Avsnitt
-
Freelance producer Henry Richardson joins Ethan and Liam to break down U Bank โ 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, what a "support horse" actually is, and the sink malfunction that flooded a set mid-take. Then, Life of a Freelancer: invoicing timing, Net 90 payment terms, and the worst you've ever waited to get paid.00:00 Cold open00:18 Intro02:55 Meet Henry Richardson04:33 Breaking down U Bank11:45 The horse problem12:36 The sink blowout18:32 Should producers be client facing? 26:00 The $100k question36:49 Life of a Freelancer: invoicing & Net 90๐๏ธ Follow The Director and the DOP for new episodes every week.#thedirectorandthedop #commercialfilm #advertising #filmproduction
-
James Griffiths is GM of Creative at Bring, Universal Music's in-house creative agency. In this episode he breaks down Coke Studio โ 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 director was left deliberately room to interpret rather than execute a locked vision, and the moment with five minutes left on day one when the entire shoot nearly came down to a guy with an electric saw cutting open a fridge.
James also on what people don't see in a project like this โ the eight or nine months of work before a single frame rolls, and the tension between music culture moving at rocket pace and a brand the size of Coca-Cola that simply can't move that fast.
Plus, it's episode 10. We made it.
In Gear Chat: the Sony Rialto 65 โ 65mm cinema in a backpack.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Cold open
00:20 Intro โ episode 10, we made it
05:41 Meet James Griffiths, GM Creative at Bring / Universal Music
06:48 Coke Studio โ the project overview
08:10 Two songs designed to connect across two markets
11:22 36 million views and a fandom that knew the lyrics before launch
14:10 Nine sets, two days, two countries
16:34 Choosing an Australian production partner for a global campaign
18:36 Briefing a music video vs a 30-second ad
22:48 Has anyone bitten off more than they can chew?
24:59 Do the product shot first
35:06 Can you make a career on music videos
42:06 an extar $100k?
48:34 Liam's K-pop pitch
51:43 Gear Chat โ Sony Rialto 65
56:00 Wrap-up
-
Saknas det avsnitt?
-
Erin McBean is Executive Producer at Infinity Squared. In this episode she breaks down Mountain Dew's "Do the Dew" campaign โ 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, and what happens when you push back on an agency's creative approach before a single frame is shot.
Erin also on the pitch process โ competitive pitches on shrinking budgets, jobs that get cancelled after three production companies have put in weeks of work, and why that needs to change.
Plus where production is actually heading in 2026. Erin's been at Infinity Squared for five years and has watched the industry shift faster than it ever has.
In What We're Watching: a punk band trashes a Denny's and it becomes the best brand ad of the year. And an AI campaign that convinced the entire internet โ including Ethan โ that Nike had just made the greatest sports ad of all time.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Cold open
00:22 Intro โ episode 9, running out of outfits
03:05 Meet Erin McBean, EP at Infinity Squared
04:10 Mountain Dew "Do the Dew" โ why this project
05:00 Car park budget, not Sydney Park
07:38 AI backgrounds โ building the whole concept
09:18 Client says no to AI โ three days out
13:00 The casting โ Caleb gets painted green
14:15"Bite off more than you can chew and chew like crazy"
23:21 The pitch process is broken
25:06 The rejection/dating parallel
27:05 Where is production going in 2026?
31:08 What do you wish people knew about the EP role?
38:17 What We're Watching โ Denny's punk band ad
40:54 The AI Nike campaign that fooled everyone
45:31 Wrap-up
๐ท Instagram: @directorandthedop
#commercialfilm #filmmaking #advertising #executiveproducer #director #cinematographer #podcast #thedirectorandthedop #behindthescenes
-
Marcus Friedlander is a colourist working across commercial production in Sydney. In this episode he breaks down the grade on Nike "Run Your Run" โ 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 colour space, and what happens when a client asks you to make something more poppy and you've already hit the legal limit of the farm.
We also talk about the colourist being involved earlier, why the DP needs to be in the grade, and the new piece of client feedback nobody quite knows how to decode yet โ "we don't want it to feel AI."
Plus โ our very first listener question. Yun from Sydney asks how to work with a colourist for the first time.
In Gear Chat: Cooke AP3 Anamorphics. 1.5x squeeze, user-interchangeable mounts, tiny, and about to be everywhere.
