Deck the halls with social media, 
Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, In-sta-gram 
Tis the season to be trending, 
Twitter, twitter, tweet , t-wit, t-tumblr 

Holy Santa, the world’s gone hashtag–tastic.  Monty and Mabel are trending, good old Coca-Cola's making everyone happy, but Magic and Sparkle might just have taken the Christmas crown.

Seems Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, has gone all out for M+S “switched to promotional activity on social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr" rather than TV.  So now it’s official, forget the mistletoe, switch on the iPad and have yourself a virtual Christmas and don’t forget the death star decorations.

I hate to say I told you so - decreasing TV spends are hardly new news - but connectivity seems to have come of age.  Thankfully we’ve moved on from adapted facebook pages allowing you to put your face on the derriere of a baboon to properly integrated campaigns such as John Lewis’s cross-promotional behind the scenes production video of the Monty advert.  Not to mention Jamie Oliver’s digital Christmas recipes, which compiles festive foods with lists of ingredients linked directly to the supermarkets that sock them.  Also an honourable mention goes out to TK MAXX with their big european hashtag push #youbyme which has been prominant in the German market, it sticks with you thanks to Solmon Burke's "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love."

I've also had a busy online year thanks to some lovely folk at Isobar, shooting a series of online films for Kellogg's  – the latest offering used five go pros inside cereal packets to film families at breakfast.  Very interesting results - more of that in the next blog. Amazing results, especially as the films have gained nearly 2 million views.  Turn that into US box office and we’d all be retiring to a Hawaiian Island, even though I don’t do holidays.

I’m also excited about the chance to turn this online talent into longer formats combining agency know how with my tool kit as a writer director.  You only have to look at some of the current successes - The Power Inside by Intel and Toshiba – to see the potential to produce an engaging ongoing series for brands across the globe.  I mean wouldn't Magic and Sparkle make a great prime time show or web series?  Two fairies whose aim to help others but just can’t stop meddling in human affairs because secretly they want to become human.  Hold on, I have to go, I think Disney’s calling…. 

Watch this space for more online news in the new year.  Until then have a Happy Hashtag wherever you are and thank you all for a fabulous year and all the gifts you bestowed on one lucky director for hire…

Keep posting!

I never travel light.  People laugh at my luggage.  Producers have been known to balk at my baggage.  I can take it, I like to be prepared: warm feet = happy shooting.  So let’s talk clothes, but first…

NEWS

I’m delighted to join froehlich-management who will be replacing the folks at Cream.  Annex is still my home in the UK and if you fancy flying south to avoid the winter blues pack your shorts and join me at Grinder in Cape Town.  Talking shorts…

Remember how hot it was this summer?  30’ degrees in the shade.  Perfect weather to shoot table top for Philips.  Camera, lights…  Phantom!  As everyone knows, the higher the frame rate the bigger the lights.  As temperatures soared I suddenly remembered for once, I'd packed “light” exchanging shorts for a more dignified look.  Bad move. Like Albert Brookes in Broadcast News, I wasn't looking pretty.

So how do you combine style with functionality?  How do you make sure that you don’t look like a geriatric hiker on route to the National Trust tea rooms?  The camera department get it right – part military, they can unzip at will.  For PA's it's all about the cut of your jib.  And producers…  rightly or wrongly I always listen to producers, because producers check the weather.

Then again, who can predict the weather, especially in the UK.  This summer filming wheat fields for Kellogg's we experienced four seasons in a day, now that’s a sizable overnight bag.  This time I hadn't travelled light and ended up costuming most of the crew.

Sadly last week I couldn't be so smug.  Hanging off the back of a low loader my trusted DOP reveled in the definition of an expression involving 'brass' and 'monkeys'.  With my teeth chattering I could only dream of my beloved Canada Goose at home in the wardrobe as “surely it won’t be that cold”…

So how exactly do you dress for success on a film set?  Personally, from now on, I’m going to go back to my old motto “pack everything and handle the laughter”.

My Russian friends have got it down to a fine art.  They know the true meaning of getting caught out in the cold.  It’s less a case of 'dignity always dignity' and more 'layers always layers'.  They snigger at waterproofs using disposable macks but when it comes to winter hardware their brands have history.  When it’s minus 20 in the shade you better be sure your goose in real and not a chicken is disguise.

