The Director Who Taught Himself Everything
Uriel Araujo never went to film school. He taught himself to edit in 2023, cutting short form daily for months and posting to a page that grew its first three thousand followers one reel at a time. The rule was simple: make something every day until the work speaks louder than the resume.
It spoke. A reel he made about Bruno Casanovas got reposted by Bruno himself, and within a year the people he studied from became the people he worked for. Daniel Dalen's team reached out first, and Uriel took the Shorts channel from eight thousand to seventy thousand subscribers. Then Bruno called, and the co-founder of Nude Project had a new short form editor.
Next came the agency era: co-founding a content company where he managed fourteen plus editors across fifteen plus clients, from Olympic athletes to consumer brands, generating over fifty million views along the way. He learned how to run teams, run clients, and run out of patience for work that looks good but means nothing.
That impatience became URAL Studios, founded with Aidira Smailova in 2026: fewer clients, deeper relationships, films built around the idea nobody has made yet. Four years across brands, founders, and athletes, an MSc with distinction, a first class BSc, and six languages, all pointed at one thing now.
The Record, Clients & Projects
James Magnussen
Olympian and the first enhanced athlete. Grew his channel from 74K to 127K before URAL. Now shaping his brand identity as an official URAL client.
Bruno Casanovas
Co-founder of Nude Project. Short form editor since 2024, now directing his short form and Instagram presence at URAL.
Daniel Dalen
Took the Shorts channel from 8K to 70K subscribers in under a year, motion graphics built into every cut.
Jelle & Syb
Building BrightFunded, a YouTube series filmed with the founders across Europe. In production.
Fin Kwong
Built the content engine that grew the channel from 2K to 35K followers.
The agency years
14+ editors managed, 15+ clients served, 50M+ views generated, including campaigns for multiple brands.