On My Radar: Spencer MacDonald

What’s the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen recently?

Hmm, there are a few. A recent favourite was a piece called Boost Your Boomer, for recruitment agency Young Capital, directed by Angelo Cerisara. I absolutely love how brave the team was for making that!

What website(s) do you use most regularly?

Director’s Library, Vimeo, and Democracy Now! for news.

What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought?

An EU-to-US adapter. I didn’t plan to buy it, but I lost my other one...

What product could you not live without?

My legs. I use them all the time. 

What’s the best film you’ve seen over the last year?

Monster, by Hirokazu Koreeda. It’s so rare to experience a film where you have no idea where it’s going and are completely taken by it.

What film do you think everyone should have seen?

Doctor Strangelove. More and more, I think — yep, that’s pretty much how the world works. Also, the recent documentary No Other Land.

What’s your preferred social media platform? 

I guess Instagram, although I hate it like everyone else does. Someone please make something better. 

What’s your favourite TV show? 

Severance! I know it’s a popular answer, but it’s just so masterfully cinematic and clever. 

What’s your favourite podcast? 

Lately, I’ve been really into The Telepathy Tapes. I’m fascinated by subjects that redefine what we think is possible with our minds and bodies. Other ones I like are For the Wild and The Huberman Lab.

What have you been most inspired by recently? 

Attending the Camerimage Film Festival in Poland in November. I came back so reinvigorated and inspired by the power of film and filmmaking in general.  

If you could only listen to one music artist from now on, who would it be? 

Tough question! The first person who comes to mind is Leonard Cohen. There’s something about his music that reminds me that sanity will prevail in the end. 

If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be? 

I wish there were a better platform to view and share film and advertising motion content. Instagram doesn’t work since it prioritises stills or very short clips, and Vimeo (my longtime love) has basically shut itself off from the EU now. 

Who or what has most influenced your career? 

For 'who', I’d say my mom. Growing up with an artist for a mother showed me what creative depth looks like. For 'what', I’d say magic mushrooms.