Grant de Sousa on What It Means to Not Compromise on Quality
From Ogilvy Cape Town and produced by They Shoot Films, director Grant de Sousa’s latest spot for Sunbet, ‘Stunted Man’, is a loving homage to film and its genres. Grant - a “cinephile” in his own words - loved the script from the very start and spotted an opportunity to combine his own artistic vision with inspiration from some of his favourite directors, like Jonathan Glazer’s work for Levi’s. Doing stunts in a classic adventure, a martial arts scene, and a heist, superhero, and western genres all fail to excite the jaded stuntman for whom a spark remains missing, whatever excitement he gets up to on screen.
The spot’s humour is decidedly dry while Grant immerses the stuntman in a cornucopia of action. Humour and comedy are something Grant says “seems to have found me” and he notes that while the genre isn’t taken seriously enough by the industry, it ultimately has the power to unite people.
A Werner Herzog course left Grant with a ‘no compromise’ message about work, which Grant has expanded on in his career in advertising. Today, when he thinks about not making compromises he ultimately considers the quality of the final film and reminds himself to trust in his own skills and vision, all while working collaboratively with the other stakeholders.
Below, Grant talks to LBB about what it was like to make his short film ‘It’s Complicated’, calling it “both terrifying and exciting”, developing an artistic vision while learning from others, and why he’s “attracted to sophistication in the idea first.”
LBB> You recently directed ‘Stunted Man’, which packs a lot of action into one spot. What was the brief and how much creative input did you get to have? Which action sequences did you enjoy directing the most?
Grant> The brief was essentially to bring life to their script and to reinforce the bored stuntman concept. Which was such a great insight. I couldn’t refuse. I thoroughly enjoyed the three sequences through the walls. I took inspiration from a classic [Jonathan] Glazer spot for Levi’s for the transition with an added twist of choreography across genres. As a cinephile this concept excited my inner child to the core.
LBB> There’s a lot of talk about the decline of comedy in advertising. What are your thoughts on this?
Grant> I think tonally the world is and has been in a very divisive place for the last few years. Comedy in general has, in my opinion, wavered and it's a genre that isn’t taken seriously enough as an effective tool for communication. Humour is powerful in that at its core it is a universal language that has the power to bind.
LBB> As someone who does comedic work, what attracts you to humour?
Grant> Ironically for me it's the other way around, comedy seems to have found me. It's not to say I can't create other genres as I consider myself a storyteller first and foremost. With regards to what attracts me to comedic scripts it’s universal for any script. I love a good insight and I love brainstorming strategic and subtle executions for them. Ultimately, especially in comedy, I'm attracted to sophistication in the idea first. So not comedy for comedy’s sake.
LBB> How do you balance being inspired by other directors’ work with having and developing your own voice?
Grant> I think I gave a good example above with the Levi’s reference. I've always been a big fan of Glazer and it was imperative that I made it my own. I think having your own voice means being honest with yourself in how you see things. In that instance I embraced my love of film genres and combined it with Glazer’s technique of breaking through walls. However, he didn’t use it as a transition and I decided to. So I got to pay homage at the same time doing what I feel is ‘me’.
LBB> What did making the short film, ‘It’s Complicated’, teach you?
Grant> Making a film vs making a commercial is a very different process and experience. As a TVC director you are used to agency and client being over your shoulder on all your decision making and it is ultimately a way more collaborative process. Whereas a film when you turn around from your monitor, it's just you. You make all the final decisions on set. Which is both terrifying and exciting at the same time. What this taught me was to believe in myself and ultimately gave me a higher level of confidence as I managed to create something of value on my own. Which in turn gives me more confidence when shooting a TVC.
LBB> You wrote and directed ‘It’s Complicated’. How different is it directing something you’ve written yourself versus someone else?
Grant> Well I actually didn’t write it on my own. I co-wrote and adapted an existing idea, which was a pilot for a web series into a short film. However - yes, in essence the experience of directing something I had a hand in, was way different from something provided. A blessing and a curse, I guess you could say. On the one hand it's amazing because you already know what you want the outcome to be when you are writing it. On the flip side you just don't know if it's going to resonate with people beyond yourself. However when you receive a script from an agency, there is already a good idea these things will work (due to months of collaborative rewrites and research) and it's then a case of getting inside their heads and attaching your voice to it and hoping it's a marriage made in heaven.
LBB> A Werner Herzog course left you with a ‘no compromise’ message about work. What does this mean to you and how do you apply it? Which pieces of work showcase that message most? Is it possible to have that kind of attitude in the advertising world?
Grant> Interesting concept, the ‘no compromise’ ideology. Because what I've learnt since that course is that it's actually very specifically not compromising on the end goal. Which is ultimately quality. I thought it meant not to compromise at every turn. But in advertising especially, you are constantly making compromises with clients, budgets, executions etc. However in my head it's always ‘How do I get this piece to a place where we never compromise on the quality while preserving the core idea’. It's often a case of believing in your own ideas (the confidence I got from my short film) and doing your best to make sure that these are preserved to the death. Protect the reasons you are hired to do what you do and remind people to trust you. Ultimately, you need to back yourself.
LBB> You previously told LBB that seeing ‘Thriller’ made you want to be a director. Is there a musical artist that you would love to direct a video for?
Grant> Yes that's true! That video shook me at a young age. Specifically ‘the making of’; thank you, John Landis!
Well, I wish Prince was still alive as he’d be my dream artist. It's actually a fantasy of mine to make his biopic. As far as contemporary artists go. There are so many I'd love to make videos for. Off the top of my head - Brittany Howard, Orville Peck, Billie Eilish… to name a few.
LBB> What’s next for you? Is there anything you’re working on that you can share with us?
Grant> Well, I just finished shooting an awesome campaign for Uber Black which I obviously can't speak too much about but I'm excited to get stuck into the edit on. I will share as soon as it's done!
