Letting It Rip with Karol Kolodzinski
Karol began his artistic journey as an illustrator and art director, creating advertising campaigns for variety of brands. Next he spend some time doing animation and VFX and this brought him to directing. Having this experience makes him a master at combining live action with VFX and CGI. Among almost 100 commercials he directed, there are some international campaigns for brands like Samsung, Pepsico, NBC, Chanel, Viaplay or Al Jazeera. Some of his work was awarded at Cannes Lions and Promax BDA. His very first commercial was featured by Shots magazine and published on The Drum and Adweek.
He thinks the best invention of all time is a duct tape. Once a muffler in his car fell off, so he put it back using duct tape and went another 800 kilometres before it fell off again. Allow him to pet your dog or give him a bowl of Thai food and he will spill all the secrets. So better watch him.
In the latest instalment of this interview series, the team at Let It Rip Pictures chat to director Karol Kolodzinski to discuss food, travel and movie magic
PORTFOLIO: Karol Kolodzinski
LOCATION: Poland / International
REP: Let it Rip Pictures / USA
BRANDS: Samsung, Pepsico, Old Spice, Orange, Danone, Renault, Gerber
SKILLS: VFX, CGI, Fun, Food & Drinks
Q> What’s the place you feel like you belong in?
Karol> When I’m close to nature especially somewhere by the ocean.
Q> What’s your favourite food related memory?
Karol> Grilled octopus in a small Portuguese village.
Q> Share with us your guilty pleasure. And a sport you’d like to be good at.
Karol> BAD Reality TV is my guilty pleasure. The sport I wish I could be good at is surfing.
Q> If you’d need to pick where you draw your inspiration from - based on the last three question - would it be places, foods or guilty pleasures?
Karol> Probably all of them, but I think places inspire me the most. Also books and movies.
Q> What US state would you choose for an open-budget weekend?
Karol> California. I would spend the whole weekend in Big Sur.
Q> What’s a movie scene you’d like to recreate in a branded content?
Karol> A scene from 'Big Lebowski', when they’re discussing how Jeff’s rug got stolen.
Q> Can you name a project that changed the course of your career in an unexpected way?
Karol> It would probably be the project for Alivia Foundation. It was one of the first things I’ve ever shot and didn’t expect it to be that big, but it really kicked off my career as a director.
Q> How do you collaborate with actors in order to get their best emotions out?
Karol> I usually try to give them playable action or a vivid image instead of describing the emotion I want to see. Take it as an example - "Imagine finding out your best friend did a porn film once” - always works.
Q> What’s your favourite in camera trick?
Karol> Texas switch. Or moving walls.
Q> Transitions - love them or hate them?
Karol> Love them but only if they are not overused.
Q> What’s your take on AI?
Karol> I embrace it and make use of it in my work. A lot of my visual references I create using Midjourney.
Q> Did you ever do a cameo role and if so, can you share a picture with us?
Karol> Never did. I feel safe behind the camera.
Q> Dream client?
Karol> Nike and Nissin noodles.
Q> What is your advice to producers in order to keep our film sets more eco-friendly?
Karol> Stop putting so much shit in the client’s tent :) And also use more glass water bottles.
