The Directors: George Messa

While George was building his directing career he worked in camera, production and editing. All of which helped build the foundations of his documentary work. Just like the cartoon, George is very curious and likes to get to know who he’s filming, building a close bond to hunt out the most interesting aspects of their lives and bring it to screen. As someone that’s lived and travelled around the world, his passion for culture and the outdoors often appear as themes in his films. Building cinematic and honest worlds around his characters to create a rich visual style that is heavily inspired by landscape photography. George’s experience working across different departments helps him get the most out of all budgets, using these resources to ensure nothing is missed by the time he reaches the edit suite.

Name: George Messa

Location: London

Repped by/in: Johnny Foreigner

LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?

George> Story and setting. What are we trying to say in the story, what are the themes, who are the characters and what is their world? These are all the things I’m looking out for in any brief, and what gets me excited is when these all leap off the page. 

LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?

George> I read the brief a few times so it’s firmly in my head, then I go for a walk making notes as they come to me. I have always found writing easier than gathering imagery, dredging google for the exact still drives me mad, and gives me the utmost respect for image researchers.

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?

George> I have been unbelievably lucky in that almost every job I do is for a brand I like. Recently I was working on something for the Chinese market and hired a researcher that could help me to understand the cultural differences. This was an incredibly valuable tool and helped immensely. For me, there is nothing more important than the success of the final film, and I will do whatever I can in pre-production to help ensure that.

LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?

George> Tough one, and very job specific. I would say the creatives, if we are aligned from the start and we’re all passionate about what we’re trying to achieve, then we are all in a really good place. Now there is room for creativity, experimenting, trust in the crew, pushing the idea and ourselves to walk away with the best film possible. All of that stems from a good bond and level of trust between myself and the creative team. 

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?

George> Cinematic and high-end branded documentaries. Compared to more traditional styles of documentary filmmaking, we’re very lucky to be able to work with bigger budgets and crews and this has given rise to this wonderful sub genre of documentary that I adore. I am very fortunate to travel so much with my work, and I always love the opportunity to go somewhere different and bring back a film with me that encapsulates that experience.

LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?

George> That I only shoot in beautiful locations! This is a blessing and a curse, I get to travel and visit stunning places, but I so rarely see scripts set in more modest locations. This is the lion’s share of the documentary world, so recently I have been putting more effort into finding work that I can add to my reel to make myself applicable to scripts set and shot in London, or the other big cities that don’t require a plane ticket and adventure gear. That said I’ve just shot my second film for Peloton and that is adventure all the way!

LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?

George> A cruise liner parked in the glen that we had chosen for our packshot. The DoP had to get quite creative with his framing as we were already chasing the sunset.

LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?

George> I always try to be as open and honest with people, I don’t have a very good poker face. A huge part of directing is ultimately explaining things to people, and so I will always try to push for what I believe in and explain it from my perspective, but I understand there are countless decisions that have been made by the time the script has even reached me. In which case, I would rather everyone walks away from the shoot happy with what we’ve accomplished.

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?

George> Last year I worked as a mentor to a young filmmaker with the charity Arts Emergency. It was a wonderful experience that allowed me to give back some of my own experiences and what I have learned. I think it’s essential to the progression and evolution of filmmaking to ensure that all voices are heard, and all stories are told.

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)?

George> The two formats I tend to hop between are the traditional shorter TVC and anything between one to five minutes. The challenge with the shorter format is to accomplish good, clear storytelling where the idea is almost always too much for the format. When you have more time it’s a blessing and a curse, because it’s a relief to have the time and try to allow the pacing to flow naturally, but equally a viewer is ready to turn off at any minute, so the storytelling has to be strong from start to finish.

LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why?

George>

M&S – This was one of the first films I made and still one of my most proud. I actually did the creative on this too, it was my first time in the Arctic and began a long term love affair with the far north.

Amazon – For a long time all of my work was abroad and in beautiful locations, this was my chance to demonstrate good storytelling in a short format, something I was very proud of.

Helly Hansen Thomas Coville – Thomas was such an inspiring individual, and telling his story was a real challenge in the shorter format. It was a tough edit but I’m really proud of what we encapsulated in the five minutes.

Toyota HiLux – This was a job that I got a call on the Friday and told we could film on Saturday. There was no time for creative, so I wrote an idea on the plane, and we shot it with the smallest crew. All in all an amazing experience and a film I’m really proud of.