The film business is a tribe, we kind of follow our own fashion - t-shirts from last exit to nowhere, Carhartt to blend in, and if you’re going to wear a baseball cap it better look like you stole it from a truck driver somewhere in Middle America. 

So as the temperature drops and your wardrobe changes it's time to whip up a stew with your new Philips blender.  Check out my latest spot to see how this brilliant device makes light work of even the toughest tasks.  I've already cooked pumpkin soup, homemade pesto and some serious arrabiata.  God I love cooking.

Coming up in the next few months viral films for Philips, a charming new online spot for Kellogg’s and an Ecosport commercial for our friends at Ford. Until next time, dress for success!

“Good morning, this is your wake up call.”

4.00am?! Like all crew, I’m used to early starts, but 4am, must be a mistake. I head for reception. “Good morning Sir, how may I help you?” “My wake up call, it’s 8am, not 4am.” “Oh I’m sorry”, we'll fix that right away” but before I can say, “how?”, Mr Enthusiastic announces, “You're all set. That’s 8am for room 803, you have a great day!”  

Welcome to New York, the City that never sleeps!

No matter how tired, how busy, or how jaded you may be the Big Apple is always exciting. Not to mention being with the home team @ Annex Films shooting for Shots brand of the year Samsung, and a new friendship with the very nice people at JAM.

Wandering the streets at 4am I remember just how great this City is. I mean hell, they even have there own timescale – The New York minute. It's a time frame known only to New Yorkers. Or as Johnny Carson once said, it's the interval between a Manhattan traffic light turning green and the guy behind you honking his horn. Actually It appears to have originated in Texas around 1967 and is a reference to the frenzied and hectic pace of New Yorkers' lives.

And believe me, when the production scehdule arrived, as Maverick once said, “I felt the need, the need for speed” - 7 films in 6 days, by anyone's standards, that’s going some. Makes you realise that, like New York, the film business has it’s own clock. It’s like someone put a secret flux capacitor into the Alexa - once you hit turnover, film speed kicks in and time speeds up. Pause and you're behind. Stop to think, and you're behind. Look at your storyboard and the 1st assistant director is shouting "that's lunch everyone!" So what can a director do to keep ahead? Here’s my 5 top tips:

RULE NO 1:  Accept everything resist nothing.

Doubt, anxiety and prevarication will slow you down faster than a meatball sandwich. Forward movement is the only way. The trick is to remain positive but stay relaxed, which is why the directors chair was invented: the soft fabric evokes a state of calm allowing you to observe without anxiety – see point 5

RULE NO 2:  Choose your crew wisely.

Luckily Hans + Becky had recently introduced me to the wonderful Dan Holland who’d just shot some gorgeous work with the same team Luke, Drew and Christian for Samsung. Dan is one of those DOP’s who’s mastered the kit. Fast and flexible he shoots great looking images in a user freindly way, proving that it's all about...

RULE 3:  Low fi hi fi

As you know from previous blogs I’ve always championed new technology but sometimes digital still travels with a truck load of crew. Kit like the easy rig proves a DOP can be free to move fast and still produce results. 

RULE NO 4: Ignore your crew and love your actors.

You may love your crew but always remember, the people in front of the camera can kill your schedule. Remember that great Jack Rosenthal film “Ready When you Are Mr McGill”? A forerunner to Extras it’s the story of one little man who kills the whole shoot. Now I’m not saying for one moment that my cast were anything other than professional but our script was full of technical jargon, rhyming algorithms and phases to tongue tie Brian Cox – the greatest joy was looking over my shoulder to see Hans nodding because an actor was word perfect.

RULE 5: Forget the chair and lead from the front.

I long for the chair. There’s nothing I’d love more than to sit facing a monitor and study my scene, but sadly contemporary commercials don’t run that way. My style is more… best foot forward, lead from the front, and go, go GO! In short – S.H.E.Z.A.M.  Smile, don’t Hesitate, Encourage And Move (The Z is just a reference to my name, and the fact that I like saying Shezam when things go well)

And so, with a lot of help from my friends we avoided the Delorean time bomb, finished ahead of schedule and produced some great looking films. In fact numbers for the  #SMARTMOVE series have topped a million views. Well worth getting up at 4am.