Former W+K Creatives Andrew Dickson & Aaron James launched Mt. Freelance to teach you how to thrive as a freelancer in any creative business. Especially a career in advertising. Take a dive in Lake You and visit Mt. Freelance today!
Enjoy,
Jordan
This episode is 54 minutes. Consider sharing our podcast with a friend and rating us on iTunes. Next Saturday’s Bootcamp is sold out. Sign up now for Commercial Directing Bootcamp is January 18th, 2020 in Los Angeles.
Oso Delicious gives $1 per bottle sold to MilitaryFamilies.org and it’s the only hot sauce made by bears.
Gregory JM Kasunich is an award winning filmmaker and commercial director, helming campaigns and short form content, for brands such as Disney, Lucasfilm, General Mills, DirectTV, Mattel, iHeartRadio and wait for it… Taylor Swift. I had a hard time choosing what to post, but love this so much:
Gregory’s work is visually stylized, musically and rhythmically driven, often times incorporating elements of animation, choreography, and highly technical camera work. His work generally contains minimal dialogue and leans more into the visual aspects of storytelling in order to minimize the distance between the audience and the subject.
Enjoy!
Jordan
This episode is 52 minutes. Our sole sponsor is Oso Delicious Hot Sauce, $1 per bottle goes to www.militaryfamilies.org to enjoy. Commercial Directing Bootcamp is SOLD OUT for October 12th, 2019. Next workshop is January 18th, 2020 in LA. Earlybird price until Oct. 11th.. grab a seat and soar!
Larry Niemi was my 1st Assistant Director on fun shoot over the summer. The challenges were time and money, as usual. It was also 110 degrees fahrenheit and we shot outside all day. Larry breaks down the 1st AD’s allegiance to the Director and Producer and how he is the gatekeeper of safety.
Will Chau is the Global Creative Director at Whole Foods Market, where he oversees the creative output on all brand communications and design. Previously, he was a Creative Director at GSD&M, in Austin. Here’s one of a ton of fun spots they’ve done recently:
Will and RTP alumni Chuck Meehan gave me my first extended commercial campaign two decades ago, for Kia. A series of comedy spots that caused sales to skyrocket & awards to flow.
Will has created award-winning work for clients such as BMW, Southwest Airlines, Kia Motors and Kohler. His work has been featured in numerous advertising award shows such as Cannes, One Show, Communication Arts, Graphis, Kelly Awards and The London International Automotive Awards.
Passionate about teaching and believing that there needed to be an alternative to the traditional model of higher education, Will founded The Austin Creative Department in the summer of 2011. This was highly influential for me, leading to my Bootcamp.
Thanks,
Jordan
This is 9 quick minutes of inspiration. Thank you to our sponsor Oso Delicious Hot Sauce, $1 per bottle goes to www.militaryfamilies.org to enjoy. Commercial Directing Bootcamp has 1 slot left for October 12th, 2019.
It’s our 300th episode! And there’s no better way to celebrate than with my good friend Executive Creative Director Chuck Meehan giving us the straight scoop on commercials and his process for selecting filmmakers. We talk about what makes a great ad, how the production process has been sped up to its detriment and much more.
Our Chrysler Pacifica collaborations starring Kathryn Hahn remain a career high for me.
I’m helping with a GoFundMe to get a new sustainable-fuel disaster response bus to help Veterans respond and rebuild America after hurricanes with Team Rubicon, please donate. Veterans Green Bus 2.0 is the name and the video explains more!
Filmmaker Joe Menendez has directed over 150 hours of television and 8 films to date. Joe has filmmaking in his DNA, which is evident in our two hour chat. “Siren” is a fast-paced show, a shooting challenge for any filmmaker, so we dive deep into what it takes to master an episode. This quote says it all:
“I believe the key to good directing is in understanding and knowing how to implement film grammar (when and how to move the camera, when and why to cut, etc). Be it in TV or film. Which is why in my own work, I always strive to meticulously craft every episode or movie I direct. It all starts with point of view.”
Watch “Siren” on Freeform. Thanks Joe for being an exquisite guest!
Commercial Director Chris Smith of Sugar Films is a veteran spot helmer swimming in repeat business. Chris attributes that to his rapport with agency and clients, combined with his passion for the art & craft of making spots. We talk about treatments, Austin and the new age of authenticity.
Commercial helmer Joe Harris of Side Chops in Dallas, Texas directs, shoots and edits, which keeps him very busy. But as his projects have grow in scale and scope, he’s finds himself focusing on the directing and collaborating with his cadre of fellow filmmakers. I always find this fascinating transition and Joe shares his lessons with us.
Joe was kind enough to direct this PSA for For Veterans Sake, which provides therapy dogs to U.S. Veterans suffering from PTSD, and at zero cost to the Veteran. Thanks Joe! More of his work with avant guard agency Whiskey Bacon Club.
Commercial Directing Bootcamp is October 12th, 2019 and over half filled up. Limit 20 filmmakers. Buy your Oso Delicious Hot Sauce and support the show, as well as https://www.militaryfamily.org/ We donate $1 from every bottle sold, given away or broken to this great charity.
Writer/Director/Producer Michael Patrick Jann returns to the podcast (check out his 2014 episode here) to explain what a Producing Director does, how he pitches to get episodic assignments and so much more. Most enlightening for me as the guy always telling young filmmakers to “put yourself in a box”, Michael embraces his multitude of experiences and his versatility when pitching on new shows. He has so many arrows in his directing quiver, it makes sense.
It’s also interesting to learn from the Producer’s perspective how an episodic Director is hired and what the goal of that Director might be. Shout out to Michael’s mom, who sat in on the interview. Always a delight to see friends and colleagues succeed.
