The Directors: Brittany Reeber

Brittany is a writer and director based in Brooklyn and Austin who works in narrative, music video, documentary and commercial mediums. Her films and music videos have premiered worldwide and gained traction on sites such as MTV, Pitchfork and the Fader. She has received grants and residencies from American Documentary, Kodak, The Austin Film Society, Caldera Arts, Cucalorus and The Bend Film Festival. Most recently, she was an artist in residence at The Studios of Key West. Originally from the Sunshine State, she has inherited an affection for oddball characters and humid climates.

Her work reflects the humour, tenderness, and spirit found in the lesser known corners of America — sometimes, there’s a choreographed dance routine. Her most recent film, THE CHEAP SEATS, is a hybrid narrative short that spends a day in Cassadaga, Florida - the 'psychic capital of the world'. Brittany has a degree in Radio-TV-Film and French from The University of Texas. In addition to directing, Brittany works as a producer. Her projects have premiered at Sundance, SXSW, Venice, Art Basel and others. Her commercial clients run the gamut and include Veuve Clicquot, Bumble, Pepsi, Budweiser and New Balance.

Name: Brittany Reeber

Location: Brooklyn / Austin

Repped by/in: Revelator 

Awards: Austin Film Society Grant, Kodak Grant, Studios of Key West Artist in Residence, Bend Film Artist in Residence,  American Documentary Grant

LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?

Brittany> For me, the scripts that really set themselves apart are ones with a strong story, that are character-driven and human. Humour is also a big draw. I love being able to flex my comedy chops and make something fun. It’s also awesome when a script has a clear sense of what it’s trying to achieve, but at the same time, isn’t afraid to evolve and grow once I’m on board. The more collaborative it is, the more excited I am about it. That could mean a finished script that’s looking for a visual approach or a kernel of an idea looking for a full script. With Better Vet, we were awarded the job based on my pitch and then I got to build the script from scratch, which was a ton of fun! 

LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?

Brittany> I approach spot treatments the same way I would approach a music video– I take all the material that’s given to me (a song, a brief, a script, etc) and I sit with it quietly for a few hours, jotting down anything that comes to mind. 

It’s a bit of a free association exercise and in this space, there’s no such thing as a bad idea. From there, I move into a visual space and spend a lot of time culling through images and videos that inspire me (movie stills, music videos, photo books or random Instagram posts). A lot of the images are just screenshots that I’ve taken over the years that I’ve organised into folders on my desktop. I also really like ShotDeck because of how many different filters you can apply.

From there, a conversation starts to evolve among all these elements, and depending on the needs of the treatment, I’ll go beat by beat until the story comes to life. For Toyota, for example, I spent a lot of time going through different documentation of music festival culture, favourite artist profiles and car spots. It was helpful in terms of visually treating the idea, but it also helped me brainstorm the story elements and how I was going to connect the fan experience to the artist’s experience and the driver’s. 

LBB> If the script is for a brand that you're not familiar with/ don’t have a big affinity with or a market you're new to, how important is it for you to do research and understand that strategic and contextual side of the ad? If it’s important to you, how do you do it?

Brittany> In my opinion, it’s crucial to do that research and really get to know the brand. I think that getting to know the brand helps establish some working parameters that can not only be helpful, but inspiring. 

LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?

Brittany> This is tough! There are so many roles that are deeply collaborative right from the beginning and essential. I think having a good relationship with the agency from the get go is huge… they’re entrusting me with the creative and I want to make sure that they feel like we’re in sync and all working towards the same final output. From the initial conversation, I make sure I really get a sense of their goals for the piece, the overall tone and feel. We do a lot of checking in through every step of prep so that once we’re on set, there’s never a moment where someone says “wait a minute, what are we doing?”

I also love to be in constant dialogue with the production team/line producer and have a holistic understanding of the entire shoot. I come from a producing background and I think it’s a huge asset, because I have a lot of insight into the costs and logistics involved as a shoot comes together. I love knowing I have a producer that I can trust who is doing a great job of laying the groundwork for the shoot and communicating expectations. 

Last but never least, the working relationship I have with my DP is instrumental from the very beginning, not just from the very beginning of a project, but my career. Carmen Hilbert and Adam Kolodny are two cinematographers I work very closely with and we’re in constant dialogue all year. We’re always watching things together and talking and scheming, and it means we have a shared language that we can bring to any project. They’re usually roped in the second any job gets the green light, and because we’re already reading each other’s minds, it’s easy to dive right in and makes the work that much stronger. 

LBB> What type of work are you most passionate about - is there a particular genre or subject matter or style you are most drawn to?

Brittany> Comedic spots and music videos have always been my favourite spaces to create in, and like a lot of us, it’s how I got my start learning the process of creating a treatment and how to truly collaborate on set.

