Bio.

Here’s a link to a nice article in NoFilmSchool that sums up a lot of my philosophies towards maintaining a commercial directing career.

Jordan Brady began as a stand-up comedian touring nightclubs and colleges across America. A 100% self-taught filmmaker, he’s directed four narrative feature films, three full documentaries and over 1200 national & regional commercials and Maria Bamford’s acclaimed Netflix Comedy Special. Click for more about my feature films.

Jordan (ok, me) directs advertising campaigns for brands and agencies from all over the world. Given his background, it’s no surprise he has directed comedy giants as Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Keegan-Michael Key, Rory Scovel and more. Other notable celebrities include international star Arnold Schwarzenegger and country music legend Brad Paisley, campaigns starring actress Kathryn Hahn for Chrysler and Lamorne Morris for Buick.

Equally as nimble with visual effects, he’s shot over 50 sleight-of-hand magic trick spots for Toyota Saatchi Los Angeles that effortless combine in-camera and digital trickery.

Notable advertising awards include multiple Clios, National Gold, ADDY’s, Gold Promax Award, One Show, D Show, Pencil, AICP Awards, and more. Mr. Brady’s work is routinely spotlighted on AdWeek, Ads of The World and Agency Spy.

In 2016, Jordan completed his passion project; a feature documentary trilogy on what its takes to be a stand-up comedian. “I AM COMIC” stars Louis CK, Jim Gaffigan, Nick Kroll, Sarah Silverman, Leslie Jones and more. 2014’s aptly titled “I AM ROAD COMIC” stars Pete Holmes and Marc Maron. The most gripping film of his career is “I AM BATTLE COMIC”. Filming took Brady to Afghanistan, Kuwait and undisclosed parts of the Middle East where he performed stand-up comedy for our troops stationed there.

In his spare time, Mr. Brady hosts the popular weekly filmmaking podcast RESPECT THE PROCESS, described as “The Rosetta Stone of filmmaking” and teaches Commercial Directing Bootcamp.

Before Lil’ Wayne, sitcoms and every other stand-up made “Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow” ubiquitous, Jordan coined the phrase in his road act as a comedian in the mid 1980’s and into the 1990’s. He’s the first to do it on tv, and this MTV 1/2 Hour Comedy Hour appearance shows the bit. Read more here from the Humor Code.

Jordan lives in Los Angeles with his wife, filmmaker Jeannette Godoy, and their four children.

29 thoughts on “Bio.”

  1. Yes what a treat! Jim Henson predicted User Generated Content w that show. It was a pilot.

  2. Hi there!

    I’m a researcher working on documenting Jim Henson’s Disney deal and am looking into one of his last projects, “Handmade Video”. There’s a polaroid photo online of you, him, and Dana Gould in what looks like a meeting of the project. I wanted to ask if you remember how you became involved in the project or what the context of that photo was about, or just anything else you remember of the project. Let me know if email correspondence works better for you! Thanks!

    Gav

  3. Here’s a bootleg of a set on MTV… I never did the cigarette warning labels. I did a polluting owl PSA bit, Hoodsie.

  4. Where can I find a clip of the porno music bit where you say “I’m here to clean the pool”? I found it once, but can’t find it any more. It also has the bit about the cigarette warning labels.

  6. Aloha Jordan! Big fan of Dill Scallion, so hoping for a re-release or whatever in 2024 for the 25th anniversary. You were nice enough to send me a DVD years ago, plus hat and shirt, so thank you. Still have the hat, but lost the DVD and shirt. Any place to watfch it? I do have it on VHS but who has a player these days, or the ablity to hook up to a new TV? Might I be able to get a new DVD? Happy to pay for it…

  7. Michael I remember you, Art Center, clay model cars and early EV’s. Sadly i don’t have those.. a rat family literally ate all my vhs tapes of the show!! Congrats on your successes.

    J

  8. Daryn! So late to the party. Love the Trust Fall spot. And thanks for getting the book – glad you found some knowledge nuggets in there. – Jordan

  9. Hey Jordan – After a 30 + career as a multi-cam live television director, I found myself two months ago on a commercial television set (well, three actually). I was given the incredible opportunity to direct 3 regional spots (all comedies) for a credit union.

