On My Radar: Chelsea Lupkin

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

This may not be the most recent, but you don’t get much more creative than 2022’s Paramount marketing for the horror movie SMILE. When most movie advertising relies on a trailer that either over-promises or gives too much away, Paramount decided to create one of the creepiest and most engaging promotional stunts in recent years leading up to the theatrical release of the film. 

As a horror movie buff, everyone I knew was talking about the unsettling, dead-eyed smiles of actors placed directly in front of broadcast cameras at MLB and NFL games in the months leading up to the release — I couldn’t open TikTok or Instagram without seeing video clips of it. And as a New Yorker, seeing a seemingly motionless person smile at the camera during an entire Yankees game was incredibly chilling. It goes without saying that the entire advertising campaign, composed of bright neon shirts with the word SMILE on them, was simple yet genius. I think we should all be thinking more outside of the box to get people engaged in movies and products. Needless to say, it generated millions of social media views and engagement, and the movie brought in something like $216M worldwide against a $17M budget. Not bad at all.

What website(s) do you use most regularly? 

As a Senior Programmer on Short of the Week, an online curation site for the best short films by emerging and established talent, I can say that that is probably the website I use the most. I love filmmaking, and Short of the Week has become one of the most prominent film curation sites online — our programming team has programmed, juried and mentored at some of the biggest film festivals around the world, including SXSW, TIFF, the Fantasia Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, and so on. 

Short of the Week isn’t just a destination where I help find and write about films, it’s a place where I can get inspired by incredible talent. Having worked for the site for roughly nine years, I finally had the honour of having my own short film, Scooter, featured on the site with a truly amazing article by one of my colleagues, Rob Munday. It was absolutely surreal and gave me all the feels. Frankly, it was an honour to be discussed by my peers and those I look up to. Short of the Week is a passion of mine, and my involvement in its curation keeps me at the forefront of innovative storytelling. 

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

I needed a new hard drive, and I recently bought the Samsung T7. When I’m editing projects I’ve directed or been a cinematographer for, having a small device that I can take to set to offload footage and edit smoothly is an absolute game-changer. I can throw the small drive in my backpack and plug it into a computer on the fly. It’s fast and helps me get the job done. I recently used it on a LaCroix gig I shot, and with the quick turnaround, having fast access to footage to show the marketing team was essential. It may not be flashy, but it’s the most useful tech I use. 

What product could you not live without? 

Probably my Fitbit. I had a Tamagotchi growing up, and my parents promised me that we’d get a dog if I kept the little creature alive, so I took the game in earnest. It was only natural that I’d enjoy a watch device that tracked my heart rate. But, in all seriousness, I started using my Fitbit during the pandemic because I wanted to make sure I could remain healthy even if I couldn’t leave my apartment for other activities. I rigorously kept track of my steps, my activity and how often I ran, and my mental health absolutely benefited from it. Deciding to enter the film and commercial industry is stressful, and being able to curb the pressure has been a game-changer for me (and, in case you were wondering, my parents got my sister and me the dog).

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

I’d have to say Godzilla Minus One. The Japanese revival of the iconic monster capable of destroying huge warships and cities was a surprise hit for me. The foreign language film is set in post-WWII Japan and follows a traumatised former fighter pilot who joins the civilian effort to fight off a massive, nuclear-enhanced monster attacking their shores. It not only paid homage to the origins of Godzilla but the story and characters were so incredibly strong that I cried not once but twice during a Godzilla movie, for goodness sake. The monster design was incredible, and it provided one of my favourite movie experiences to date. 

What film do you think everyone should have seen? 

Hands down, it has to be Jurassic Park. Sure, the movie is about an industrialist who invites some experts to visit and endorse his theme park of cloned dinosaurs, but it’s really about so much more. I love this film because, within the framework of science-fiction, the film explores themes of ethics (i.e. just because you can, should you?). But, frankly, the film is incredibly iconic, and with a cast that includes Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, Richard Attenborough and Sam Neill, are you really going to argue with me? Samuel Jackson’s line, “Hold onto your butts” is a fine art at this point. But, seriously, one of my favourite things about the movie is how feminist it is. Laura Dern’s line, “Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the earth” is pretty empowering. And let’s not forget that all of the dinosaurs are female, amirite? Jurassic Park is a must-watch, and I would hope that everyone is Team T-rex. 

What’s your preferred social media platform? 

This one is a toss-up for me. I use Instagram the most, and love the community of friends and filmmakers I’ve built on the platform, but I love TikTok. I create a lot of content for both platforms (mostly for other brands), but there’s something about TikTok that is so bite-sized and fun that it’s easy to end up in niche communities like GhostTok, which is exactly what you think it is. I love seeing and hearing about supernatural things, aside from also perusing great recipe videos from chef influencers. The content is so all over the place that I never get bored. 

What’s your favourite TV show? 

Admittedly, I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, but I can’t deny that Andor has become one of my favourite television shows. It’s incredibly well written and does so much with a world that you already know, while also exploring a completely different side of it. So while Star Wars is a product at this point, Andor is a refreshing reimagining that employs ‘The Hero’s Journey'. I enjoyed that it showed that the IP could have characters that were not so black and white as previously approached and have a much grittier aesthetic that felt grounded in the real world. There’s so much to say about this show with respect to how it takes a world/idea/product and puts it through a different lens so viewers can experience something new, something that I’d need much more than a paragraph to tackle it. 

What’s your favourite podcast? 

I’m a sucker for the true crime genre, so I’d have to say the incredibly popular Morbid podcast is probably my favourite. I won’t get into the gruesome details, but it’s one of those podcasts that really gets into the weeds when it comes to unsolved mysteries, historical tragedies and obscure legends. I travel quite a bit, so a gruesome podcast is a great — or terrible — way to pass the time. I also have to give Scarred for Life a mention, which is a wildly fun podcast that interviews popular horror filmmakers, including Amy Seimetz (Pet Sematary), Prandon Cronenberg (Possessor), Rob Savage (Host), Akela Cooper (Malignant/M3GAN) and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (The Endless, Loki). I went on the podcast to talk about my own indie films and discuss The Mummy, which was as ridiculous as it sounds. If you want a good laugh, I suggest you give it a listen. 

What show/exhibition has most inspired you recently? 

Maybe I just have dinosaurs on the brain recently, but I visited the dinosaur exhibit at The Met and loved it. Truth be told, looking at the bones of creatures long dead and much larger than you can really make you feel small, but it can also reinforce the ol’ “Here for a good time, not for a long time” mentality. 

If you could only listen to one music artist from now on, who would it be? 

Lucius is a go-to for me. When I put on the Second Nature album and walk down the streets of New York on a gorgeous summer day, it’s an absolute vibe. 

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

I’d like to see more long-form content. For example, I’ve always loved Red Bull’s documentaries, and I think it’s an amazing way to sell Red Bull’s cool factor while also embracing its core in sports. When I first saw The Art of Flight, in 2011, I was blown away by the filmmaking and the showcasing of spectacular athletes. I loved that this brand was able to support those athletes and also engage audiences with their product. There’s so much more that the advertising world as a whole can do with storytelling, and I hope to see more long-form media, be it features, short films, Snapchat series, etc. 

Who or what has most influenced your career? 

This may seem out of leftfield, but I spend a lot of time at a raceway in New Jersey, at drifting events. Drifting, which is one of the fastest-growing sub-disciplines within motorsports, is about smoking tires and impressive driving manoeuvres. I wouldn’t have picked up a camera were it not for my friends drifting cars, and I’ve been shooting there for almost 15 years now.