You have to figure out how to use your skills and voice in tandem with an existing idea, and not only represent that original concept, but elevate it to some place that only you could. 

It’s also a space where I get to really grow and learn. Style-wise, my interests are super diverse, and you can really see that in some of my most recent music video work for Horse Jumper of Love or Daisy the Great. I love a good choreographed dance routine as much as I like the challenge of telling a succinct story or shooting on film or trying out a new rig. In the music video for 'Liar', the goal was to tell a subtle story of a teenage crush on the last day of school, which was a great way to practice driving a narrative through performance and visuals with minimal dialogue. With the recent videos for Horse Jumper, the crux of the idea was that the band would be in a car getting towed, so we spent an entire day just rigging the car and the tow truck every which way. It was super technical and a lot of fun. To save money, we shot a second video for them with a completely different look on the same weekend. We had about 6 hours to light an entire bar and feature all these different characters. Not to mention we got both videos done with whatever gear we could pack into a Subaru. Music videos are such an endurance test and, depending on the budget, really push me to flex my indie film roots. 

LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?

Brittany> Perhaps it’s the same misconception that a lot of women directors tend to be up against– that we’re going to really shine with feminine brands or soft and sweet ideas. I’m just as capable of directing a spot for a men’s product or something traditionally 'masculine' as I am at creating spots for brands geared towards women. Bring on the Axe body spray ad! 

LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?

Brittany> I always try to keep in my mind that I’m there to bring ideas to life in a collaborative and ego-free environment, but at the same time, it’s also my job to ensure that they get something strong and unique that both the agency and brand are going to be proud of. It’s easy for everyone to lose sight of a singular vision when there are so many cooks in the kitchen. I think having a bulletproof treatment from the start that we can always refer back to helps us stay focused. 

LBB> What are your thoughts on opening up the production world to a more diverse pool of talent? Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?

Brittany> I think we all benefit when we strive to make the talent pool more diverse. Coming up in commercial production, it was rare that the directors on set were women or people of colour, so I’m proud to be a part of that change now. I got to where I am thanks to mentorship and I’m always trying to pay it forward. 

LBB> How do you feel the pandemic is going to influence the way you work into the longer term? Have you picked up new habits that you feel will stick around for a long time? 

Brittany> It’s tricky because on one hand, I think the pandemic made the world feel a lot smaller in a good way. I no longer feel like I have to be in one place or another to take on a new project. So much of prep is remote. But on the other hand, I miss prepping in an office and the relationships we build before we get to set. It takes more effort to foster community and connection in the workplace, so I think aiming to find ways to make up for that moving forward is important. 

LBB> Your work is now presented in so many different formats - to what extent do you keep each in mind while you're working (and, equally, to what degree is it possible to do so)? 

Brittany> At this point, it’s become second nature to consider multiple formats when we’re rolling. The vertical frame has become such an essential part of visual storytelling. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should be centring all your images or always planning to crop in, but I think the more we embrace all the different ways we’ll be viewing the piece, the more creative we can get with that kind of framing. For the recent spots with Toyota, we knew they were primarily for social and took that into account, but we also wanted to make sure we walked away with something that would shine in 16x9. 

LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why?  

Brittany> Toyota Bonnaroo : This piece combines a slick car shoot with a doc-style piece about three best friends on a road trip to Bonnaroo. The car work shows off my technical skills as a director while the story around the girls illustrates the way I can build organically branded stories and connect to real people.

Horse Jumper of Love Sugar in Your Shoes' : We had limited resources and one very amenable tow truck driver. It’s a simple concept in theory but the video demonstrates how an entire piece can revolve around one central image if it’s strong enough. His keen sense of visual economy directly translates into the storytelling efficiency that commercial work demands. We shot it in one day and premiered it on Pitchfork 10 days later.  

Daisy the Great ‘Liar’ (music video) : What stands out in this video is the casting and the playful cinematic approach that we used to create a high school drama. The band and I were really inspired by movies like Freaky Friday and SLC Punk! They came to me with the initial concept and some great ideas for the cast and then I built out the world and story beats. We only had about six hours in the high school gym, so we kept the camera on a Fischer dolly, which not only helped with changing set-ups efficiently, but the camera movement added a lot of drama to simple blocking. 

BetterVet: This shoot came with so many opportunities and challenges. BetterVet was a dream to collaborate with because they had a lot of trust in me and our team, and they wanted to create a look and feel that was both relatable and playful. We knew we wanted to feature a cat and a dog in a one day shoot with one location and we built a script around those parameters. From one master script, we created five different spots with cutdowns. It was a whirlwind, all ending in a ridiculous bathtub shot with both our furry friends.