The Work That Made Me: Aaron Beckum
Aaron Beckum is a writer, director & musician living in Los Angeles CA.
Originally from Kansas City, Aaron grew up mostly in Europe and came to LA by way of Vancouver, BC. His first short film was awarded an Achievement in Direction Award from the Directors Guild of Canada. In Los Angeles he has worked closely with acclaimed director Mike Mills, polymath artist Miranda July, and as a creative director within Roman Coppola’s TDB Special Projects.
His short films and music videos have screened internationally at festivals including Vancouver International Film Fest, Raindance, London Sci-Fi, Fantasia and Woodstock.
His work is often informed by Scandinavian deadpan humour mixed with a touch of 1970s American slapstick. He loves to mix lo-fi practical effects and feel good adventure while always remaining heartfelt and human.
Outside of filmmaking, Aaron spends his time writing and performing music, ocean swimming, repairing stereo receivers and hang gliding. In addition, he also holds a PhD in Immaterial Actuaries from ITT&T Technical School in Las Cruces, NM; spearheading research in ultra-flaked, artificial demi-croissant technology using 7-dimensional brain-shielded computer modelling.
The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
The best music video of all time… This is a little tongue-in-cheek, but Dire Straits ‘Walk of Life,’ what a concept that is. Just the band looking cool and performing intercut with sports bloopers. You can't take your eyes off of it. Hilariously dumb. It's so stupid it's great.
The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
I saw the ‘Angry Chicken’ Nike spot when I was in college, and it made me completely rethink what an ad could be. It's just so weird and absurd and dry. It speaks to me. It's really out there but still connects and does its job as an ad.
The creative work that I keep revisiting…
I never need a reason to rewatch Carl Sagan's original Cosmos series… He had this way of explaining highly complex things and putting everything into perspective. Lately, I've also been revisiting the original Chuck Jones Looney Tunes cartoons. What a genius at physical comedy. I like to study the Roadrunner cartoons.
My first professional project…
I'm not sure if this was the first, but early on, I did a spot for a haemorrhoid relief spray called Tucks: Love the butt. I actually still kind of love it. It's very, very silly.
The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
I get sad when I see anything that you can tell has no soul and was created by a committee of people making decisions out of fear. Especially when it's a comedic spot. Mostly this seems to come from the fear that not everyone will like it. But that just kills a project, trying to make sure that literally everyone will love it. That's impossible. I think Wayne in Wayne's World said it best: "It's like he wants us to be liked by everyone. I mean, Led Zeppelin didn't write tunes everybody liked. They left that to the Bee Gees."
The creative project that changed my career…
Who Wants To Be An Amerikan, a 16mm film short film that I wrote and directed in film school, was the first thing that got me a little bit of recognition and made me think maybe I could keep making films. It was a really fun film to make, and I met some of my best friends and frequent collaborators to this day on it. I still work with DP Drew Bienemann all the time.
The work that I'm proudest of…
Two pieces come to mind that I feel really came out the way I had envisioned them in my head.
I worked with Redbubble to conceptualise three spots that were based on t-shirt designs that they sold. We were working backward from the design, and one of these was based on a graphic of a man hugging a pickle. Somehow we ended up with the concept of a man who wanted the last pickle in the jar so badly that he would risk his life for it. I cast a good friend and frequent collaborator, Mikiech Nichols as the pickle guy, and he made it come to life. I love the way it turned out, and it still makes me laugh. The team really did an amazing job making it all happen.
Born Forlorn is a short that we made with like 10 people out in the desert. It was one of those things that came together really quickly, mostly because I have great friends that made it happen. The hardest thing in filmmaking is to get across a true, unadulterated expression of a feeling. So much can go wrong on set, and you have to compromise at every step. I'm proud of this one because we were able to keep it pure and embrace the limitations and create something that still feels like art to me… plus we got to shoot on 35mm, and I got to act alongside one of my favourite actors, Michael Wilson.
I was involved in this, and it makes me cringe…
Too many to name, but I try not to think about my past work in this way. It's all part of the journey. I think sometimes it's a good thing if you kind of cringe at the past work because it means that you are growing as a person and an artist. It means you're seeing things through a new lens.
The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
I was an associate producer on the Mike Mills film C'mon C'mon. It's kind of a random credit for me, but I just get stoked about being part of something that is worthwhile, even if it's just a small part. Mike is crafting films at such a high level and with so much soul. It's very inspiring. I learn something every time I work around him.
Check out more of Aarons work here
