Top director: David Gaddie

Every fortnight Campaign Brief Asia is turning the spotlight on a hot director that is currently in the news. This week Campaign Brief Asia speaks to the New York-based Australian expat director, David Gaddie.

Last September, David Gaddie signed with The Sweet Shop reuniting him with CEO/managing partner Paul Prince, who he had worked with at SilverScreen as a fledgling director in Australia and New Zealand. When Gaddie left for the US, where he was represented by Partizan, they stayed in contact. Then, Stephen Dickstein, who had recruited Gaddie to Partizan, joined The Sweet Shop as global president and managing partner manager to establish their New York and Los Angeles offices and everything just fell into place for the young Australian director.

Where are you going to base yourself? Is there a particular region you expect to do more work for?

Iam now based in New York. I moved there because I love the city andfind it stimulating as a director. Rather than being locked in the oneworld that is advertising, you have access to the world’s best theatre,art and music. I still keep an apartment in Sydney and I’m fortunateenough to often find myself on a plane home for extended stints. Itgives me an international perspective, but I work locally. The SweetShop has always had a huge presence in Asia and Australasia so I’mlooking forward to working a lot more in this region.

What spots have you been working on lately? Is there a particular style of commercial people come to you for?

I’vealways been a bit of a chameleon and I can do a broad range of work.The US market tends to come to me with high concept visual projectsthat require complex executions. I have done stop-motion animation,pixilation, lots of motion control and post production. In Australasia,I’m more often called on for my storytelling and performance work. Thereally technical jobs can become tedious because they become as muchabout maths and engineering as they are about art. I originally wantedto be an actor, so it’s great to put down the calculator and talk to anactor. And in the middle of a number crunching technical job, theactors really appreciate a director who understands their craft.

You’ve done a fair amount of work in Asia throughout your career. What are some of the jobs you’ve directed?

That’salways a hard question to answer because you end up leaving out somegreat jobs you did with people you really like. There are a couple ofjobs that spring to mind, though. Coca Cola Musicwas made for Australia but the creative came out of Ogilvy Hong Kongwhere I worked with Matt Cullen, Gary Tranter, Jason Aspes and BrettRosevear. Jason had written a great monologue that I had free rein tocreate imagery around. We managed to be very organic in our process andcreated a film that was laced with magical visual moments, and yetstill felt gritty and real.

I loved doing the Heineken ‘Migration’spot a few years ago with Roald Van Wyk and Howard Collinge – whoironically have both wound up in New York with me. It was the perfectjob for combining big picture visuals with CG and comedy, and we got totravel around the globe to get the material with a great bunch ofpeople. I also really enjoyed working with Rob Kleman (also in New York) and MarcusRebeschini on the Sony Wega ‘Warped’ launch.Taking on the Shangri-La Hotels commercial with the then regionalcreative director at TBWA, Stephen Ward, was an immense exercise.

What was your first big break as a commercials director?

Inmy first year as a director I had done a couple of little jobs and wasslowly making my way until I was asked to shoot the Mitsubishi ‘Dog’commercial by Danny Searle, who was Y&R Adelaide’s CD at the time.The spot won or was finalist in nearly every major advertising awardshow globally.

You’ve been doing a lot of work out of the US. Was it a tough market to crack?

TheUS loves new people and they have a special love for Australians, butthere are also a great number of very established directors at the topof the tree. You have a few obstacles to deal with in the US – a reelthat seems foreign to them, a sense of humour they don’t always get.You also have the added dilemma that when you win a job, you aren’tretained to do the post.

What’s the three most memorable spots you’ve directed?

I really enjoyed making the New York Timescommercial. It was really exciting working with the board of a hugeinternational paper like that and being brought into the sacred innerworld where Pulitzer Prize winning journalists weighed in on theportrayal of their newspaper. The Emirates commercials I made for thelast soccer World Cup were a lot of fun. I shot in great locationsaround the world and got to tell dramatic real people stories inbrilliant locations. However, the stand out experience was shooting the famous Chopper Read drink-driving spotswith Jay Furby (then at Saatchi’s in Australia). Sitting in Chopper’sominously remote home in the outback of Tasmania and forcing him torecount some of his nastiest personal experiences is something youdon’t forget easily. The spots went on to win my first Gold Lion.

What do you love about directing commercials?

Ilove getting a script and working out how to turn it into a greatcommercial. Almost all the excitement is in that first moment where yousee all the potential in the idea, before the realities of budget,research and legalities creep in. I’m a creator and an inventor, and inthat moment of creativity there is a flood of energy. I also love thebuzz of seeing a scene unfold – I’ve been known to mouth the dialoguealong with the actors in front of the camera and behave excitedly asstunt people are leaping off exploding buildings!

What are your favourite three commercials?

Michel Gondry’s Levi’s watch pocket commercial is the perfect inventive execution of a great idea. I also love Jonathan Glazer’s VW ‘Protection’ and Tarsem’s Supergacommercial. Yes, they are all from the good old days when the publicsaw commercials as art and clients spent money on making uncompromisingwork.

See David Gaddie’s latest reel here.

Previous featured directors.

Top director: Simon McQuoid (Revolver)

Top director: Amy Gebhardt (Exit Film)