Daina Reid began her film career as a comedy writer and actor before making the move behind the camera. Her psychological thriller feature Run Rabbit Run, starring Sarah Snook, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, screened at the Sydney Film Festival and reached number one on Netflix’s Top Ten less than a week after it’s release on the platform. Recent US work includes The Veil, which premiered on Hulu in April 2024 and stars Elizabeth Moss. Daina directed The Shining Girls (Apple) starring Elizabeth Moss, which earned Daina a nomination for Best Episode of a SVOD or TV Drama Series at the Australian Director’s Guild Awards (ADGS). Previously, Daina directed episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu). Her episode “Holly” of The Handmaid’s Tale received an Emmy® and a Director’s Guild of America nomination. In 2021, the series was nominated for “Best Streaming Series – Drama” at the Hollywood Critics Awards. Daina directed The Outsider (HBO), Upload (Amazon), Space Force (Netflix) and David Makes Man (OWN/Warner Television), which won the 2020 Peabody Award in the Entertainment category. David Makes Man was nominated for Best Drama Series at the 2019 Critics’ Choice Awards. In 2015, she directed Hunters, produced by Gale Anne Hurd (Syfy). Her UK credits include The Spanish Princess (Starz).

In Australia, Daina directed the series remake of the classic film Romper Stomper (Stan); Sunshine (SBS), a 4-part miniseries set in Melbourne’s South Sudanese community which won the 2017 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Award (Best Telefeature or Miniseries) and the Australian Directors Guild (ADG) Award for Best Direction of a TV Miniseries. Daina directed the mini-series adaptation of The Secret River by Kate Grenville, which premiered at the Sydney Film Festival and screened at the Festival International De Programmes Audiovisuels in Biarritz, France.

Daina is a frequent collaborator of award-winning producer John Edwards. Their projects include Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo and Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War, both of which received AACTA Award nominations for Best Direction. Following the success of The Birth of Cleo, Daina directed the follow-up miniseries Paper Giants: Magazine Wars. In 2013, she set up Nowhere Boys which won the AACTA Award for Best Children’s Television Series. Other credits include The Wrong Girl; The Dr Blake Mysteries; Offspring; Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story of INXS; Ready for This; Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries; Rush; and City Homicide to name a few. Her first feature film, I Love You Too, starred Yvonne Strahovski and Peter Dinklage, and told the story of a commitment-phobe and a New Ager who buddy up to win the women of their dreams.

In 2017, Daina received the Michael Carson Award at the Australian Directors’ Guild Awards, in recognition of her excellent contribution to Television Drama Directing.

She currently has a number of projects for television in development.

For Daina’s full CV, email info@rgm.com.au