Ben Gregor: Sitcoms & Superheroes

They say that comedy is harder than astrophysics to get right – but when you do, the talent and the opportunities soon knock at your door. But for Ben Gregor, as Danny Edwards discovers, taking the director’s chair is the strangest role of all.

‘I never thought I was cocky enough to be able to call myself a director. I guess I always thought that directors must be dicks. I know that I am a director, but even saying that, I feel like such a dick. That’s why I was nervous about doing this interview because, really, I’ll end up looking like a dick.”

It’s not the most auspicious start to an interview but it transpires, over the course of our discussion, that Ben Gregor believes the job title of ‘director’ is, or at least was, synonymous with being, well, you know. It seems, though, that a certain amount of his worries about how he will be perceived stem not from a distrust of journalists and their motives, or even from a catch-all interpretation of other directors’ personalities, but from an initial lack of confidence in his own abilities and also a belief that, somehow, directing wasn’t a ‘proper job’. Gregor’s inability to discuss himself or his work eventually led him to talking to Gary Duckworth of Duckworth Finn Grubb Waters (DFGW), for whom he had worked (more of which later).

“I said to Gary,” says Gregor, “I can’t handle talking about being a director, I just feel like an idiot’.” Their exchange, explains Gregor, went something like this:

What do you do all day, Ben?

I prepare for shoots and write treatments.

And then what do you do after that?

Well, I go and shoot the stuff.

And then?

And then I edit it together.

So if the future Ben came back and saw you today,
what would he describe your job as?

Well, a director I expect.

Right. So fuck off and just chill out.

That short but frank discussion seemed to set Gregor at ease, and though there’s still a certain worry about discussing his work and his role in it, and a slight unease about the perception of others, Gregor now fully accepts that he is a director and, though he certainly wouldn’t say it himself, one of proven talent and undoubted success.

Like many, Gregor fell into advertising quite unexpectedly. After studying Japanese at Cambridge and spending a lot of time in Japan, both studying and working, he eventually got a job there working on research for L’Oreal. “I just suddenly realised,” says Gregor, “that there was this whole industry of asking weird questions and trying to solve them in ways where people weren’t aware that they were having a problem solved. It seemed both strange and fun.” So at the age of 21, Gregor returned to London and took a job as a planner at DFGW, working on the Toshiba account – “because they liked the fact I could speak Japanese”.

Return of the No Jedi

Gregor would eventually move on to work at Fallon London after it first opened and enjoyed his time working in an agency environment but, although he didn’t yet know it, his future lay in directing, and it is his former New Zealand flat mates whom he has to thank for the eventual career progression. “At that time,” says Gregor, “I was simply living a life of working, coming home to play the PlayStation and get stoned, and then working again. Then Josh, one of the guys I shared a flat with said he was going out to make a short film and did I want to come along. My initial response was, ‘who’s asked you to do that?’ I just couldn’t fathom why you’d do something if nobody had asked you to.”

Gregor joined with his friends in their filmmaking venture, and the eventual result saw them commissioned to do a series of films for comedy site HaHaBonk. “Josh had a friend who worked at the site so we showed it to him and he wanted eight of them.” The films were called No Jedi and revolved around the protagonists finding Star Wars-related people and objects around south London. “It was 2000, and there was sudden demand for funny stuff online,” comments Gregor, “even though most people couldn’t watch it, as they were still on dial-up.”

And so Gregor’s directing career was born. He continued to make comedic short films in his spare time and soon realised that filmmaking was the thing he really wanted to do. He also realised that comedy was his forte. “Comedy is something I vaguely, sort of get,” says Gregor with characteristic modesty. “And I’ve also realised that it’s a really hard thing to get right. Some things get a natural, almost automatic reaction. A hug on film makes people feel nice, an abortion scene would make them recoil, but comedy is different, it’s so much harder to get right and elicit the reaction you’re looking for.” The Guardian eventually picked up on Gregor and his No Jedi films, and wrote a piece on him, creating further demand for his work. “I saw you could make money being stupid and having fun. To be fair I was already working in advertising so should have realised that sooner,” he deadpans.

The consolations of comedy

Gregor says that there is no correlation between his chosen profession and anything his family does - his father is a “super-head-of-everything eye surgeon”. “Unfortunately I am very grossed out by blood, so any dreams my dad might have had of me in a white coat had to go. But I think comedy can genuinely help people, help them deal with stuff. It’s certainly helped me sort my head out about some bad things that have happened to me along the way. It’s precious – comedy can give you perspective on the smallest of irritations right through to the biggest of tragedies. It’s definitely helped me through both.”

Super eight and super shorts

After leaving the agency world and a stint working for an early broadband TV channel – where “I fucked up so badly, I’m now not afraid of anything” – Gregor met Ed Sayers, currently ed of stuff at Saatchi & Saatchi London. Sayers had set up Straight 8, the Super 8 film competition, which was, and still is, a huge success, and after Gregor had entered a film, the two met for a drink and Sayers asked Gregor to come on board to help with Straight 8, which he did for five years.

Soon after, Sayers was running Godman Film and says it was a “no brainer” for the two to work together there.  Of his friend, Sayers says; “He’s super-bright and has a definite point of view on everything, which is what you want. Jerry Seinfeld’s first three rules of comedy are: make your friends laugh; make strangers laugh; get paid to make strangers laugh. Ben does all three.”

