Director Brendan Gibbons on Taking Off with Feature Tie-Ins

By Anthony Vagnoni & Chandler Atton

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Flo and Jamie and Mara and Alan! Yes, the traveling Progressive Players made an appearance in a recent tie-in for the insurance company and James Gunn’s mega-hit “Superman” reboot, and its typically laugh-out-loud funny. And the man behind the camera for agency Arnold Worldwide was once again Station Film comedy director Brendan Gibbons.

Over literally dozens of spots, Brendan has helped turn the Progressive troupe into a pop culture quartet who are not only instantly recognizable, but have collectively boosted Progressive’s market share and value by oodles. The spots are frequently brilliant and unexpected, like the eclectic crowd that shows up for Jamie’s 40th birthday party (see below), or their night on the town with Jon Hamm. But there’s more to Brendan’s work than this iconic campaign; he’s shot for Jack in the Box (with a recent spot starring Mark Hamill), Toyota, ESPN, Snickers, Rocket Mortgage and many other brands.

From his start as a political writer and screenwriter, Brendan’s path wound through agency creative before he launched his directing career. Known for his knack for getting great performances out of celebrity talent (even athletes!), he’s also a musician whose compositions have ended up in the commercials he’s directed. 

One of his specialties is the brand tie-in with feature films, a task he’s accomplished for a long list of Hollywood blockbusters. It’s often a delicate balancing act, meshing the needs of the brand and the vision of the agency creative team with the style, tone and content of the film itself. The Howler recently caught up with Brendan, busy leaping over buildings in a single bound, to explore how he pulls this off with such ease. Here’s what he had to say.

When you’re working on a movie partnership spot, how much access do you get to the film itself prior to its official release? Describe what the process is like when you’re hired for one of these tie-ins.

Brendan: I usually get some scenes or an advanced trailer to get a sense for of how the film looks and feels. Sometimes this footage is under incredibly strict security. For “Barbie,” it felt almost like the kind of video Ethan Hunt might receive — purely for my eyes only, as if it might self-destruct after viewing. It was a few months before the film came out, but the studio seemed rather excited about what they had on their hands.

How closely do you need to adhere to the overall look and feel of the film that’s linked to the ad you’re shooting? How do you achieve the right visual match so that the ad looks like it’s part of the movie?

Brendan: It all depends on the idea of the spot. For some, like “Jurassic World” or “Ghostbusters,” the script had the characters fully entering the universe of the film. So the lighting, camera language and compositions needed to feel just like the movie. In others, the story is a bit more of a hybrid between two universes. “Superman” was more like this. We gave the footage the feel of the film in the lighting, but the script “comments" on the film rather than being totally immersed in the film. Either way, I or my DP, Doug Chamberlain, will coordinate with the director or DP of the film to get the look right.

Generally, do you feel these brand tie-ins like the ones you’ve done for Progressive work better with action/adventure films or comedies, versus more dramatic or heavier content?

Brendan: The only thing that matters is the idea itself. If it’s a sharp, funny script, then it works. When we’re introducing characters to a different world, we have a classic fish-out-of-water situation. That’s always a good hook. The writers at Arnold are great at coming up with those hooks. Then we can play around with different jokes based on the dynamic. Is it funnier to have Jamie trying to navigate an action-adventure scene or a drama? Yes to both.

What’s it like to work with the Progressive cast on these tie-in spots? They’ve done dozens of ads together; how does that translate into their interactions when the camera’s rolling? 

Brendan: This cast and I have been working together for years. We’ve shot hundreds of spots together, spanning just about every cinematic genre there is. We have a family atmosphere on set. That permeates the entire crew, the agency and the client teams. So it feels more like an ongoing show than a commercial shoot. This means that we all know each other’s strengths. We know how to find the magic inside the scripts. We know how to improvise around the edges of the idea. And more than anything else, we know how to make each other laugh.

Is there any difference in terms of how you approach these projects in terms of bidding and winning the job, versus more mainstream spots? For example, does the treatment process differ, and if so, in what ways? 

Brendan: The difference is that when you’re doing a tie-in to a film, you have a visual world that already exists. So you’re thinking about how to build tension by having characters show up that don’t belong in that world. How are they introduced? Are they comfortable in that world? What kind of jokes can come from that dynamic? 

What do you like best about working on the Progressive ads? The scripts are consistently hilarious and the characters have become so sharply defined. How do you make sure each one gets to shine?

Brendan: What I love about this campaign has been the opportunity to help develop these characters over time. They are not typical commercial characters. They have much deeper vulnerabilities and insecurities than the folks you see again and again for other brands. And they’re each truly unique. My job is to showcase that uniqueness — the way that Alan would respond to a situation would be completely different than the way that Flo or Mara or Jamie would. So we’ve got all kinds of different joke options to play with for whatever the narrative is. Then there’s the fact that the cast is insanely talented. And the fact that we get to surround them with other really funny, improvisational actors. It’s about the most fun thing I can imagine doing with my time.

Finally, what was it like to work with Mark Hamill on your Jack in the Box spot?

Brendan: I mean, what can you say about Mark Hamill? He’s an icon. And he’s one of the sweetest humans I've ever worked with. The days we spent together were a joy.