Director Ben Conrad Breaks Out With GenPop

Creative and business leader Ben Conrad continues his momentum in the advertising and entertainment spaces with the launch of Los Angeles-based live action production company GenPop. Designed to grow with the ever-changing industry, GenPop assembles a collaborative environment with a culture of harmony, resulting in a mix of groundbreaking work and new era talent.

As co-founder of Logan, Conrad worked with notable brands including Apple, Nike, BMW and Ford, where his work as creative director and director on the Apple Silhouette campaign was named Out of Home Ad of the Decade by Adweek. Conrad is widely known for directing the viral Gymkhana series with rally driver Ken Block, which has racked up an astounding 200-million-plus views. Hailed as the “most watched and most shared branded web franchise of all time” by Adweek, Gymkhana also grabbed two Gold Pencils from The One Show, among many other awards. Gymkhana 5, set on the streets of San Francisco, is the most popular installment, reaching over 80-million views on its own.

“My intent with GenPop is to create a company that is responsive to the exciting changes in today’s marketplace and is also responsive to the clients we work with. GenPop is capable of creating every kind of content across the media landscape and producing all the elements of a campaign under one roof,” says Conrad. “This outlook allows to find interesting opportunities for our directors, always with an eye on growing them as creators. GenPop is a place where our talent can feel comfortable, and where they feel our personal investment in their elevation and success.”

With a concerted focus on an inspired internal culture, GenPop is stitched with modern talent, adding creative technologists to its roster of top-level directors to offer artistic diversity spanning live action, animation, projection mapping, experiential, and virtual reality. The ensemble represents the variety of work being created today, as well as where the industry is headed, making up a list that includes Ben Conrad, Andrew Bruntel, Fellow, Riley Blakeway, Collider Studio, Josh Forbes, Master of Shapes, Andrew Gura, Renascent, Steven Ilous, Geoffrey Lillemon, Pieter Henket and the freshly-signed tabletop/lifestyle director Tiger in a Jar.

The unique aspect of GenPop’s make-up lies in the varied backgrounds of the company’s executives, including Executive Producer Pierre Nobile, Managing Director Alex Anderson, and Nick Moceri, who is spearheading GenPop’s feature and television ventures.  The union of these experienced industry minds has allowed them to assemble an organization where talents from all mediums can create on their own merits.

Executive Producer Pierre Nobile has been teamed up with Ben Conrad for the past five years, producing the Gymkhana films, as well as overseeing title and VFX sequences for Marvel franchises The Avengers, Iron Man 3, and Captain America, for which Conrad was creative lead. Nobile also produced the stage program for Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz Tour. 

Managing Director Alex Anderson is recognized for building Green Dot Films into a prolific commercial house, where he managed established spot-makers and nurtured young talent such as multi-disciplinary collective Three Legged Legs. Anderson maintained his own creative brand, marketing, and sales consultancy until signing on to run GenPop.

In addition to commercial work, GenPop is incubating its own material and developing original content with its directorial roster, as well as with creators from outside the company. Nick Moceri heads up GenPop's film and television arm. Moceri was an Executive Producer on Ana Lily Amirpour's Sundance breakout, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night. This offshoot works seamlessly with GenPop’s commercial division, as these worlds continue to converge and clients are more often seeking to sponsor creatively driven work.

GenPop has hit the ground running, beginning with a trailblazing virtual reality campaign for Castrol Edge from Master of Shapes, who developed the technology which allowed racers Ben Collins and Matt Powers to square off on a virtual racetrack driving real cars. The pair go head-to-head in a heart-pounding competition visualized only through their headsets, bringing the virtual world into a thrilling reality. 

Currently, GenPop is in post on Ben Conrad’s next viral hit; Fellow debuted an all-CGI film commissioned by Tesla competitor Faraday Future at CES 2016; and Riley Blakeway is currently in Mexico shooting a short film for watch company Nixon.