Gabriel Olson: He's An Angel

Gabriel Olson has made waves directing commercials with strong narratives, sharp visuals and spot-on casting for the likes of GM, Nike, Diet Coke, Toyota, Nokia, Foster’s and Best Buy. The young director takes time out with Simon Wakelin to break down his creative approach

It was while studying at the USC School of Cinematic Arts that Gabriel Olson first entered the commercial fray as a production assistant and treatment writer. “I wanted to be as close to the actual process as possible,” explains Olson, who spent long hours out of class to be on-set. “Coming out of film school, you get a ton of theory but zero industry know-how. Having insight into the creative process was an invaluable experience.”

After graduation, Olson was introduced to Anonymous Content’s Malcolm Venville, and became his protégé and creative assistant for four years. In that time their creative alliance spanned dozens of global campaigns and two feature films.

“It was an amazing opportunity to work with him and witness how he told each story in a way that advanced the concept in hand,” explains Olson. “With Malcolm there was never anything frivolous to distract from the story.”

Olson embeds that approach in his own work. He came to prominence with Frankencouch for Coke Zero, which won Overall Grand Prize at the 2010 MoFilm Cannes Lion Competition.

The spot follows two roommates, one lofty and the other diminutive, searching for the perfect couch. When both prefer different-sized recliners their task seems fruitless – until the adventurous pair saw the two couches in half, linking both together to create the perfect ‘Frankencouch’.

The work embodied Coke Zero’s identity as a brand made up of two opposing concepts – great taste and zero calories. A wry tale of undeniable charm, it also tickled the fancy of Coke’s global marketing team, which offered Olson a writing job on the account at Ogilvy & Mather in Singapore.

“It’s an odd fable that unfolds like the pages of a children’s book,” posits Olson, who worked in Singapore for a year. “Every frame reveals something about each character and communicates who these guys are.”

Working on the Diet Coke account further schooled Olson in the branding process, soaking up the agency protocol as he wrote web content for the brand, and adding another layer of creative comprehension to the young director’s mindset.

“I saw first-hand what goes into building something campaignable,” he explains. “As a director, you need to respect how much work an agency goes through with a client. I loved the collaboration and getting into brainstorming sessions to make ideas better. That’s exciting, and I really appreciated that the agency was willing to go for unconventional ideas on the account.”

When you wish upon a car

Olson returned to American soil with a better understanding of agency politics, settling back into the director’s chair to create work that includes a wry, comedic campaign for Foster’s beer, where common expressions are translated into Australian in an amusing fashion.

One spot sees two amateur mechanics searching for a dropped wrench inside a rusty old truck engine, closing with a deadpan voice-over explaining: “Australian for Search Engine.” Another sees a man alone in the Outback, relieving his hot feet in a lonesome tub of cold water on sandy soil. Sighing in relief, we learn that this is Australian for “Day Spa”.

“The work was a lot of fun as we had plenty of creative freedom on set to recalibrate the ideas,” says Olson. “I’ve always been a fierce defender of, ‘hey, we have to make this different and interesting’, to build on a story. That has to do with respecting the audience, because the last thing you want to do is come up with something that bores them.”

Wish, for Chevrolet, sweeps us into an engaging fantasy world as we enter the ‘Bureau of Wish Evaluations’ where a bevy of workers stamp approvals on endless ‘wish postcards’ that manifest as colourful stars falling from heaven. One lands on terra firma, instantly transforming into a shiny new Chevy. Its startled new owner is as giddy as a schoolboy, looking up to the heavens to whisper ‘thanks’ to the powers that be.

When asked about his directing style, Olson says he keeps it as simple and straightforward as possible. “I usually go for controlled, deliberate camera moves,” he explains. “I like having a very specific plan and create it all ahead of time. When I get on set I know exactly what I’m doing, plus I have the freedom to recalibrate creatively. When you plan accordingly, it leaves you open to see the moments that you did not expect.”

Post production is also an area that Olson embraces. “The collaborative nature of this business is one of its greatest blessings,” he offers. “Nothing is done alone, and there are so many talented people to work with all the way down the line. I love being included in the process, but also feel that, as a director, you have a duty to control the scene direction and help find those little things that make all the difference.”

Now represented internationally by production entity Station Film, Olson looks forward to receiving scripts to continue honing his craft. “I’m looking at some great creative projects and pitching on some interesting stuff,” he says. “There has been some very cool comedy stuff of late, smaller projects at good agencies.

“I love distilling ideas down to their purest form,” he continues. “It’s about creating work that is visually and emotionally resonant, where each frame moves the story forward and creates a genuine emotional response in the audience. That’s something that inspires me and something I strive for in all of my work.”