    It was my first time, and I wasn’t terrified.

    Why?

    Because thankfully I had read “Commercial Directing Voodoo”. Thank God!

    Now, I’m taking a deeper dive into all that you are offering (starting with your Podcast). It is so awesome to have you as a resource for someone just starting out (at 53 😬).

    Would love to connect and share some of my stories in the trenches!

    Sincerely,
    Daryn Johnson

    P.S. One of my newbie spots:
    https://youtu.be/o7Shf16FxN0

  10. Lil Michael all grown up!!! I do not have… rats literally ate the series of tapes in my garage like 15 years ago.
    Check on youtube?

    Cheers,
    Jordan

  11. Hey Jordan,

    I was in an episode of Name Your Adventure with you. It was the one where we went to Art Center College of Design and learned about transportation design after driving up in a concept car. Then we went to cal state northridge to drive some kind of electric vehicle or something.

    Anyways, glad to see you’re doing well and still in the industry.

    I ended up starting my own business in digital marketing with my niche being in the automotive industry (interestingly enough. Lol)

    I was wondering do you keep all your reels from your past work? I don’t have a copy of our episode anymore (got thrown away with all the other vcr tapes), would be awesome to see it again. If not, no worries. I know it’s a shot in the dark.

    Hope to hear from you.

    Take care,
    Michael

  14. Hey D, sadly, no. I’m only making commercials from ad agencies or brands. Fully funded. Best! Jordan

  17. Good Morning Jordan,

    I am a BFA Film student at New York Film Academy. I watched your interview and wanted to ask the question “Being an aspiring commercial director, What would be your advice on getting started?” They did not have time for the question and I was wondering if you could answer that. I was also wondering if you or (If you know any) other commercial directors would allow for a shadow opportunity for student who would love to see how it is in the real world? Thank you.

  18. Good Evening Jordan,

    I am a filmmaking student at New York Film Academy in Burbank. The other day you were gracious enough to fo a Q&A. I had a question, but they never asked it. The current semester I am in, we filmed commercials. I was able to film three and I fell in love with making them. My question was “Aspiring to become a commercial director, What advice would you give for new filmmakers who want to start off in this area?” If you can answer that I would appreciate it, but I understand if you can not. Thank you for your time again.

  19. WOW!! Indeed and Joey Edmonds was the best, nicest man and HILARIOUS himself. Hope all is swell with you.

  20. Holy Cow you used to be repped by Joey Edmonds! I saw your photo in an ad of an old NACA magazine. I think you were a regular on the Punch Line circuit too…
    Those were the days.

  23. Thanks Steve!! Ian is the best kind of CD to work with… funny, collaborative and all round great guy. Thanks for the kind words.

  24. jordan /

    just saw your linkedin video with the behind-the-scenes
    look during filming a spot for laneterralever/toyota.

    very nicely done. you do great work.

    ian barry is a good friend of mine at the agency.

    steve dolbinski

  25. Howdy Erik! I’ll check out our stuff, thanks for sending. As a commercial director, please know I rarely choose the music. The ad agency folks handle that.
    best, Jordan

  26. Dear Jordan,

    My name is Erik Sayles and I am a composer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I thought I would take a moment to introduce myself as well as some of my work. I would love to talk further if you feel my material might be a good fit for an upcoming film. Thank you so much for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

    Sincerely,

    Erik Sayles
    http://www.eriksayles.com

  27. Hi Jordan- Happy New Year! There is some really fun work here. Jordan I wanted to reach out and introduce you to http://www.WinstonWolfe.pro We bring directors to internal production units at agencies and brands. So much of the scripts we see are comedy, that I thought it might be worth a introduction. Please cehck out the site and let me know if you woudl be keen to chat.
    X Nancy

  29. Hi Jordan, I am directors scout at e+p films in Germany. We have a nice script for a commercial for the german market. and your style fits perfectly Can I send you scirpts and can we work with you for the german market?
    I am looking forward hearing back from you. Thank you
    Best, Christiane

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