Saatchi & Saatchi’s NDS Directors Speak Up

Alicia MacDonald; Domestic Policy 

Tell us one unknown fact about the production of this film.

The excellent Peter Wight had to eat 17 and a half custard creams on shoot day.

Where did you study and what made you want to go into directing?

I didn’t go to film school. I studied English at Exeter Uni and wanted to be a writer; a zealous pen-pal clad in a navy cashmere polo-neck. But the megalomaniacal tendencies couldn’t be quelled and the rest is Geography.

Do you think female directors offer a different perspective?

*insert pithy line here about how lumping all females together tediously suggests that we’re all the same. There ain’t no paradigm for male directors so there shouldn’t be one for females, savvy?

A.V. Rockwell; The Gospel 

What is it about commercials that interests you?

I love how short and sweet commercials are! Also, working short term leaves room for a greater variety of projects and experiences. Advertising is defined by such a diverse volume of content and I like the opportunity it gives me to delve into different worlds.

How would you describe your directing style?

Energetic and raw, but at times lyrically pensive. I try to tie narrative through lines and themes together in a way that reveals a larger commentary. I have a lot of experimental tendencies but consider myself a narrative storyteller. Ultimately, I’d love to use my experimental and Eurocentric proclivities to push the American style of storytelling into avante-garde spaces.

Why do you think it’s important for women to tell stories through film? What is the biggest piece of advice you would give the industry to help encourage gender parity?

I see a lack of diversity in point of view as a lack of interest in truly keeping the industry’s creativity fresh and forward-moving. Also, if there are certain voices being muted, that means the demographics they cater to may not be fully served as well. Who better to speak to the needs and interests of a certain audience, in this case women, then someone who represents them? But we can just as easily lend our voices and imagination to so many things beyond that.

Anna Ginsburg; Material World 

What was the biggest inspiration behind this film and its filmmaking style? 

The storyboard and the many transitions were inspired by Sara Andreasson’s incredible character design and illustration style. When Selfridges came to me with this project and presented the prospect of collaborating with Sara, I jumped at the opportunity. She has been one of my idols for years especially when it comes to human characters and use of colour. So much of my inspiration came from her design aesthetic and thinking about how best to make it move!

Tell me a bit about your background – where did you grow up etc?

I grew up in London with my mum. She’s a single parent, lesbian, child-protection lawyer who is fiercely independent and intelligent. Growing up with her made me not only feel anything was possible; it made me totally oblivious of the fact that as a women anything was even slightly more difficult.

What is the biggest piece of advice you would give the industry to help encourage gender parity? 

My production company Strange Beast is the only company I have known which has 50% female directors. I have made two films with Strange Beast. It just so happens my crews have both been about an equal split of men and women. These people have commented on how rare that is. And the men in particular who commented on how much they prefer it. As the boys club/‘lad’ culture which oppressed me as a young model-maker, also oppresses the men in the industry. Men who have to adhere to gender roles that they too would very much like to shed.

Dorian & Daniel; ABC of Death

What was the biggest inspiration behind this film and its filmmaking style? 

A big inspiration was The Gashlycrumb Tinies: A Very Gorey Alphabet Book. We immediately fell in love with its dark humour, although we’ve always wanted to keep the balance between being macabre but still funny. Visually we tried to capture the charm of an old British village. Combined with a very strict and similar staging and repetitive camera movements we created some little stories illustrating the repeating circle of death.

What do you enjoy about being directors?

We love to create worlds that the viewer can lose themselves in. You lead the audience to see what you want them to see and to feel what you want them to feel, to tell the story in the best way possible.

What is it about commercials that interests you?

We want our commercials to feel and look like small feature films and create as much emotion as possible in the short amount of time. Besides reducing a story or idea to its essence we love to art direct pictures. In commercials you can play around with visual styles that wouldn’t work for longer formats.

Holly Blakey; Klyne Don't Stop

What was the biggest inspiration behind this film and its filmmaking style?

I wanted to create something with an unapologetic female strength, that was my first

impetus. From there I wanted to find a way of making the white cyc budget restrictions work for me and not against me! And so creating the orange colour pallet was something we worked out on the day, flat, washed out and not for beauty.

Give us one unknown fact about the production of this film.

My producer didn’t talk to me for a full year after we finished it.

Where did you study and what made you want to go into directing?

I studied dance, directing became the simple moment someone didn’t have to tell me what the dance looked like.

Do you think the journey is different for women and why? Tell us some of the opportunities or challenges you have faced?

Yeah I’d say so, it often takes a while for people to understand you’re the director on set, mostly I get sent to make-up when I arrive.

Ian Derry; Johanna: Under the Ice

How does it feel to be selected for the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase?

To be included in such a prestigious event with one of the biggest and best Ad agencies in the world is incredibly flattering. For my film to be included and shown in Cannes with so many other talented people means a lot.

What inspired this film and your style? 

