Karim Huu Do on Shooting Stars for adidas

Karim Huu Do is no stranger to shots, having been shortlisted for New Director of the Year at the shots Awards 2014, and recently, the rising talent on Caviar's books beat off stiff competition to win a global job for adidas to continue his impressive development.

Shooting a big commercial with the likes of Dvaid Beckham, Rita Ora, Damian Lillard and Pharrell Williams through agency Johannes Leonardo as a result, the ad seeks to set the record straight on the true meaning of a superstar.

Below, Huu Do offers his thoughts on his treatment for the job, the shoot and campaign's concept.  

What was the brief from adidas?

The brief was about this cultural obsession with becoming famous and raising the question of what is truly a superstar.

Tell us about your treatment and approach to the job...

The agency wanted an open collaboration with the director concerning the script, so they gave me the text of a voice-over and a few notes of what they didn't want. Then they asked me to make my own interpretation of it.

I made my research about the assets we had for the film and it inspired me to start writing. It was a bit like prepping a documentary.

At the same time, we wanted to blur the line between real and surreal so for each story, I tried to find strong symbols to illustrate what our celebrities could feel saying these lines.

It was a big challenge but at the same time, the best way to approach this project in my opinion.

What was it like to direct the famous personalities involved?

I was pretty well supported. The client, the agency and my producers tried to protect me from all the back and forth fuzz to bring these people on a set for four hours each.

My job with them at the end was to make them understand what I was trying to do and make them feel comfortable about the process. As soon as they arrived on set, they were all very professional and ready for it.

How did you cope with the pressure of taking on such a large-scale campaign and budget?

When you come from a background of dealing with everything by yourself for small or no budget projects, everything becomes easier after that. It was the best schooling for me.

I didn't feel too much pressure because I had the best people in the industry around me. Also I had a great relation with the agency and they trusted me in every step of the process.

Being relatively new to commercials, what did you take away from the experience?

It gave me more confidence for what I would like to achieve with my career.

The fact that you beat stiff competition from more experienced directing talent aligns with the message in a way. What do you hope young ambitious away from the ad?

Well it’s going to sound a bit corny but I think that if you believe in yourself and have a vision, anything is possible. You just have to work hard and learn from every experience.