley Pipe Systems and Primo Holdings), handles competitor research and market analysis, and partners with Ilse on brand strategy.

He also leads the entire production process: concept, scripting, shooting, editing, sound design, music direction. Notable work includes brand and product videos for Marley, Primo, and Monserrate. He's a registered drone pilot when the shot calls for it.

Daniel's thinking starts with the business goal: what the client needs to happen, what action moves the audience there, what mediums make that possible. Story matters, but only if it's working for something specific.

If you call Emoji, you're talking to Daniel.

The rest of the team

Ilse Heide Martins

Co-Founder, Brand & Creative Direction

AFDA-trained in costume, makeup, and production design. Now builds brand identity systems with the same eye for material, texture, and the detail nobody else notices.

Inge Heide

Paid Media Specialist

Trained at one of South Africa's most respected retailers. Fine arts graduate. Sanlam Portrait Award-selected artist. The kind of analytical eye that treats every campaign like a portrait: every detail there for a reason.