Respect The Process

Steve Fuller is an Emmy award-winning Director, whose work shaocases an expertise in the integration of design and live-action to the production process, coupled with an ability to lead projects from conception to completion. Comfortable in a variety of mediums and genres, Steve's creative through-line is visual storytelling. His commrcial directing credits including major campaigns for McDonalds...

Little Farm is Erwin Fraterman 's editorial boutique in Los Angeles, where he and his team can do everything under one barn roof. He and I, along with Thom Reimerink, just did a successful mad dash for RAM Trucks and Razorfish Pubicis to deliver a fully cut, mixed and colored film, with VFX no less, in a mere 29 hours.  We talk about the process, the editor-director-agency relationship and so much...

Cinematographer Darrell Wonge tells his story from player professional basketbaall around the globe to getting hurt and watching YouTube to learn a new craft. And he's mastering it fast. Darrell's quickly gained extensive experience in fashion, beauty, alcohol and sports. Competent in capturing high quality images while displaying confidence and professionalism. Being a former professional athlete...

Filmmaker Digby started out as a New York PA and put in his time rising through the ranks on crew. Now he and his partner Ramon "Ra" Nunez run Baby Lion , A Black and Latino-owned creative production company, bringing authentic, cultural insights to every project. We dissect Digby's Resident Evil promo , shot live in one, four-hour take on the Santa Monica Promenade. I suggest you watch it now.  W...

Showtime declared Pat Hazell one of the five funniest people in America. His 25 years of experience as a writer, producer and director have made him a go-to guy for new American theater. Pat is one of the original writers for NBC's  Seinfeld , a  Tonight Show  veteran, a critically acclaimed playwright and a contributing commentator to National Public Radio. He is recognized for his genuinely funn...

Filmmakers that have taken any of my courses, either online or attended our senssational Commercial Directing Bootcamp or Filmmaker Retreat in Joshua Tree, are welcome to a free zoom Q&A about those spec spots. Dan Sorgen, Copywriter/CD, will join me. Many filmmakers have used his SpecBank.com to find scripts written by agency creatives to shoot. Imparitive if you're not a great copywriter. And wh...

Producer/Director/Writer Christin Baker had directed five feature films and co-launched seminal lesbian steamer Tello Films before becoming CEO of DIVAboxoffice.tv , a new streaming platform serving up premium lesbian and queer women's content. Given her experience making movies and distributing them, Divaboxoffice.tv is sure to be a hit with it's LGBTQ+ women's audience. Christin and I chat about...

My friend Daniel Cardenas is a talented director and producer, cranking out commercials and videos through his own Bakerbuilt Works. He's mastered brand stories, product videos and testimonials, but you can tell documentaries scratch Daniel's itch. We chat imposter syndrome, low budget filmmaking and his award-winning docu "Hopped Up" and a new project as well.  Stream "Hopped Up" on Amazon, check...

I'm inspired by legendary record producer Rick Ruben, who's been on the pod circuit pimping his new book, "The Creative Act: A Way Of Being"   He he says he's hired to share his opinion and taste, which has proven to help artists. As a commercial directors, our job is to have a distinct point of view on the agency script, and serve that script the way RR serves the album. Ultimately, leadership an...

Filmmaker John Grammatico returns to the podcast to talk spots, treatments, agency briefs and story. John has directed over 300 films for brands like M&Ms, Visa, Burger King and Ford. He's worked with numerous celebs and athletes including Chris Elliot, Anna Faris, NFL Hall-of-Famer Calvin Johnson and Duchess Meghan Markle ( Behind-The-Scenes ). I've posted some work at jordanbrady.com but you can...

My friend filmmaker Graham Nolte claims to have taught himself claymation at nine, editing at eleven, and that he still writes on a typewriter. Graham directs funny spots via his own Philly-based production company, Comedy Theory , and has honed his craft by shooting, scripting and shooting more. It's the best way to learn, in my opinion, and i am sure Graham agrees. Graham and I chat about his jo...

Exec Producer Austin Barbera of his own SIXTWENTYSIX explains how his creative studio operates. I found his model fascinating and love the spots, music videos and branded content on their snazzy site. Check out the spots for Turo, Samsung starring Future and more. In the spirit of sharing knowledge, they post wonderful case studies too.  EVENTS & COURSES My next  Commercial Directing Bootcamp  is...

I'll be in Tokyo, Japan with filmmaker Jeannette Godoy on December 9th for a Filmmaker Meet Up. Friday, December 9th, 2022 @ 5pm Tokyo time. We want to learn how y'all do it, get gigs, shooting practices, interface with ad agencies and more. We'll share filmmaking tips and tricks we've learned that I hope are univeral. Jeannette's movie, Diamond In The Rough , is out in the UK via Signature Entert...

