On My Radar: Neil Smith

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

Tony's Chocolonely's branding/packaging. A couple of years ago it didn’t exist and now you can’t walk to the end of the road without seeing it. What did they do? 

What website(s) do you use most regularly?

I hardly ever look at websites unless I need to buy something from IKEA or sort out an Airbnb. Apps-wise, the NYT Cooking app is the best, it's so well laid out. Also, The Center for Land Use and Interpretation is an archive of images from across the US that almost defies description. They have an amazing photo archive. The headings include The World of Underground Business Parks, Uranium Disposal Cells of America and aerial images of US bombing ranges. If you have ever visited the Museum of Jurassic Technology in LA, you will understand the vibe.

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

Kodak Luma 75 Mini Pocket Projector. Perfect for watching a movie in your hotel room when you've been staring at a screen all day and can’t do any more back-lit anything.

What product could you not live without?

My iPhone. It’s sad, but it's hard to go more than an hour without using it for something.

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

The Zone of Interest is up there. I enjoyed Love Lies Bleeding for its bonkers energy. I also recently watched A Place in the Sun, with Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. Norman Mailer called it a nearly perfect film, and I agree.

What film do you think everyone should have seen?

I don’t think you can inflict your own personal taste on anybody else. But, on my list, would be Days of Heaven because it is sublime, and Galaxy Quest because it’s kind of everything great about storytelling all rolled into one movie. It’s funny yet moving, silly yet poses deep existential questions about how we perceive truth and the nature of reality, and it also manages to be an action film. Ask me tomorrow, and I’ll probably come up with a different list. 

What’s your preferred social media platform?

I steer well clear of social media. It’s a time suck, and most of it is worthless self-promotion of the most banal kind. Go read a book. 

What’s your favourite TV show?

Most TV shows are overlong and too digressive for my taste. However, anything by Adam Curtis is worth a watch. If you want to understand Putin and what's going on in Russia right now watch his TraumaZone. Sugar was entertaining, it was put together in an interesting way with compelling performances. Severence was underrated. 

What’s your favourite podcast?

I’m a sucker for history, so Anita Anand and William Dalrymple’s Empire podcast is fascinating if you can stomach the banter. In Our Time should be listed as a national monument and Re:Thinking with Adam Grant is interesting if a little 'Ted Talk earnestness'. Team Deakins is the place to go for great film insights. 

What show/exhibition has most inspired you recently?

The installation of Magda Abakanowicz’s massive, woven sculpture tapestry at the Tate Modern is mesmerising and otherworldly. She uses various organic materials to create gigantic creature shapes that are like nothing you’ve ever seen before. To get an idea of their weirdness watch Abakany, a film she made in the late 60s where they are featured dominating a desolate desert landscape. 

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

I think I’d go crazy only listening to one pop artist, so it would have to be classical. Beethoven is probably the most complex, so I’ll go for that.