shots Awards 2011: Director of the Year

This first ever shots Director of the Year award offered up a feast of filmmaking talent to our group of industry judges, with the nominee list featuring directing legends Noam Murro, Rupert Sanders, Adam Berg, Bryan Buckley and Fredrik Bond. But there could only be one winner, and it was Park Pictures director Lance Acord who was voted top of the league by his peers, and it certainly has been an impressive run for the LA-based cinematographer-turned-director. Indeed, the spots that earned him a place on our shortlist were three distinct yet equally accomplished films; Volkswagen The Force, Kia Sweet Dreams, and Nike Chosen.

Undeniably the most successful of that trio is The Force through Deutsch LA. A viral success online as well as a hit on the awards circuit – including picking up shots TV Commercial of the Year award – for Acord it was one of those success stories that can never quite be anticipated. “I don’t think anyone involved expected it to do what it did,” says the director, “and the way it took off on the internet, that was extraordinary and beyond anyone’s wildest expectations. That sort of thing is really hard to predict and it’s an elusive trait that certain things have where they catch on on the internet and people pass them around. That being said, when I received the script I was very excited about it. You don’t always feel that initial sense of excitement about projects – often you arrive at a place where you feel that, but with this I felt it right out of the gate.”

In bringing the script to life, one important factor for Acord was to link the visual language of the spot back to the heritage of the Star Wars movies – such as the exercise bike’s similarity in shape to the Walkers in the films, or the washer and dryer’s resemblance to the Storm Troopers. Also vital to the story was the casting of the central character, as all sides were in agreement that the little fellow’s face shouldn’t be revealed.

“The subtlety of the performance and the nuances in the way the kid moved his hands became very important,” divulges Acord. “It was amazing how great it was that Max [Page, the actor] had never seen any of the films before. I think his mother prepared him by showing a couple of YouTube clips from the movies but he had this whole other thing about the way he moved – he was interpreting what he knew of it rather than copying something he’d seen, so there was a little bit of ninja mixed in there and a martial arts crossover, which was really funny.”

The second spot on the shortlist, Sweet Dreams for Kia created via David & Goliath, also featured a child actor in the lead role, and Acord reveals that his time with Spike Jonze and actor Max Records on the set of Where The Wild Things Are helped inform his own directing relationships. The magical, story-book world of Sweet Dreams also afforded Acord the opportunity to test run one of the filmmaking techniques he was curious about, swing tilt photography, and create a miniature world from full-size sets.

Acord’s third and final shortlisted spot, the extreme sports-themed Chosen for Nike, took a totally different aesthetic route and was the result of a two-year collaboration with the agency, 72andSunny. “I love all those sports and some of the earliest work I did as a cameraman involved skating and snowboarding,” comments Acord. “It’s something I’ve always loved shooting, as I love doing it myself.”

For this particular project, the idea was to build on the similarities between the musical and sporting processes, and so each scene was lit with an eye to emulating the sense of being on stage. “Compared to most team sports, these sports are much more improvisational,” continues Acord, “and much of that improvisation and innovation comes from collaboration with other athletes. Each trick and move is building upon another trick or move that someone else has done. That exchange of ideas is something that’s very akin to music and you can draw very direct comparison to people jamming with one another.”

Across these three spots and in Acord’s whole body of work, his experience as a cinematographer shines through, the role that Acord first came to master in filmmaking and still practices. His feature film credits as cinematographer include Being John Malkovitch and Adaptation with Spike Jonze, and Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette with Sofia Coppola, but when the opportunity came to take the lead himself a decade ago Acord was drawn to the more conceptual process of directing.

“I brought a lot of experience to directing that I never would have had if I hadn’t worked so many years as a cinematographer,” he ponders, “and watching other directors on set has been completely invaluable. As a director I feel privileged to have had those experiences, and I didn’t start with being a director in mind but opportunities arose for me to try that, and I found in doing it that I really like the process.”

The next step

In his commercial work Acord wears two hats as both director and cinematographer, and going forward he’s eager to take both skills to the feature world: “Doing a feature is something I definitely have my sights on. I feel as a director to do a movie is a direct evolution of the creative process. I’ve been fortunate to be involved in some great films as a cinematographer, and I am looking forward to the challenge of directing a movie myself. That’s an important next step for me creatively.”

But as well as developing on a personal level, Acord is excited about the changes happening at Park Pictures, the production company he co-founded with Jackie Kelman Bisbee. The shop’s first ever feature film production will be premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Titled Robot & Frank and starring Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden and Liv Tyler, it’s the long format debut for Park director Jake Schreier. Meanwhile setting its sights on the UK, Park Pictures London opened earlier this year under the stewardship of Stephen Brierley, and has since been busy producing its first work.

And so while 2011 might have seen quite a few firsts for Acord and Park Pictures, including our first ever Director of the Year award, we don’t think they’ll be stopping there.

Director of the Year Shortlist

Noam Murro

Lance Acord

Bryan Buckley

Fredrik Bond

Rupert Sanders

Adam Berg

Director of the Year Judging Panel

Helen Stanley, MD of commercials, Framestore London

Warren Brown, ECD, BMF Sydney

Francois Chilot, MD, Les Producers Paris

Laura Gregory, MD, Great Guns London