Peter Berg Tells Us How He Won The Super Bowl

Who won the Super Bowl this year? Ask anyone with a passing interest in football and they may well say the Denver Broncos, but speak to those more interested in commercials than combatants and the answer would be Hyundai. Indeed, in the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter (an audience-reviewed poll of the spots aired during the show), the vehicle brand took two of the five top positions with ‘First Date’ and ‘Ryanville’, including the illustrious number one spot.

Starring Kevin Hart and Ryan Reynolds respectively, the two commercials utilised a mixture of comedic timing and special effects to create warm and engaging films that capitalised on the leads’ star power. Helmed by Pony Show Entertainment’s Peter Berg (no stranger to star turns and impressive effects), the spots’ relatable themes – a Dad’s desire to keep his daughter protected and the undoubtable attractiveness of Mr Reynolds – meant that both won over the audience at home.

Whilst in LA, we managed to grab a few minutes with Pete to chat about how he balanced the mix of laughs and tech, what it takes to direct strong personas and how it feels to win the Bowl!

At what stage did you get involved in the campaigns? How long was the process?

We came in pretty early. They had the concepts but hadn’t picked the actors yet, so we got in there early with them. I can’t remember what the timeframe was, but we got heavily involved in the casting. That’s where we really started kicking in.

So you were directly involved in choosing the central performers?

Yeah. There were a lot of names being kicked around, but we all finally agreed on Kevin and Ryan - we knew they were the right guys.

How were the shoots themselves? Did you run into any problems?

No, we were pretty well prepared. We previsualised the stunts for Kevin Hart and the motion capture shots with Ryan Reynolds. I have a very good crew that I always work with. My cinematographer, Tobias Schliessler, and I work with a shorthand that makes it a lot smoother.

As an actor and director, do you feel that that gives you an advantage when drawing performances and understanding how to translate things a little better?

I think that because of the acting I understand the experience the actors are going through better than someone who’s never done it, so I can talk to people like Ryan and Kevin as someone who’s been there - it gives me a way in.

Both Ryan and Kevin have a persona that they bring to screen as a given. Do they need directing in that, or do you let that happen?

I think that these guys are very talented and are very able to self-correct, but they certainly welcome direction. I felt like they trusted me as a director, which is important as it helps them relax and feel comfortable and protected. That’s important in making them appreciate the director. They were both very directable.

The spots combine comedy with impressive special effects. Is it tough to keep track of the root of the joke when having to consider the technical aspects? Does the shorthand with your crew help with this?

I think it’s very important to be clear upfront about what you’re trying to achieve and you need to make sure everyone understands what’s needed. That’s what’s so helpful about previsualisation. When you have that presentation of what the commercial is supposed to be, you’re able to show it to the actors, crew and clients so even when you have complex effects, everyone is very clear on what’s involved.

The crew knows how to do it because they’ve done it all before. Good actors like Ryan and Kevin have worked with green-screen and visual effects, so understand that it might be tedious, technical and detail-focussed, but if they commit and stay focused the results are always more positive.

Does it all come together in the post-production process? We imagine the pressure put on flagship commercials like these is pretty immense - does it affect the edit or achieving the vision you had when starting out?

These commercials were surprisingly easy - the agency were very friendly and collaborative, my crew is always collaborative and the client was on board from the start. Everybody got along really well from the beginning. It meant that the creation of the pre-vis happened very easily, so we all kinda knew exactly what we were getting in to. That meant the production itself went very smoothly.

I was surprised that people reacted so well to the spots, because normally there’s more drama and panic associated with a ‘good spot’! This was really drama free. It’s good to see that you can have a pleasurable creative experience making a commercial and have people really like it.

Speaking of which, it doesn’t get much better than having two spots in the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter. How did you feel when you found out you ‘won’ the ad breaks?

That was great! I think we were all pleasantly surprised because the filming was so drama free. It was a nice reminder to everyone involved that it doesn’t have to be a miserable experience to be successful. People tend to be so on edge and stressed, there’s normally such feeling of anxiety and fear when it comes to commercials. It’s like playing golf. I’m a pretty bad golfer, but once in a while I take a really good shot and marvel at how effortless it seems and think “I wish I could do that all the time”.

We worked really hard, it’s just that there was no stress involved in the shoot.

Where did you watch the big game? Did you make sure everyone kept quiet during the commercials?

You know what’s funny - I was in Miami at a party for ‘Ballers’, the football show I work on. The game started and they had a problem with the volume, so we had no sound at all. All of a sudden, the commercial with Kevin came on and everybody got quiet. Nobody knew it was my commercial, and I’m like “Ah shit, it’s going to play silent!”. But then people started laughing. That’s a pretty good sign, if they’re laughing and there’s no volume.

I then spent the Super Bowl thinking “you know what, maybe we did make a pretty cool commercial”. I was in a room with a bunch of people, most of whom I didn’t know, and they were laughing at this spot without any sound.

Mentioning ‘Ballers’ - you balance directing commercials, TV and feature films - do you find the forms inform each other?

I think so. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to direct in lots of different mediums for a while now. I’ve got a really great crew and we’re pretty comfortable with the process, so moving between a feature film and a commercial isn’t a big problem - it’s all filmmaking for us.

What we understand as a crew and within my production company is that from commercials to big movies, there’s no difference to the nervousness and anxiety involved in making them. Everybody is nervous when making them. Part of my job is to be professional and to make people comfortable in the knowledge that we respect their investment… and that we will deliver! We’ll help them get through it. The money guys just want to get through it. They’re under a lot of pressure.

My team is great. And I mean everyone - my producer, my cameramen, my stunt guys, my grips. It’s the same crew that works together all the time. Because of that, we can give the investors confidence that it’ll all be OK.