Respect The Process

Filmmaker Frank Armendarez is a writer, director, and editor with my pals at Crown Chimp. Frank got his big break into show business as a PA on the set of fitness infomercials, but parlayed that into a solid career writing, editing and directing.  Frank currently lives in Tucson where he focuses his creative eye on Table Top directing as well as regularly enjoying the best 23 miles of Mexican food...

The exciting conclusion to my conversation with Filmmaker Alice Gu. Alice began her career as a Director of Photography, working with renowned directors Werner Herzog, Stacy Peralta, and Rory Kennedy, among others. She was cinematographer on Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton , a documentary directed by Academy Award-nominated director Rory Kennedy.  The Donut King  is Alice's feature dir...

Director Alice Gu  began her career as a Director of Photography, working with renowned directors Werner Herzog, Stacy Peralta, and Rory Kennedy, among others. She was cinematographer on  Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton , a documentary directed by Academy Award-nominated director Rory Kennedy.  The Donut King  is Alice's feature directorial debut and was selected to premiere in competi...

Laurence Shanet is an award-winning director, writer, and creative director who got his start in the advertising world working for some of the world's most prestigious ad agencies before embarking on his directorial career. He is a past winner of the Young Director Award at Cannes, was listed among the industry's Top 10 "Directors to Watch", and has had his work placed in the Museum of Modern Art'...

The exciting conclusion to my interview with Commercial Director Wayne Craig is here. Thanks Jake Brady for covering me with the intro, as I've been shooting Kaiser Permanente Thrive all week. More of Wayne's work at www.jordanbrady.com or click his name. Jake Brady's Patreon ! is awesome. A mere $2/month gets you BONUS content not heard in the show!! Get a $75 discount on Masterclass, free T-shir...

Director Wayne Craig began working in the commercial industry at the bottom. 'He was one hell of a P.A." The one major advantage it gave him was that it allowed him to work with some of the best directors in the world during the late 80's and early 90's. Finally after shooting two spec spots Wayne got the chance to direct a 'real' commercial. Amazingly, that first ad won a Lion at Cannes. Since th...

Associate Creative Director & Copywriter Aaron Cathey returns to the podcast! Aaron is an award-winning copywriter now cranking out fun work at Highdive. He's put his strategic thinking and creativity to work for brands like Hotels.com (Captain Obvious) Microsoft, Molson Coors, Charles Schwab, Wingstop, Spirit Airlines, Groupon and Applebee's and more.   Jake Brady's Patreon ! is awesome. A mere $...

Associate Creative Director & Copywriter Aaron Cathey returns to the podcast! Aaron is an award-winning copywriter now cranking out fun work at Highdive. He's put his strategic thinking and creativity to work for brands like Hotels.com (Captain Obvious) Microsoft, Molson Coors, Charles Schwab, Wingstop, Spirit Airlines, Groupon and Applebee's and more.   Jake Brady's Patreon ! is awesome. A mere $...

Filmmaker Brad Hasse has a new film that I love called "Songs For A Sloth" out now. Watch it on Apple TV or anywhere and listen to this chat about how he made it on a micro budget. Brad was first on the podcast in 2015 and we're celebrating the film with him. Give it 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes please. Bravo to Brad, the cast and crew and the producing team - Pudding Boy Productions. Check out t...

Christine Chen is back for part two. This prolific film producer, director and co-author of Get Reelisms also has wrapped principle photography on " Erzulie " her first feature. I know cuz I follow her on the 'grams here . Bravo Christine and the team!   Check out Jake Brady's Patreon ! A mere $2/month gets you BONUS content not heard in the show!! Get a $75 discount on Masterclass, free T-shirt a...

Christine Chen is a prolific film producer, director and co-author of Get Reelisms . I recommend this book for anyone starting out on set. It's all the lingo, some even new to me. Christine's work incorporates her perspectives from growing up as a first generation Asian-American in Colorado and from coming of age within a culture dominate in patriarchal tradition. Her short films " A Bird's Nest "...

Dan Sorgen (ACD/CD/Copywriter at Saatchi LA) turns the tables and asks me questions as well as reveals the secrets to the conference call I did with him and the Toyota Team at Saatchi. This is Part 2 of our great chat. He is also the Founder of SpecBank , a source for agency scripts you can make for your reel. Directors, listen up! Dan's work has been featured in Cannes, One Show, Clio, AdWeek, Cr...

