The Director & The D.O.P

Freelance producer Henry Richardson joins Ethan and Liam to break down U Bank — a maximalist, three-spot campaign directed by Jesse James McElroy built almost entirely on practical effects: a horse walking through a beach set inside an "office," a man bursting out of a flooded kitchen sink, toast flying on a roof. Henry explains why the shoot pivoted from location to a full studio build,...

James Griffiths is GM of Creative at Bring, Universal Music's in-house creative agency. In this episode he breaks down Coke Studio — a campaign spanning Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines, built around two original songs designed to connect, nine custom-built sets, and a final surprise collaboration between five artists. We get into how a campaign this complex gets briefed, why the di...

Erin McBean is Executive Producer at Infinity Squared. In this episode she breaks down Mountain Dew's "Do the Dew" campaign — a green screen shoot built almost entirely on AI-generated backgrounds, until the client's legal team said no three days before they rolled. We get into how the production pivoted, why a smaller budget sometimes gives social content exactly what it needs,...

Marcus Friedlander is a colourist working across commercial production in Sydney. In this episode he breaks down the grade on Nike "Run Your Run" — shot in one day in Southeast Asia, multiple cameras, and a director who walked into the grade and asked him to push the look further. We get into what density actually means, how to unify footage from different cameras in a single working col...

Steph Pringle is co-founder of Chicken and Chips Casting. In this episode she breaks down the NRL "This is How We League" campaign — a hybrid process mixing trained actors with community and street casting, built around one of the most articulate diversity briefs she's seen in her career. We get into what casting directors are actually doing on a project, why the callback process is...

Russ Tucker is ECD at Omnicom. Ten years ago he wrangled an uncommissioned Intel short film, a real robot from Swinburne University, and the Sydney Opera House — with no agreed budget and a TEDx premiere date closing in fast. In this episode Russ breaks down Being a Robot Usher. We cover live-coding a robot on set, engineering interviews so the Opera House staff unknowingly described the robot as...

n Episode 5, Ethan and Liam break down ESPN Have a Sick Day — an Australian Super Bowl promo for Now We Collide agency with Mint Films, produced by Henry Richardson. They get into why Ethan wrote a treatment for a job that didn't ask for one, how they found lead actor Jack William Newell through a casting tape that made the decision instantly, shooting a loose unscripted performance style with...

In Episode 4, Ethan breaks down Adidas Bound by Legacy — a film for the Sydney Roosters made in collaboration with Helium and Hype Republic, directed by Ethan and shot by Donny Buppapirak ACS.They get into why Ethan chose to light an entire pub from the street rather than inside, how First AD Murray Robertson’s “you get one light” call shaped the entire look of the film, working with rugby league...

In Episode 3, Ethan and Liam break down Changi Taste of Asia — a 12-day, four-country travel campaign directed by Luna for Infinity Squared, with Liam as DOP and no camera assistant. They get into how Luna planned every location digitally before ever setting foot there, why you have to plan spontaneity, how Liam stripped the Sony Burano down to football size to shoot handheld across Southeast Asia...

In Episode 2, Ethan and Liam break down their Destination NSW Central West content capture project with Mint Films — a 9-day, multi-location shoot across regional NSW on natural light only, with a lean crew and no lighting team. They get into how Ethan selects a DOP for a long-form road job on emotional intelligence as much as skill, how Liam chose his First AC Molly Sutherland ("Little Miss...

In our first episode, Ethan and Liam break down Grant Burge Leave Your Mark — a TVC, social, and OOH campaign featuring Dylan Alcott, where Ethan served as both Creative Director and Director. They get into the Panavision H Series lens choice and why it defined the look, working with non-actor talent who calls their own takes, the decision to bring Dylan's dad on set, and Liam's handheld-o...