In Production: Harland Weiss

Fresh out of university, Harland Weiss tells us he was “press ganged” into the world of production by his German cousin. But years later, he has managed to make his trade his own and currently works as managing director of OPC and its scrappy younger brother FamilyStyle in Toronto.

Below, the producer talks about life in the industry - including recent spots that have taken his fancy - going on gut instinct when it comes to new talent and what he’d be doing had his cousin not been so pushy.

Tell us about an ad campaign you’ve seen recently that stands out for its production quality and standard…

Not to plug Andreas Nilsson and Filip Nilsson because we represent them, but their past work on Volvo quite simply is astonishing.

I also loved Guinness’ African highlight, Sapeurs...

Dougal Wilson’s Space Odyssey for Lurpak was such a pleasure...

What’s your most valued production tool (tech or otherwise) and why?

At a time when tech changes faster than anything, though not to sound trite, our production team here at OPC/FS; my co-EPs Donovan Boden and Liz Dussault, and our deadly rep, Jen Apple, single handily are our most valued assets. Without our talented directors though, we’d be nothing. Finally our co-partner Tim Godsall’s sage advice is quite simply worth its weight!

Tell us about a recent risk/investment you’ve made in your career or for your business?

Historically and most recently, we’ve always had the tendency of leaning ourselves right out of the window by investing foolishly in the directors we strongly believe in. Risk/investment implies strategy but our director investments have always been visceral and from the gut.

How has the industry changed since you started working in it?

It’s faster, more chaotic and oh, sadly, we shoot almost entirely on digital cameras. Also, we have opportunities to shoot stories for clients in ways we simply couldn’t have imagined seven years ago.

How do you relieve stress during a shoot?

I’ve been known to abuse my otherwise modest consumption of red wine. That and knowing well what you’re about to get yourself into on any given shoot.

What’s your favourite thing to do away from work?

I absolutely love anything to do with water: surfing, sailing and skiing.

What would you like to see change in the world of production?

I would love an improvement in the level of respect between clients/agencies/production companies.

Tell us one way your skills at work transfer to your everyday life… 

If there’s a dinner party, I can gas on about a feature film like nobody’s business!

If you weren’t a producer what would you be doing instead? 

I’d likely be a terrible journalist.