Dan Sorgen is an ACD/CD/Copywriter that's overseen brand launches for billion-dollar companies, taught ad school classes, led multiple creative teams, won new business, won awards, won a wife, worked with a lot of really smart people, dinged the culture a few times, and never returned to NY in the winter. He is also the Founder of SpecBank , a source for agency scripts you can make for your reel....

Kayden Phoenix is a Chicana Writer, Director, Producer as well as the Creator of the Latina superhero comic universe, A La Brava . She also founded the Chinana Directors Initiative , which y'all should follow in Instagram.   Upon entering show biz, the first thing she noticed was the industry dominated standard- complete with character generalizations. In response, she became a huge advocate for d...

Cinematographer Barry Berona and I reunited after decades and we had a blast chatting all things commercials. His versatile, award winning commercial work extends to many sub-genres including automotive, tabletop, and beauty for such recent clients as, Google, PGA & GolfTV, Nike, Subaru, Toyota, GM, Ford, Renault, Mitsubishi, Harley Davidson, Sony, US Navy, Snickers, Honda, Coors, Priceline and Pu...

Writer/Director Skinner Myers is an award-winning filmmaker and film professor at Loyola Marymount University. Skinner wrote and directed four short films: Chimera, The Last Supper, Obscured, and Nigger, while studying film at USC School of Cinematic Arts. I reached out to Skinner after seeing "The Sleeping Negro" at Slamdance 2021. "Confronted with a series of racially charged incidents, a young...

Associate Creative Director Julia Nicholas has risen up the agency ladder quickly, working on everything from beauty to weight loss to cars and more. An Art Director by trade, she craves variety in assignments, diving into each project with passion. We talk about her journey, the many mentors she's had and the great spots we've made together.  Catch Julia in the behind-the-scenes I've posted for o...

Leo Burnett Detroit Creative Directors Dan Councilor and Tom Topolewski discuss shooting remotely from the agency perspective. I'd shot Buick with the team (Dan is an Art Director and Tom a copywriter) in February again for the NCAA March Madness, but this time Tom watched the camera feed via zoom and facetimed with us. Dan had his boots on the ground. Now, I love having the creatives with me on s...

Filmmaker Jessica Redish brings her passion to the podcast and I promise you'll find her positive energy infectious. She's lighting up the film festival scene with her short comedy "Airway" and still getting accolades for "The Last Croissant", posted on my site and hers. My online Commercial Directing Masterclass celebrated one year of helping filmmakers globally and has received 100% 5 star revie...

Just your ol' pal Jordan Brady talking about shooting lo-fi tests with my camcorder to prove my attacks will work. The test is posted on my site with this blog. My online Commercial Directing Masterclass has helped almost 800 filmmakers globally and has received 100% 5 star reviews. Did I mention the free filmmaker consultation call upon completion? Shout out again to Caio Shindo so we pronounced...

Filmmaker Nicholas Lam directs award-winning spots, music videos and films. He's helmed international campaigns for Google, Samsung, Disney, P&G and Nestle, works closely with top agencies like BBDO, Ogilvy & Mather and Iris Worldwide. In the music world, Nicholas is an MTV VMA nominated director having shot videos for Nick Jonas, Blink-182, Sara Bareilles, Bastille, Jess Glynne, Monsta X and more...

Nancy Jacobs runs Winston Wolfe, a creative resource representing directors for work within the internal production divisions of ad agencies and brands. We talk about how this can be a great source of work for filmmakers wanting to tell stories for brands, and how this model is growing and thriving within agencies. You'll love the chat! Shout out to Scotty Shuckies - Jake's newest patron! Click hi...

Jason Wolk is Founder and Managing Director of Spears & Arrows, a top production company with a stellar roster of directors.  We talk covid protocols, relationships, his fine roster, director career management and how it all starts with tending to the story. Hey Patreon patrons - join Jake and I for our patrons-only "Ask Us Anything" on zoom April 6th at 5pm pacific. Join show editor Jake Brady on...

Filmmaker Nick Peterson has amassed over 500 million views between his music videos, spots and animation. After graduating from the Experimental Animation program at CALARTS, Nick spent years producing visual effects (vfx) before he transitioned into full time directing. Nick's films have been screened in festivals such as SUNDANCE, and SXSW. His Chrysler Commercial played during the Super Bowl. ...

Ezrah Lockwood runs the casting sessions for most of my commercials via Danielle Eskinazi Casting. He shares tips and tricks for auditions that actors and directors alike will glean knowledge from. He's also quite the musician, so check out his music here . It's dark electronic music with a human element that evokes a cinematic landscape.  Love this podcast? Our show editor Jake Brady has a new Pa...