Before Gregor really cemented his place in the commercials arena he directed a hat trick of critically acclaimed short films, starting with the surreal Ant Muzak in 2002, and followed by the equally unusual Blake’s Junction 7 (2005) and World of Wrestling (2007). Starring UK comedy talent such as Mackenzie Crook and Johnny Vegas, the trilogy are brilliantly funny if totally bonkers shorts about, respectively, Adam and the Ants out shopping, an 80s sci-fi gang at a motorway service station and ‘Golden Age’ wrestlers on a double-decker bus.

Working with super powers

The trilogy’s success led to more offers of longer-form work, including a contract to direct a feature through Celador – “they foolishly decided to make Slumdog Millionaire instead” – and, eventually, a BBC sitcom called No Heroics, about a group of superheroes with some very human frailties.

Directing this dark but humorous series was a real boon for Gregor, considering one of his early influences. “I grew up reading a comic called 2000AD,” he says. “It was brilliant, dark and funny. It inspired me in every possible way, and every Thursday, when it came out, I felt a part of something. Doing No Heroics, a comedy series set in a bar for off-duty superheroes, let me put that feeling on screen.”

It may seem like Gregor’s focus was on television and film but while the longer-form work came in, Gregor’s commercial reel was also gaining momentum. Work such as K-Y Preparation, the BBC’s A Problem Like Maria and a testicular cancer spot called Bigger Balls, all of them containing Gregor’s trademark humour alongside a clearly-directed message, saw agencies rapidly sit up and take notice.

The hard chorus line

It was 2010’s Puma Hardchorus that really put Gregor on the directorial map. A fantastic, seemingly simple idea from New York’s Droga5, which saw a group of hard-bitten football fans in a pub singing Savage Garden’s Truly Madly Deeply as a Valentine’s Day ‘gift’ to their football-widowed loved ones. The passionate, slightly chaotic singing, juxtaposed with the menacing look of the actual singers, saw Hardchorus become an instant viral hit and pick up plaudits worldwide, including a gold Lion at Cannes. It was arranged that a group of Spurs fans [the club already had a relationship with Puma] would turn up at the prescribed time for the shoot but Gregor and his team weren’t sure what they’d get. “We got them to turn up in a big hall,” he says, “and they were actually really shy. I mean,” he adds quickly, “scary, proper hooligan massive, but shy too. And I had six proper singers but we actually only ended up needing one because all the guys wanted to sing. We just had to work with them to get the right level of bad,” he laughs. Ted Royer, ECD at Droga5, recalls the experience of working with Gregor; “Ben was fantastic. He brought an intense passion and great humour to the shoot. He was extremely collaborative, which in my view is the best quality a director can have, and I look forward to working with him again.” A similarly successful Italian version of the spot was also shot by Gregor, it too picking up a gold Lion.

The success of Hardchorus put Gregor on a new level of agency awareness, and he has since shot work for Boots, through Mother London, and Pfister, all through his current production company, Knucklehead, to whom he says he owes a great deal. “Matt [Brown] and Tim [Katz, joint MDs] are straightforward, smart people, and no one else does comedy there, so I’m never jealous or tooth-grindey, I can just do my thing. And they let me go off sometimes and shoot TV and write films with only a severe guilt trip, rather than out-and-out physical violence.” TV is where Gregor is currently working, shooting an American series, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, with writer/star David Cross, Will Arnett and Spike Jonze. Of course, it’s a comedy series, but Gregor wouldn’t have it any other way. “Comedy is hard, and I think that’s what’s attractive about it. It’s the hardest thing because it’s either funny or it’s not. Plus I like being around comedians, they are good, fun people to hang around with.”

The best train set a boy ever had

That happiness seems to be contagious, because Gregor seems always to be in a good mood and is often still delighted to simply be able to do what he does. He refers to his being in control of a project, whatever its length, as controlling a train set. “There’re movie train sets,” he says, “TV train sets, and advertising train sets, and they are all brilliant to play with. I’m just amazed I get to do it really.” So, the final question must be, with all these different, important and ultimately successful train sets he has been able to play with, does Gregor now feel like a director? He looks slightly solemn before shaking his head slowly and laughing; “I’m still slightly embarrassed to be honest, I’m still slightly embarrassed.”

Quickfire Q&A

What’s your favourite joke?
“This is like The Shawshank Redemption, only with more tunneling through shit and no fucking redemption.” (Malcolm Tucker, The Thick Of It) 

What’s the phrase you’re most likely to be heard saying?
Don’t run into the road/Put that down/Stop being on fire. 

What would you be if you weren’t a director?
Helping to make the world a better place. 

What’s your worst habit?
Sushi Pizza. It’s a Toronto thing. It’s the best worst food ever. I love Toronto. I love [production company] OPC. They feed my habit.

What’s your favourite commercial?
The Dutch insurance ad set in North Korea [Delta Lloyd Parade]. It’s on Jono Griffith’s editing reel. I think Matthijis did it. Perfection. 

If you could only play one album in your car for the next year, what would it be?
Scarlett Johansson and Pete Yorn’s album.

What’s your favourite film?
21 Grams. It’s brutal, but after weeks of shooting comedy, dark films chill me out. 

Apart from home, where do you most like spending time?
I live on the edge of a very big wood. It’s like Middle Earth in there. My kids are the hobbits. 

If you could throw darts at a picture of someone, who would that be?
There is one cameraman who I would like to shower with redemptive love. Anger is suffering, apparently.