I always wanted to make a film that was beautifully shot with a strong narrative. I had a few ideas but with this one I knew it would be a challenge. I flew to Finland to meet Johanna and she drove me to the lake. She then out of the blue asked if I would like to take a look under the ice. She had a dry suit in her van so I said yes. She literally cut a hole in the ice and I got in. Once I had seen it under there and experienced it first hand I knew I had to make the film.

Give us one unknown fact about the production of this film.

This film would not have been made if I had not been hit by a car while out on a cycle ride. A week in hospital and 3 months off work. When I eventually received some compensation I decided to use it for something positive. So I self funded the whole production. Without the accident there would be no film.

James Manzello; Coincidance

How does it feel to be selected for the Saatchi & Saatchi NDS?

As an independent content creator, sometimes I feel like my work gets lost in the depths of the internet, buried underneath all the cat videos and memes, so confirmation that people are actually watching and appreciating my stuff is wonderful.

What do you enjoy about being a director?

Everyone sees the world uniquely, and directing allows me to share my point of view with an audience. You can only convey so much with words, but when I direct, I get to design a world and sculpt every detail of it, which more precisely conveys the way I see and feel things.

Matthew Palmer; One Week in April

What was the biggest inspiration behind this film and its filmmaking style?

It may be surprising because of the tragic subject of the film, but our biggest stylistic inspiration was Beyonce’s Lemonade. We loved the poetic beauty of that film and made a point to watch it at least once a week during production.

What do you enjoy about being a director?

I love it all. Really, it’s just something I have to do to be happy I think. I love working with creative people, learning about different people and cultures, telling stories, and, hopefully, helping people now and then.

What is it about commercials that interests you?

I love the idea of telling stories as succinctly as possible. Images can be so powerful and using them to tell a story or to make viewers feel something in 30 or 60 or 90 seconds is so exciting to me.

Michal Marczak; Radiohead I Promise

What was the biggest inspiration behind this film and its filmmaking style?

The numerous, lonely night bus rides that I had in many cities where I felt very alienated from everyone.

Give us one unknown fact about the production of this film.

The robotic head hated the on-set catering.

What do you enjoy about being a director?

The excuse which allows you to spend more time in a certain place and be more intimate with the people.

Nicolas Menard; Wednesday with Goddard

What do you enjoy about being a director?

Bringing a vision to life, and working with small teams of smart people.

How would you describe your directing style?

I need to hang out with more directors to assess that question. One thing I don't do is throw objects at people.

What are your plans and hopes for the future?

More collabs with Manshen Lo, more animations and writing, hopefully a videogame and a feature.

Oscar Hudson; Bonobo No Reason

What was the biggest inspiration behind this film and its filmmaking style? 

Conceptually, the film was inspired by the Japanese phenomenon of the Hikikomori- young people who become so overwhelmed by life that they retreat to their bedrooms and don’t leave for years at a time. The shrinking sets are a physical representation of our central character’s physiological state.
Stylistically, I adore the work of the Swedish director Roy Andersson and the way his sets capture a kind of hyper-real, manicured sense of decay. He always manages to make mundane things feel magical and that’s something I really admire. Along with Andersson's wide framing, visual clarity & minimalism we also mixed the beautiful Japanese aesthetics of Yasujro Ozu- the hard lines, the low angle framing, the use of block colour. Finally I love in-camera FX and the sense of fun and magic of these bring to a production.

Give us one unknown fact about the production of this film.

The sets are full of hidden clues and details, mostly relating to Bonobo, the track itself & the ‘Migration’ album. The calendar on the wall was supposed to have the album release date circled on it but due to a little production error we accidentally printed up the month of February instead of January and didn’t realise until it was too late. So instead of circling the album release date we ended up just circling February 11th, which is my birthday. Don’t tell the label.

What do you enjoy about being a director?

I like having good ideas at the beginning of projects and I like having a beer at the end of them. I also get to take taxis to set which is nice.

Majid Adin (MA) & Stephen McNally (SM); Elton John Rocket Man

How does it feel to be selected for the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase?

MA: It’s an incredible honor to have been selected – it feels so special to see people passionate about an issue that is so close to my personal journey.

SM: I get a real thrill out of seeing a project as it comes together, the excitement of something coming from rough sketches and scripts and becoming a real tangible thing. I love playing back a sequence and seeing something unexpected or serendipitous, that has snuck into something so controlled as animation. There always has to be a little room for that spark to appear.

What was the biggest inspiration behind this film and its filmmaking style? 

MA: Whilst I was in ‘The Jungle’ I did lots of painting and drawing that inspired the project.

Tell us as much as you can about your film in the New Directors Showcase

MA: The first thing I did was to translate the lyrics of the song into Farsi so as to have a better understanding of the song, and every single lyric immediately struck a chord with me on a very personal level, evoking the perilous and lonesome journey I had been on as a refugee having to flee my home country. This is what provided the subject matter for my treatment.

Ryan Staake; Young Thug Wyclef Jean

What inspired this film? 

Honestly, the biggest inspiration was Young Thug himself simply not showing up. That was seriously the only way this project could’ve turned out the way it did. I guess I could say “I couldn’t have done it with him.""

Give us one unknown fact about the production of this film.

