What’s with this continued insistence that online films don’t need production values? Drives us mad. Grrr. One lovely director who is most definitely not making our blood boil is Jason Zada, with his slick, sexy, droolworthy online work. We were blown away by his two pieces of branding work for Factory Design Labs, which are purdy. Jason is signed to Tool in the States and Broadway Films in the UK. Back in 2000 he started up his own creative agency EVB, but a few years later decided that directing would be more up his street. Ok, so he’s not new newbie-new-new to the industry but we thought it would be interesting to hear why he left his own agency to direct commercials.

When I was a kid, I spent every summer day creating short films, music videos and anything I could dream up and then I spent a good portion of my advertising career in art and creative direction. I always wanted to create experiences around the entertainment we would dream up.  When I started my own agency in 2000, I was able to create branded entertainment experiences that pushed video, technology and interactivity to new levels.

A few years ago, I started directing TV spots, interactive video and longer form content at the agency. One project that I was able to direct, Elf Yourself, ended up becoming one of the most viral web sites of all time. It was amazing to see how  193 million people from all over the world interacted with these elfs and made them a part of their lives. After directing a few large integrated campaigns that included TV spots, internet content, viral films, etc., I decided to make the jump and leave the agency and move into production.

I think my background in complex interactive video projects, which sometimes featured hundreds of clips that all had to work together, combined with my love for storytelling has helped me take on challenging shoots.

Factory Design Labs wanted to create some original content for the relaunch of their web site. “The Power of Orange” is the new tag line that comes from the recent rebranding of the company. Building off the idea that the color orange is the catalyst behind some great, beautiful and potentially unlikely moments we created these films.

The Factory Design Lab work is beautifully paced in high def – what cameras did you use? Any background stories to shooting the pieces? Day around the pool with gorgeous girls must have been tough.

We actually shot the two films on 35mm film. Since a lot of the way I had envisioned the Powder spot was to be shot in high speed, I really thought film was the right way to capture it. The Leader film was also supposed to feel like a high end beauty ad, so I tried to really capture the elegance and sophistication of an exclusive resort with lots of beautiful people being beautiful. I love both films, but honestly, the Powder film was so much fun to shoot. You don’t get many chances in a career to have people sniffing orange powder.

To find out more check out Jason’s website, Tool of North America and Broadway Films.