The Directors: Bennett Johnson
Bennett Johnson is a Brooklyn-based director who was born in London to American parents (which explains the unshakable transatlantic accent). He is the youngest ever winner of the heralded Gold Cannes Lions for Music Video Film Craft which he won in 2017. His work is an orchestrated dance of opposing forces: dark and whimsical, planned but without pretense, considered yet always with a twist of the unexpected. His extremely varied background means he adapts his approach accordingly, uniquely marrying style and substance.
Name: Bennett Johnson
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Repped by/in: Soup Film - Germany, Voir - France, HB Films - USA, Tantrum - UK,
Awards: Gold Cannes Lions, One Show Best Emerging Director, YDA shortlist x 2, ShootOnline New Director Showcase
LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?
Bennett> I don’t mind a fairly empty script. There is a level of excitement in getting involved with a half-baked idea and adding my own flavour. I’ve done a fair bit of ad writing/art direction so I feel comfortable in that world.
My favourite types of scripts, however, are insane ideas played deadly seriously: Canal Plus' The Bear by Matthijs van Heijningen and, more recently, Instacart's Short Ribs epic by IPJ are both great examples of this. These scripts generally lead to interesting tone blending between drama and comedy while also empowering the director to bring a lot of imagination to bring the whole concept to life. So generally, I would say I’m looking for a big juicy premise: e.x. what if colours were illegal, what if the world ran out of hotdogs, what if dust conspired to wage war on us etc.
LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?
Bennett> My approach to scripts and treatments is always more conceptual than purely visual. When trying to bring big ideas to life, I aim to showcase a strong perspective on the details in order to indicate an angle we might want to continue to explore. For example, on a recent job for Mattress Warehouse, I really enjoyed getting to flesh out the backstory of the character's sleepwear (which is very oddly specific to everyone when you think about it). I can't tell you why your Dad has been wearing a grotty Disneyland Paris t-shirt to bed for the last 20 years, but to get him to change it just would not fly.
LBB> If the script is for a brand that you're not familiar with/ don’t have a big affinity with or a market you're new to, how important is it for you to do research and understand that strategic and contextual side of the ad? If it’s important to you, how do you do it?
Bennett> I think understanding the context of a brand within a specific market is extremely important. Many of these things are highly cultural, for example. trying to explain what Marmite means to a Brit is quite difficult. In that regard, I feel when approaching jobs in a foreign market it becomes even more important to do your homework.
LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?
Bennett> This might seem like a strange answer but for me, it's probably the client. I think a large part of what you do as a filmmaker is guiding an agency and client through the methodologies of storytelling, which you can't necessarily expect them to know. Building trust and really taking the time to explain my reasoning has allowed me to do the most off-the-wall things.
LBB> What type of work are you most passionate about - is there a particular genre or subject matter or style you are most drawn to?
Bennett> Larger than life ideas played out with a lot of love and care are my favourite. They've got a bit of story, performances, design, and tricks.
A great example of this is Pepsi's "The Mess We Miss," written by a dear friend Chris Greer. How he was able to sell through the romanticization of all the gross stuff we do every day is beyond me but that's the kind of creative that really gets me ticking.
LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?
Bennett> I built my filmmaking technique in layers, starting with a documentary and naturalistic approach and then gradually adding a few more flavours from the spice rack: I think might be slightly confusing to my 'brand'.
The misconception is that the two approaches don't work together. I'm glad I started out in the doc world because it taught me how to draw performances out of 'real people'. Many ads that feature talent toe this line: you're not always trying to get an athlete or influencer to act in your film, you're trying to get them to play themselves in a potentially elevated or imagined situation, which blurs the lines a bit from a technique standpoint between scripted and doc. So, although this may be more confusing from an aesthetic standpoint, I think from an experience standpoint, it's a strength.
LBB> Have you ever worked with a cost consultant and if so how have your experiences been?
Bennett> I haven’t but I know my producers have :,)
LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?
Bennett> A piece I directed and wrote for the Ad Council was a bit of a nightmare. The budget was very low, and we had to cast kids over Zoom. They all seemed great and I've worked with kids quite a lot before. Let's just say I will never cast kids over Zoom again. One of the kids absolutely lost his mind the moment he got to the set. Thankfully the mother had three kids, so we swapped out the youngest with the older brother and it all ended up working out.
LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?
Bennett> I think it starts with the pitch. I always present a strong perspective, which either leads to a big fat no or an enthusiastic yes. That means off the bat, there's quite a lot of buy-in. For example, if you're discussing if the alien cat monsters terrorizing the world for Purina have three, four, or five heads, you've already won the war. The other factor is how I have changed styles/genres. In that way, I've positioned myself so the director's vision becomes more indispensable. In more naturalistic work, I find that there can be more separation in terms of vision.
LBB> What are your thoughts on opening up the production world to a more diverse pool of talent? Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?
Bennett> I have no problem with it. In a way, we’re all mini directors/photographers, even media companies between our Instagram, TikTok, and sending mum a video of a cute doggo. In that regard we’re all footballers too but that doesn’t mean we can all be Pelé! I love a bit of mentoring on set and have been thankful to help mentor the mad-talented-super-buzzy-up-and-coming Giselle Keena. I executive produced her first short film Cake coming out soon which is freaking sick!!!!
LBB> How do you feel the pandemic is going to influence the way you work into the longer term? Have you picked up new habits that you feel will stick around for a long time?
Bennett> I think the pandemic really helped me build the habit of working on long-form projects. I have been working on the development of a feature for a couple of years now and try to get in an hour or two of work on it before the day starts. That's something I picked up that I hope to continue but sometimes it gets mad busy!
LBB> Your work is now presented in so many different formats - to what extent do you keep each in mind while you're working (and, equally, to what degree is it possible to do so)?
Bennett> I think it makes the idea even more important. In some sense, you simply can't optimise for every format but the best ideas shine through regardless. The first time I saw this year's John Lewis Christmas ad (whose work I love) was on my phone. Was it perfectly framed? No. Was I crying at the end of it? Yes. So, in that regard, the infinite deliverables make the message underneath it all the more important.
LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work (e.g. virtual production, interactive storytelling, AI/data-driven visuals etc)?
Bennett> As a fairly technical person, it's interesting for me to nerd out on. However, I don't often see many really interesting story applications of new technology with those who really fawn after it. With any new visual technology, there is an initial wonder and marvel factor where everyone is finding ways to simply execute a new shot in runway, but that will wear off. It's ultimately about how it becomes used in the service of something else. That's where I'm particularly interested in experimenting with these things.
LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why?
Bennett> Nike SB has all my favourite flavors, despite it being the flip of what I professed earlier: it's a simple idea done in an insane way. There are some visual tricks, some off-beat performances, a tongue-in-cheek tone and slightly surreal elements all centering around story.
League of Legends: I think this piece shows my interest in technique, not for its own sake but for the sake of the concept. The performance has a heightened tone to match the characters' animation (we drew a lot of inspiration from Charlie Chaplin for this). I think this shows my design sensibility to integrate different elements within a big idea to create a seamless, unique tone.
Gaian Moonwalker - What if we could harvest everyone's energy from their shoes? What would it be like to visualize that? We looked to create a strong sense of design in the visual effects, art direction and performance but in a different creative direction to enhance this. Even though some of the big idea work tends to go towards comedy it can work really nicely, ending in a more serious place.
Hope Inside the Fire - this is the one piece that I include from my documentary days but it’s still based on the big idea: does prayer have power and why do we do it when we’re faced with no other option?