Top 5 Tips to help you succeed on your commercial shoots and with your career in the longrun. Some are adages you;ve heard from me before but are worth repeating, and others are fresh for our times. DM me with your tips and post them in the Voodoo Lounge. It's free.  EVENTS & COURSES My next  Commercial Directing Bootcamp  is January 7th, 2023 in Los Angeles. Save $100 once you've completed either...

Script Supervisor Denise Eldridge has worked by my side, literally, for  decade now and I've come to rely on her good taste and keen eyes. Oh, adn her stopwatch keeps me honest. Enjoy this chat. FREE AMA Monday, Novemeber 7th at 6pm West Coast. You do need to sign up but it's 100% free. If you are already enrolled in any of my online courses, then you're already enrolled in the Voodoo Lounge .  EV...

Commercial director JJ Adler, of Ruckus Films , is an award winning director and writer who helped create comedy spots for all kinds of companies including GEICO, P&G, SC Johnson, Virgin Mobile, Nestle, Coke, Verizon, McDonalds, Pepperidge Farms, etc., and with The Martin Agency, McCann, R/GA, Mother, Droga5, Ogilvy & Mather, Grey, DDB, VMLY&R, PKT, JWT, BBDO, and many more. She talks comedy, runn...

Filmmaker, Musician, Content Creator, Video Artist Gabriel Shalom joins me on the pod! We discuss his fascinating journey into directing commercials and dissect his fun and fascinating Ace Hardware spot, back just in time for the holidays. Gabriel has a signature editing style and often composes music for the work he directs. A US/UK dual citizen, his international career has included productions...

Copywriter/Creative Director Cameron Day has a new book that I truly enjoyed, " Chew With Your Mind Open. " It's an entertaining look at his journy through advertising, complete with a foreword by the legendary Lee Clow.  Cameron shares the kind of guidance that has kept him "grounded, driven, and gainfully employed as both a freelancer and a full-timer for longer than I cares to admit." Buy it he...

Filmmaker Charles Papert and I met 20 years ago, but sitting down for this podcast, we picked up like it'd been a week. Charles and I chat about DP'ing "Key & Peele", Muppets, features, commercials, Instant Films and more. Be sure to check out this accomplished cinematographer's invention, the ZeeGee rig that takes handheld camerawork to the next level.  Next  Commercial Directing Bootcamp  is Jan...

Agency Producer Anne Kurtzman has enjoyed an illustrious career producing top ads at some of the best advertising agencies in the business. From 72 & Sunny, Cliff Freeman & Parnters to Saatchi & Saatchi, Anne is the best! We met at David & Goliath, where she was Head of Production, but we never got to be on set until 20 years later! I know you'll love our chat. Check out her site www.annekurtzman....

Actual allows productions quickly issue payment cards & track costs within one collaborative platform. From Bidding through Wrap, Actual provides your team with the tools to competitively bid jobs and track expenses. Ok, I copied and pasted that from Doug Smith 's Actual site so i wouldn't mess it up. But trust me, Actual can streamline a lot of what we don''t like to do. Next  Commercial Directin...

Equals Managment Founder Scott Pugnetti has decades of experiences repping Directors and Cinematohgrpahers globally and now offers his expertise and career management to U.S. commercial helmers. We chat about his relationships, how productions in other cultures operate and more. Enjoy and check out Scott's Equals site here .  One key takeaway is Scott favors "talent over structure" when it comes t...

Filmmaker Tony Franklin is a Los Angeles based national multi award winning director who's caught the attention of brands like Etsy, BMW, IBM, WIRED, Purina, Pizza Hut, Gatorade, Prudential and many more. Tony is a favorite guest on the pod and we talk about everything you need to know about commercial directing. Check out his spots here .  Shout out to Void Studios in downtown LA for the recordin...

I'm off to a big comedy commercial shoot and then a private bootcamp! So this episode is eleven captivating minutes of just me talking about using Zoom to communicate and align my prep with the ad agency. I also recoomend some archived interviews with great guests over the last 9 years. Oh, and I lightly pimp my courses. Amazon Prime!! Jeannette Godoy's hilarilous romcom  "Diamond In The Rough"  s...

Director of Photography Natalie Kingston is continually inspired by the collaborative process of creating a distinct visual language for each film she shoots. Her work is always informed by the story and rooted in emotion. Kingston's latest work can be seen in Black Bird , the upcoming Apple TV+ crime drama, starring Taron Egerton, Paul Houser, Ray Liotta and Greg Kinnear. Recently Kingston also s...