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The Work That Made Me in association withLBB
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The Work That Made Me: Brooks Reynolds

24/02/2022
Production Company
Toronto, Canada
176
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Asymetric director Brooks shares some of his favourite works and why Weezer's 'Buddy Holly' always stays with him

Starting his career in photography, Brooks is an award winning director who creates original and cinematic work. He has directed global video campaigns for Disney, Bayer, Bell, American Express, Coca Cola, Nike, Sportchek, and is the winner of Gold honours at ADCC and Silver honours at both Cannes and The One Show. He is a talented DP & storyteller, and effortlessly draws strong performances and creates striking visuals in his work.

 

The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…

There was a heatwave one summer at camp, and instead of getting sunstroke on in a canoe, we were told to just chill for the afternoon. I remember laying in a cabin which wasn’t much more than a few sheets of plywood and a couple of tarps listening to Weezer’s first album on repeat thanks to counsellors smuggling ‘secular music’ into a Christian camp. 

When I got home, I couldn’t remember who the artist was, I could only remember this song. I tried singing it to my mom but it wasn’t Van Morrison, so she had no idea who it was. 

Then we got Windows 95. And on the CD with the operating system was this music video. I watched it every single day. Crazy to think that Spike Jonze made this and basically everything else I’ve loved my whole career.


The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…

There were a couple of commercials that paved the way for me to see that advertising could be more than paper towels absorbing blue liquids and this was a big one. I love the way that it captures a common human experience in such a unique way. Not only are you mesmerised by its beauty but somehow you get pulled into the moment with them.


The creative work that I keep revisiting…

Going to break the rules here and give two. Also going to switch it up from commercials/music videos.

Aron Wiesenfeld is one of my favourite painters. He has an ability to capture a mood the is undeniably cinematic. I’ve actually written a scene in a screenplay that was largely inspired by this painting.

Turnstile is a hardcore band, but last year, they became so much. Their new album Glow On is exactly what 2021 needed. Look at all this positive energy. I get goosebumps at 10:42 every time I watch this.


My first professional project…

I’m breaking the rules again. I’ve got two here, but they came at different times and in different ways. No one really knows when they become a professional director anyway.

My first actual commercial was for Gain (laundry detergent) in Mexico. I directed it, did the cinematography (on a very budget camera), and edited it.  The agency sent me some bad stock tracks, so I got my good friend to record a track I could use for it (then sold as stock to the agency). I knew if I did a good enough job with this one, it could lead to more work.

This VQA commercial was the first moment where I felt like I was making something professionally as I would do it for myself. I wasn’t trying to fit into a box that I’d never really be comfortable in but actually getting to push the images as my intuition said was right. 


The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…

It’s low-hanging fruit, but that Pepsi spot with Kendal Jenner. And not only for all the obvious reasons that have been well stated before me but artistically, it’s vapid. You can feel the boardroom behind that. Any attempt at having a creative voice has been sucked right out. It feels like it was designed to be incorrigibly safe (and yet became a tectonic PR disaster).

I wonder if it would have gone so bad if they had let a director really make a statement with the film. What if it had felt like it had actually taken place in a protest? Not a parade with picket signs. Or maybe there is no way Kendal Jenner handing the cops a Pepsi works.


The piece of work that still makes me jealous…

Not only am I jealous that they got to shoot a beautiful baseball ad, I’m jealous at how brilliantly this was executed at every level. The idea of having it all take place between the moments that are normally the highlight reel montage bits making up the ad. The cinematography brings you so into the tangible moment you can almost smell the night air. The perfectly building atonal score. And everything in-between. It’s years old now and still so fresh.


The creative project that changed my career…

Like I mentioned, Spike Jonze has had a big influence on me. Shooting roman candles at your friends trying to do BMX tricks seems like it makes perfect sense when you come from that frame of mind.

This was the first project that I got a Vimeo Staff Pick for. It got shared quite a bit. It’s a big part of why the first production company I signed with paid any attention to me.


The work that I’m proudest of…

This was the last project I shot before we were genuinely worried about Covid. It’s all shot with real families in their real homes. We had a “documentary” type approach, but I really wanted to elevate it beyond that. I wanted to channel some Gordon Parks-like vibes and make something truly beautiful.

But the best part was all the people involved. They gave so much. It felt like they invited us into their homes and into their songs. I still stay in touch with some of them. You don’t usually expect anything to the degree when you get a pharma brief in.


I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…

When I was a teenager I tried to do a backflip on my bike and folded up like a lawn chair 

It wasn’t long after this that I decided I should be the one behind the camera on our road trips.


The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…

I just finished this two-minute short film that was insanely ambitious. The idea came to me one Saturday morning, and somehow, enough amazing people supported the film that it got to get made in such a big way with everything from a zillion locations with wardrobe and looks to match to a score played by real string musicians. I wanted the film to have spectacle but, more importantly, to have meaning, and I think that’s what everyone rallied behind. 

Check out Brooks reel here

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