On My Radar: Brent Harris

What the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen recently?

It’s not new, new but I love Martin De Thurah’s Ubisoft The Baptism. I felt like I had been dropped deep into the darkness of some Southern Gothic world. It gave me chills.

What website(s) do you use most regularly and why?

ESPN FC. I’m crazy about football. The English kind. Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona FC are my favourite teams.

What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought and why?

It's certainly not ‘new tech’ but a Lightning Bolt surfboard from the 1970s. The design of these boards inspired the shortboard revolution that allowed surfers to ride waves like never before. They personify all the grace and beauty in that sport.

What product could you not live without?

My espresso machine. I’m a danger to myself and others without my morning coffee. Just ask my wife.

What’s the best film you’ve seen over the last year?

Roma. I massively admired that Alfonso Cuarón could tell such a personal story, in such an uncompromising way, and yet the film held so much universal resonance. 

What film do you think everyone should have seen and why?

2001: A Space Odyssey. Daring and original. Visually staggering. A masterpiece in non-narrative filmmaking. Evidence that cinema can be poetry. 

What’s your preferred social media platform and why?

Admittedly I’m kind of a recluse, so I shy away from social media. But I’m on Vimeo; I like that you can share ‘the work ’ and not the latest ‘cronut’ that you’re about to eat.

What’s your favourite TV show and why?

It’s still True Detective, Season One. Dark, atmospheric, existential. Woody and McConaughey. Can’t beat that. 

What’s your favourite podcast?

Serial. Cinema without pictures.

What show/exhibition has most inspired you recently?

Basquiat at the Brant Foundation. Staggering in its raw beauty and poetry. I could literally feel the psychic energy in his work.

What’s the most significant change you’ve witnessed in the industry since you started working in it? 

The need for speed. I really miss the physical act of doing collage treatments. Cutting up magazines and sticking images together on a board. It was time consuming of course, but sometimes creating an artful treatment was a reward in itself.

If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?

It’s self-serving, of course, but it would be great if directors could be more involved in developing content ideas with creatives and brands from an earlier stage in the process. I know it’s a tricky thing to navigate but the rewards of early collaboration could pay dividends.