This is a guest post from Adam Witten, a talented commercial director represented by The Insanity Corp. based out in NYC. After seeing my post on 6 Mistakes to Avoid When Directing a Spec Commercial, he wanted to add on with his own tips on making it in this industry.
from Scion: BOXHEAD, directed by Adam Witten
1. Don’t write your own spots.
Even if you think you are the best copywriter in the world, at best you get a good spot but at worse you write a bad spot and no one is there to tell you as much, not to mention you lost an opportunity to meet and work with real agency folk.
Copywriters have whole drawers of dead scripts that the client killed. Many are great and just not want the client wanted that very moment. The creatives want to see this stuff made as much as you and if you are offering to pay for it most of the time they are happy as a pig in shit.
Jr. copywriters and art directors are young/inexperienced, so if you are nice they will take your call. Most importantly you get to work with other people who are doing real work, if you do good on their spec scripts they will remember you, When you get signed your EP and reps are going to ask who you know so they can call them for work for you. These people are at the top of that list.
If you can’t find anyone for scripts try: http://www.specbank.com/ it is run by a buddy of mine, David Weinstock. Also you can think about applying to http://thespotlab.com/. I did it in 2007 and it was great but it is not for everyone. It is really hard and really expensive, but I did get signed after I did it.
2. Know what kind of reel you are looking to make.
My reel is not so great for cohesion, in general it is better to have 3 fantastic spots in the same style then 9 fantastic spots in different styles. Me, I am a visual storytelling director with some quirky story telling on the side. Find you niche and stick to it.
3. Shoot on 35mm.
I know this sounds ridiculous given all the great digital formats out there (including the Red which is now my preferred format) but the hard fact is that your work will be judged against other real spots that have really been shot in 35mm. It is wicked expensive but it is your best bet. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes there is a script that really works in 16mm or digital and then that is fine, but don’t try and bullshit a Budweiser spot on anything less then 35mm. Plus everyone is more likely to take you seriously and do you favors if you are shooting 35mm.
4. Break all of the above rules.
I have broken every one of these at least once but not before I had figured out how and when. I know it is a pain to have someone say here are the rules now go break them, but at the end of the day your path is your own and you need to follow your own instincts.
5. Don’t get discouraged…
…when people tell you that the market is changing and there is no work for young directors, there just is no longer a market for bad young directors.
6. Do think about how you present yourself to the world.
You are always marketing yourself to production companies and agencies.
7. Most of all, make stuff, all the time, no matter what.
To paraphrase Robert Rodriguez: We all have 10-20 really bad pieces in us that we need to get out before we start making consistently good work. Almost all of the personal projects that I have done have ended up in the service of a paying job, even if it was just learning about how to use one particular shot really well. The secret is to just keep working even when it seems like you are not making progress professionally. Perseverance in the face of apparently overwhelming indifference is the hardest part of being a working creative person.
Check out more from Adam Witten at his site, RE:Birth Films, or follow him on his Twitter.
