On My Radar: Beth Park
Tantrum director Beth Park shares what's on her creative radar and talks surprise TikTok advertising, her passion for physical art, why movies shouldn't be made for everyone, and a "furious little white fluffball".
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What is the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen recently?
I was innocently watching a funny TikTok the other day by Jericho Mencke, not even realising it was an ad for Cerave. Something about the homemade quality of it, the dark humour, and the fact that the company let them off the leash in such a major way with their product, really made me think about how much scope there is to push the envelope, the funnier, weirder and darker the better in my opinion.
What website(s) do you use most regularly?
My google drive and I are intimate friends. She knows all my 2am dumb ideas, never complains about her many empty folders called NEW FILM!! and will never judge me for attempting to put images into spreadsheets (not advised). I used Miro for moodboarding one of my films and I enjoyed it a lot. Sometimes I get frustrated that my creativity only gets channelled into a digital device, and Miro felt like using a giant pinboard which was cool.
What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought?
I bought my son a Switch for his birthday recently. I direct voice and motion capture actors in video games [Park recently worked as the Senior Voice Director on Baldurs Gate 3, screenshot above], but rarely have time to play games myself. So, it was fun to play with him and to be able to show off to him a bit about my work. I’m a cool mum (finger guns).
What product could you not live without?
My giant over-ear headphones. There’s no better way to listen to music than by absolutely frying your inner ear canal.
What’s the best film you’ve seen over the last year?
The aforementioned son means that I don’t get to go to the cinema to see many grown up films at the moment. However, I took him to see Matilda at the cinema three times. Seeing Emma Thompson as Miss Trunchbull, throwing children around like sacks of potatoes, has forever altered my body chemistry. I also finally watched M3gan the other day and I LOVED it. Somehow they managed to find that perfect balance between clever, nuanced, funny writing and outrageously bold action. I really wish I had made that film.
What film do you think everyone should have seen?
I’m overthinking this one. Everyone?! I would have to say something palatable and sweet like Little Miss Sunshine, Hunt for the Wilderpeople or Moonrise Kingdom. Obviously I’m being a bit pedantic but I definitely feel film shouldn’t be created for all audiences. If you try to please everyone, ideas get so watered down that they lose meaning. Midsommar is one of my all time favourites, but I think people of a more delicate constitution might not survive the stress of watching it.
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What’s your preferred social media platform?
I never ever want to be confronted with the data on how much time I have spent watching TikTok. I do use Instagram to share a little bit about work and about me. But what I love about TikTok is how real people are. A video can get millions of likes and views and it’s just someone sitting around it their PJs being silly, whereas Instagram is a lot more curated and self-conscious.
What’s your favourite TV show?
TV is changing so fast. Sometimes I cannot believe the budget on some of these shows. But, for a lot of these giant franchises, I am really not getting the human story or caring enough about the heroes dilemma. They’re spending so much on amazing action sequences and CGI, but if you don’t care about the human story, what’s the point? One show which I think managed to do both was Moon Knight, it felt really original, gave me the action sequences my lizard brain craved, and also delivered on the complex human heart. I also loved Beef on Netflix, I stayed up way past my bedtime when that came out.
What’s your favourite podcast?
Some of my best friends are podcasters who may never know of my existence. I have podcasts on 24/7. My favourite is probably The Adventure Zone, which is a Dungeons & Dragons podcast. I listened to them before I got the role of Senior Voice Director on the Dungeons & Dragons video game Baldur’s Gate 3, then I spent the next four years deeply immersed in that world. The podcast is really funny and creative, which is everything I want in life really.
What show/exhibition has most inspired you recently?
I went to Halle de La Machine in Toulouse, where a company called La Machine creates large mechanical robot creatures, like giant spiders and this huge buff Minatour guy who breathes steam. I am really passionate about practical, physical art. Everything being digital and not having a physical form scares me. I’d always rather go for a practical effect on film than CGI where possible.
If you could only listen to one music artist from now on, who would it be?
I’m pretty sure that Melanie Martinez’s new album, Portals, sent me into a manic episode. Or possibly I was just ovulating. But she is absolutely unreal. I also love Aurora; something about her music awakens my ancestors.
If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?
Well, I’m new here, so even though I’ve directed films, comedy sketches and video games, I’m still looking for a foothold. I would love for some mover and shaker in the industry to take a look at my work and reach out.
Who or what has most influenced your career?
In my early 20s I was quite directionless with my creativity. I don’t think I really knew who I was. For young women it’s very easy to think you need to be the woman on TV who was created by a male writer/director for a male audience. And, of course, you’re always going to fall short because she isn’t real. Now I have shaken off as much of that bullshit as I can, I feel so much more empowered. That power has led me to writing and filmmaking in a totally new way. Being funny by not caring what I look like, and being creative without trying to fit any mould. So, the discovery that sharing the strange little feral ways of real women is actually so much more valuable than anything inauthentic has been my biggest influence by far.
Tell us one thing about yourself that most people won’t know.
I have this rabbit called Trinkle Star who I’m just a teeny weeny bit obsessed with. People think rabbits are docile and stupid, but they aren’t, she’s very headstrong. A furious little white fluffball.
