WW7’s David Shafei on Disney, Disruption, and Why Audiences "Hate" You

Director and co-founder of production company World War Seven tells LBB’s Abi Lightfoot about the impact of his unconventional Disney World upbringing, and his reminder for creatives: “don’t forget they hate you”.

For those of us who grew up watching Disney Channel’s ‘The Suite Life of Zack & Cody’, living inside a hotel was the thing of dreams. For director and co-founder of production company World War Seven, David Shafei, it was his reality.

Growing up inside Disney World’s Hilton Hotel, he lived and breathed the brand, developing an acute understanding of human behaviour. It’s something he took into his future career as a director – telling human-first stories that speak directly to audiences, for brands including Bud Light, Google, GEICO and most recently, AT&T.

He co-founded World War 7 (WW7) with fellow filmmaker Josh Ferrazzano in 2009. “The idea was to create a place where we could bring together people we liked, work on projects we cared about, and make the job not feel like a job,” he tells LBB.

Inspired by the likes of HKM, The Director’s Bureau and Smuggler – filmmaker-founded production companies built around their own beliefs – WW7 has since expanded to encompass an entertainment division and a recently launched artist-led creative AI lab, WW8.

At the centre of it all lies a commitment to conveying what’s real, making people laugh and constantly evolving, acting as proof that there’s no shortcut to making genuinely great work.

Speaking to LBB’s Abi Lightfoot, David discusses some standout work from his career so far, and why if you’re going to disrupt an audience, you must at least make it worth their time.

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