00:00 Opener
00:26 Intro โ e-bikes, cyclists, North Sydney Bears
02:48 The Breakdown with Marcus Friedlander, Colourist
03:43 Nike "Run Your Run" โ why this project
06:09 Look development โ seeing it with fresh eyes
07:31 Technical challenges โ one day, multiple cameras, harsh light
14:21 Working colour space โ unifying different cameras
15:33 The gatewave โ making digital feel like film
20:20 "We don't want it to feel AI"
21:33 Make it pop" โ decoding client language
24:58 Director's cut workflow โ backing up before client notes
27:32 What colourists wish production understood
28:40 The DP needs to be in the grade
33:05 Marcus's question for Ethan
37:50 First ever listener question โ Yun from Sydney
42:37 Gear Chat โ Cooke AP3 Anamorphics
47:44 Wrap-up
-
Steph Pringle is co-founder of Chicken and Chips Casting. In this episode she breaks down the NRL "This is How We League" campaign โ 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 disappearing and what directors lose when it does, and how emerging directors should be thinking about building those relationships.In Life of a Freelancer: how Ethan and Liam crew up โ and their first real disagreement about crew loyalty.TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open โ first fight teased00:23 Intro โ episode 702:29 Meet Steph Pringle, Chicken and Chips Casting05:20 The NRL "This is How We League" โ why this project08:46 The bilingual brief โ specific without box-ticking09:45 Street casting vs agent-driven process11:32 Finding Dang โ the gut feeling moment12:21 Car acting and eyeline technique20:43 The callback process โ what directors are losing26:35 What casting directors wish production understood28:05 How emerging directors should approach casting directors29:55 Loyalty โ building a reel then moving on34:13 Life of a Freelancer โ crewing up37:30 The first fight38:25 Wrap-up
FIND US๐๏ธ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4aYJx1Y3tfx8nXvSMnzOfp?si=9d077fcf64074702
๐บ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDirectorandTheD.O.P
๐ท Instagram: @directorandthedop
Follow Steph @anditsstephaniepringle + Chicken and Chips Casting @chickenandchips_
#commercialfilm #filmmaking #advertising #casting #director #cinematographer #DOP #podcast #thedirectorandthedop #behindthescenes
-
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 โ 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 their colleague, and why the best shot of the whole shoot was the one nobody planned.
We also get into treatments โ what ECDs are actually looking for, where confidence tips into cockiness, and who really wins the argument over which director gets selected.
In What We're Watching: Expedia "Nothing" (dir. Lope Serrano, DOP Tim Lorentzen, production CANADA), Nike "Run Forever" (dir. Rodrigo Inada), and two Netflix documentaries redefining found footage storytelling โ Perfect Neighbor and The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Cold open
00:23 Intro โ episode 6, 50k views across social
04:51 Meet Russ Tucker, ECD at Omnicom
05:46 Being a Robot Usher โ how it started
07:41 Hustling the Sydney Opera House
10:30 Jordan the robot-deer โ live coding on set
14:14 The glass door moment
15:46 Engineering the interviews โ they had no idea
19:59 Treatments โ confidence vs cockiness
22:43 How much does the DOP actually matter in a treatment?
23:55 Who wins the director selection argument?
24:45 What ECDs are actually thinking at the monitor
27:20 Where do you find references nobody else is using?
29:38 What We're Watching โ Expedia "Nothing"
33:22 Nike "Run Forever"
35:00 Perfect Neighbor + The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson
39:30 A confession โ the camera we forgot to roll
-
n Episode 5, Ethan and Liam break down ESPN Have a Sick Day โ 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 a rigid sun-driven schedule in an open street, and what it felt like when Liam lost it laughing trying to hold the Ronin steady on Jack's very first take.
Then the story nobody knew was coming โ a shoot postponed the day before because of the Bondi Beach shootings. How that call was made, who made it, and what it cost everyone to show up a few days later and find the energy to make something joyful.
In Gear Chat โ Iron Glass, a Ukrainian company doing some of the most interesting vintage lens rehousing work in the world while their country is at war. Why vintage lenses are having a moment, and what the new Air Series mirrorless mount rehousings mean for smaller camera packages.
