Blackhawks brand is focused on real food and the bond between people and animals. To show this bond we cast a true owner and pet and even managed to keep the dog’s name, Chester in the spot. Although this made things slightly harder to get Chester to perform certain actions compared to a commercially trained dog, the bond between owner and pet was far more authentic and convincing as Chester was drawn to our talent, giving eye contact, and not focused on food or a trainer.

We shot three 15 second spots in one day. These were influenced by creative brief to keep a sunset feel so the tone would align with a spot ‘Backtrack’ that I previously shot for Blackhawk. However this was in the middle of the bush fires, so there was very little sunset to see with the sky filled with smoke. We used some bigger lights to recreate the sunset feel and composed the shots to not show the skyline which also meant that we could be more relaxed with our time getting Chester’s performance without chasing the light.We shot on a set of vintage lenses to add some subtle character and flattering softness to the image whilst choosing to shoot on a slightly longer focal length in order to create more compression bringing the backgrounds closer with a narrower view to focus predominantly on the bond between Chester and our talent. This focus on the emotional bond also influenced our lighting and we focused on keeping everything backlit letting more fall into shadow and creating a darker emotional and more authentic mood and tone in our image.

Backtrack is an organisation that helps kids who have lost their way get back on track largely through training, working, and bonding with dogs. They have three main goals, keep the kids alive, keep the kids out of jail, and help them chase their hopes and dreams.

Working on a project focused on helping people is always an honour and pleasure, but as a fellow dog lover, one that uses the relationships with dogs to do so made had me hooked.

Jarrel is just one of the kids that this organisation helps, and it was a humbling experience hearing further stories, and how Backtrack and dogs have changed these kids’ lives.

This was a very small shoot with a doco-style approach. No storyboards, no camera assistants, no lights, just me, a camera and two lenses, all shooting handheld, and of course, a monitor for the client. We flew in the day before, had a chance to recce and speak to everyone there. Then that afternoon we worked on a plan and presented it to the client that night in the pub. This was all shot in about 20-30mins and is only a small part of what we shot that day, but this was certainly the favourite and was used as an ad in the outdoor cinemas.

During the casting sessions, I learned more about Madeline, and hearing her speak about her grandmother immediately drew me in. She shared her grandparents' incredible story of meeting in the military and spoke with such admiration for her grandmother. 

Inspired, I ensured we made time for additional questions and to capture some quick B-roll. Alongside the original TVC, I created an this extended video featuring just Madeline and her story. When I shared it with the agency creatives and clients, they loved it, and it ultimately became our preferred version.

4 TVCs I directed in one shoot day as 2nd unit. These were primarily focused on showcasing the features of the car but still needed to align with the main TVCs’ concept and song.

We had a lot to get through in a day, and I was extremely fortunate to work with a brilliant cast and crew.

Click the CC button to see what shots were 2nd unit vs the main unit on each video.

There is often more than meets the eye. Just because someone smiles back, or is posting happy pictures on Instagram doesn’t mean they are okay. Many people can be hesitant to talk about their feelings. Phrases like ‘Man up’ or ‘suck it up’ has led many to believe they should bottle their emotions up, so it’s important that others initiate the discussion and offer their support.It was a pleasure getting to work on a project that aims to teach us how important it is to really pay attention to others, and if in doubt not to be afraid to take the time to see how they are.This was in the middle of lockdown and we shot with a skeleton crew of just 3. A big thanks to the legends at The Makers for doing what seemed impossible and managing to get our permissions and exemptions to make this happen.

I was honoured to work on such an important project and share part of our ambassador’s true stories of how their connections and support with their friends helped them overcome difficult times.