The introductory shot is comprised of 10 different plates I personally composited together. We only had budget for 5 of the kiddy cars and moved them around the pavement to make them read as 20 total. Young Thug wanted the kiddy cars after the shoot, and we gave them to him.

Tell us as much as you can about your film in the New Directors Showcase

We shot one day in the Hollywood Hills. The video kind of tells its own story so there’s not a bunch I can say here that I haven’t already said in the video via captions. When I got the idea of taking this video in the direction of this meta-approach, I saw it as a huge opportunity to lob a cultural commentary into a hip hop video, and have been pleased to see so many people responding well to that. 

Salomon Ligthelm; Medicine

What was the biggest inspiration behind this film and its filmmaking style? 

The People. Terry and Becky are the most inspiring human beings. It’s not often that you see people as self-sacrificial and in love into their old age, as they were. I think in many ways we just wanted to be true to that and so decided to adopt a very 'patient' film-making style so that we could capture the smallest nuance of their story and performances.

Give us one unknown fact about the production of this film.

This film was never meant to be married to a music track. We were initially trying to make a short documentary, but because of some sensitivities within the story, we decided to fictionalize it a bit within the 'music video' format. I'm thankful we were able to find Daughter's Medicine track because it thematically and tonally seamlessly fell in place.

What do you enjoy about being a director? 

I've lived in a couple of places over the years, and having experienced a handful of cultures, I've certainly had my appetite whet wanting to experience more.  Film-making opens up that door in a tremendous way. I now have all these stories I want to tell: a bank heist thriller on the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico, a Prison Mutiny story In Russia, a doc about a group of Ice Hockey Players who are playing the game at the highest elevation, deep in the Himalayas,  a music video about a Bosozoku girl gang in Japan. Film-making has definitely inspired my curiosity for people and places.

Steve Smith; Facelift

How does it feel to be selected for the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase?

It's simply awesome! Unreal to be listed next to so many amazing directors.

What is it about commercials that interests you?

They are surprisingly open to experimentation/abstraction which I think are both pretty instrumental to my style. Love a good commercial.

Jonathon Alric; The Blaze Territory

Give us one unknown fact about the production of this film.

The Gorilla scene is inspired by my brother.

How would you describe your directing style?

Realistic, simplist, human, and faithful with the sound.

What are your plans and hopes for the future?

Making more cinema !

Tony Yacenda; Lil Dicky Pillow Talking

What is it about commercials that interests you?

I think we live in an age where people have become so used to the rhythm and cadence of commercials. Even a casual audience will know exactly when the punch-line is going to land. My favorite commercials are the ones that play with those expectations. Just when they think you’re going to zig, I want to zag.

Tell us as much as you can about your film in the New Directors Showcase

Well I wanted to direct the video because I think the song is hilarious. It’s a relatable conversation executed in a way I’ve never seen before. So doing it was a no-brainer to me. We started by storyboarding and then pre-visualizing the entire music video. We shot the video over the course of three days on a soundstage where we were able to build a bedroom with removable walls on green cyc. On the performance-side, we rehearsed for weeks in my living room, to make sure all of the blocking felt genuine and that even the most subtle moments of lip-sync were captured in performance. Our production company, Giant Propeller, had a team of incredibly talented VFX artists in Croatia, so after we wrapped, over the course of several months, Dave and I would weigh in on a handful of new shots in various stages each day.

Trim Lamba; Snapchat Story: Cracked Screen

Where did you study?

My first degree was in English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London, where I wrote my dissertation on Bollywood and Shakespeare. I am currently in the final leg of a Masters in Film Aesthetics at the University of Oxford. Rather than a practical-based enquiry [of ‘How do we achieve this?] my approach to film reconfigures our focus in interrogating ‘What does this achieve?’

What do you enjoy about being a director?

As a director, you’re able to lodge someone inside somebody else’s skin. It is a nucleus for intimacy, danger and absolute possibility. 

What is it about commercials that interests you?

The challenge of where to place the product.

See the full list of new directors featured at the Showcase below, & click here for the full Showcase Playlist:

• Alicia MacDonald, signed to Missing Link Films
• A.V. Rockwell, signed to Little Minx
• Anna Ginsburg, signed to Strange Beast
• Dorian & Daniel, signed to Academy Films (UK) & Bigfish and Element e (Germany)
• Holly Blakey, Lez Creative
• Ian Derry, Archers Mark
• James Manzello, unsigned
• Matthew Palmer, unsigned
• Michal Marczak, Pulse
• Nicolas Menard, Nexus
• Oscar Hudson, Pulse
• Majid Adin & Stephen McNally, Blinkink
• Ryan Staake, Pop & Clout [US] & Supply&Demand; Riff Raff [UK; La PAC [France]; Dictionary [ Japan]; Go East [SE Asia]; The Gotham Group [Features & TV] 
• Salomon Ligthelm, Stink
• Steve Smith, unsigned
• Jonathon Alric, Iconoclast 
• Tony Yacenda, Director’s Bureau 
• Trim Lamba, unsigned
• Mollie Mills, unsigned
• Oh Seoro, KIAFA