Partner/Editor Jeff Wishengrad of Miller Wishengrad Post, a top post house in commercials, is as talented as he is well-respected in our business. Love that we finally got to sit down and chat all things commercial filmmaking. We discuss how editors do their thing, working with director Michael Bay, director’s cuts and more. Jeff has both IHOP pancakes and a J. Cole video on his reel. Now that is versatility.
Saturday, October 12th, 2019 is Commercial Directing Bootcamp in LA. Sign up today, we only take 20 filmmakers. Oso Delicious is the hot sauce you’ll grow addicted to, and you’ll be supporting the show.
Raucous Content‘s Owner and Executive Producer Phyllis Koenig is legendary in our the commercial industry, having steered the ship of some of the best commercial production companies. She and I go way back to our days at Uber Content, where we made hundreds of national spots together. (She and Uber also stepped in to executive produce my hit documentary “I Am Comic” now on iTunes.)
We chat about scouting talent, trends that come and go, and how to always adapt to meet the needs of our clients and agencies. And more. Check out there roster of wondefully talented directors at Raucous Content.
Thanks,
Jordan
This is a peppy 90 minutes of fun. Oso Delicious Hot Sauce is the flavor you need so treat yourself to a bottle or three.
Contagious LA’s Co_Founder and Supreme Leader Natalie Sakai talks repeat business, client-direct and collaborating with agencies in the creation phase. More than getting clicks, she explains connecting with content. She and her prolific stable of Directors are cranking out great work.
I know you’ll enjoy the Executive Producer point-of-view. Check out Contagious LA and Mike Rowe getting a live prostate exam by podcast alumni, filmmaker Andrew Laurich.
Director Jason Baffa has won a handful of film festivals with his great documentary “Loopers: The Caddie’s Long Walk” and now you can see the film in a theater near you. And you should, it’s compelling and beautifully shot by Jason.
We chat about his other films, “Singlefin: Yellow”, “One California Day,” and his most recent award winning production, “Bella Vita” which he filmed throughout Italy. Jason is a commercial director, ofo course, creating ADs for the brands, Patagonia, Jeep, BMW, Samsung & Kashi.
This last one hour and 20 minutes. If you in LA, June 8th is my son Ben Brady’s fundraiser at the Bruce Lurie Gallery from 6pm to 9pm, proceeds buy art supplies for sick children through the non-profit Art of Elysium.
“Return on Courage” author/super-creative/strategist Ryan Berman returns to the podcast as the founder of Courageous, a change consultancy that develops Courage Brands® and trains companies how to operationalize courage through Courage Bootcamp.
Ryan has spent a career developing meaningful stories for household brands—like Caesars Entertainment, Major League Baseball, New Era, Subway, and UNICEF—and he believes that courage is the ultimate competitive advantage for any willing business, being or brand.
Buy his book, trust me. Be sure and check out Ryan’s Sock Problems, cool premium socks designed specifically to aid various charities.
Thanks,
Jordan
If you’re in Los Angeles June 6th, 2019 stop by Ben Brady‘s Art of Elysium Fundraiser at the Bruce Lurie Gallery, 2736 La Cienega Blvd. Proceeds go to buy supplies for the kids’ art program at the Art of Elysium Center.
This episode is a little over an hour. We talk about my Oso Delicious hot sauce, so try it out. Here’s the NoFilmSchool piece I mentioned. Enjoy!
First off, buy Tony Price’s book “Yours, Very Sincerely and Respectfully” because the proceeds support the Gold Star Ride Foundation. Next, option the book cuz I think it would make a great movie. Tony and several volunteers motorcycle around these United States comforting families who have lost a member while serving in our military.
Tony’s can-do attitude and persistence aligns with that of us filmmakers with our passion for every project. His support of Gold Star families aligns with my support of those that serve our country, protect freedom and, of course their families that sacrifice as well.
Sr. Art Director Cleveland Thrasher and I worked on a massive four day Buick gig, and you get a good feeling about folks on those shoots. Once he busted a rhyme on set, or spit mad flow as we old guys say, I knew we were kindred spirits. We discuss agency life, video games, balancing work with passion projects and how to set and attain your goals.
Click to hear Cleveland’s music on SoundCloud, his album 9teen8t7 and you’ll love his unbridled creativity on Instagram. And this…
Click here if you’re in Bay City, Michigan to see him at the Riverscene Music Festival. June 7-8… Yay!
You’ll be inspired by our chat to be take action on your dreams.
Filmmakers and Bootcamp alumni Jonny Gentry and Monty Marsh are both in the Shoot New Directors Showcase. (Apologies that I just literally found out about Monty’s inclusion right after recording this.) And our fab filmmaking slash listener from Australia, Ven Gia, knocked it out the park with his inaugural spot for Corowa Distilling Company. Check it out below.
For Marvel’s Avengers films, my guest Marti Romances and his talented team at Territory Studio worked closely with production designer Charles Wood and the art department to craft a visual language to support the filmmakers’ vision and reflect each individual characters of the personalities. Ok you’re hooked right? Marti shares his insights and experiences on design, tech and filmmaking working on so many great films and spots, I know you’ll eat this episode up.
Steve Schofield and Kevin Johnston of Schofield’s Flowers come by to talk shop and tell us about their production company and their new approach to making killer content. They’re a collective of writers, directors and producers that conceive and execute ideas. Or any iteration in between.
Check out their various sizzle reels here including this company reel:
Director Jeff Gorman has created some of our favorite spots and has a new book telling all about his adventures making them. It’s on iTunes and is called “Last Stop Before The Sphincter.”
We talk comedy, copywriting, simplicity and pistachios. Check out his site here or at my site. His illustrious bio is humbling and his awards are too numerous to list, so click to read.