0:25 Intro โ MacGyver mic stand, 25K social views, guest updates
3:37 The Breakdown โ ESPN Have a Sick Day
5:53 Writing a treatment when nobody asked
11:40 Finding Jack โ the casting tape that ended the process
13:56 Liam loses it on the Ronin โ first shot of the day
16:00 The trumpet girls scene
18:38 Shooting in a city โ 3, 4, 5 suns
32:51 Outro
The Director & The DOP is a video podcast for the commercial production and advertising industry. A director and a DOP break down real projects โ no theory, just the work.New episodes weekly.
๐๏ธ Hosted by Ethan McLean (Director) & Liam Brennan (DOP)
#commercialfilmmaking #director #cinematography #advertising #filmmaking #australianfilm
-
In Episode 4, Ethan breaks down Adidas Bound by Legacy โ 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 Robertsonโs โyou get one lightโ call shaped the entire look of the film, working with rugby league legends who have a 10-minute window, and the Petzval lens choice that gave the film its nostalgic character.Then in Life of a Freelancer โ Directorโs Cuts. Why Edit 2 is the directorโs version. Why Edit 3 onwards belongs to the village of clients. And why directors keep ringing their composer mates asking for free favours long after everyone else has been paid.Plus โ Meta and Google both shut us down in the same week. Weโre back.---0:00 Cold open โ I shut down a pub0:28 Intro โ new mics, wardrobe, and getting banned by Meta and Google04:15 The Breakdown โ Adidas Bound by Legacy, Sydney Roosters07:14 How Ethan got the job without pitching08:34] Lighting the pub from the street โ the one light decision09:55 Working with rugby league legends in tight windows18:21 Petzval lens choice and Peaky Blinders colour references22:56 Jesse Watt โ the composer who made the difference24:50 Life of a Freelancer โ Directorโs Cuts25:10 Edit 2 is the directorโs cut28:46 Who pays for the grade and sound mix after the fact32:24 Outro---The Director & The DOP is a video podcast for the commercial production and advertising industry. A director and a DOP break down real projects โ no theory, just the work.New episodes weekly.๐๏ธ Hosted by Ethan McLean (Director) & Liam Brennan (DOP)#commercialfilmmaking #director #cinematography #advertising #filmmaking #australianfilm
-
In Episode 3, Ethan and Liam break down Changi Taste of Asia โ 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, and why Liam nearly didn't take the job at all.
Plus the broader conversation on crafted influencer content โ what happens when you bring a proper ad crew into that world, and why the result is better than the sum of its parts.
Then in What We Watch โ Ethan on Ardbeg You Can't Untaste It and the power of a simple, beautiful setup. Liam on Project Hail Mary and why IMAX is genuinely worth leaving the house for.
0:00 Introduction0:30 Espresso, coffees on set, and show intro2:27 The Breakdown โ Changi Taste of Asia6:41 Luna's digital recce approach10:09 Sony Burano โ stripping back to handheld13:05 No camera assistant โ how it actually worked18:56 I nearly didn't take this job21:14 The crafted influencer format23:40 What We Watch โ Ardbeg + Project Hail Mary / IMAX27:35 Outro
-
In Episode 2, Ethan and Liam break down their Destination NSW Central West content capture project with Mint Films โ 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 Never Miss"), the terrarium approach to directing non-actor talent, why recces are non-negotiable on tourism work, and the key takeaway โ always aim higher than the brief.
Then in Gear Chat โ Liam breaks down the Sony virtual production tracking system using SLAM technology. Camera-agnostic, no external markers, and why he thinks handheld is back.
Plus โ why we changed the name from The Director and the DP.
-
In our first episode, Ethan and Liam break down Grant Burge Leave Your Mark โ 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-on-dolly solution when time ran out.
Then in Life of a Freelancer โ the DOP/Director coffee date. Who reaches out, what makes it work, and the age-old question of who actually pays.
0:00 Introduction
3:35 The Breakdown โ Grant Burge Leave Your Mark ft. Dylan Alcott
7:17 Lens choice โ Panavision H Series & Alexa Mini LF
14:14 Working with non-actor talent
18:18 The handheld-on-dolly decision
19:43 What we'd do differently
22:45 Life of a Freelancer โ The Director/DOP coffee date
27:55 Tips for the coffee date
The Director & The DOP is a video podcast for the commercial production and advertising industry. A director and a DOP break down real projects โ no theory, just the work.
New episodes weekly.
๐๏ธ Hosted by Ethan McLean (Director) & Liam Brennan (DOP)
