The Directors: The Turner Brothers
Up-and-coming directors Julien and Justen Turner, also known as The Turner Brothers, are newly signed with Invisible Collective. They have just recently won the Gold shots The Americas award for New Director of the Year 2023. Their Nike x Social Status campaign garnered them two Webbys: Best Video Campaign in Advertising was awarded this year, and last year the campaign’s first installment, the comedic "Free Lunch" garnered them a Webby People’s Voice Award for Best Video Campaign. The brothers have also been named in the highly selective Forbes 30 Under 30: Hollywood and Entertainment list (2023).
In 2016, the then teenage Turner Brothers formally started their own production company, Dreadhead Films, and soon thereafter found themselves in the national spotlight after being recognised as the youngest filmmakers commissioned to do a short film for the Sesame Street TV series in 2017. To date, Julien and Justen have made nearly a dozen short films, including two award-winning shorts that have screened at renowned film festivals across the country. In recent years, they have also become known for their branded narrative collaborations with the likes of Amazon, Beats by Dre, Air Jordan, Nike, Adobe and more. Their work has afforded them the opportunity to be featured in the New York Times, Complex, The Root, Hypebeast, Forbes and on other major media platforms. More of their story can be found in their recently released TEDx Talk entitled, ‘Using Filmmaking to find your Superhuman Gene’ and here.
Name: The Turner Brothers
Location: Columbus, OH
Repped by/in: Invisible Collective
Awards: 2022 Webby People's Voice Award for Best Video Campaign
LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?
Julien> With most of our work, our goal is to create a circular narrative that an audience can connect with - no matter how short. So, we approach the treatment for a spot by working backwards. First, we determine our client's desired takeaways. From there, we find the “punchline” that delivers the message the client is aiming for. This punchline is often the final, most powerful shot of the spot. Once we’ve found that moment, we work backwards and build a story that carries the ethos of the brand.
Justen> We then build a world around the central story that illustrates the texture and aesthetic of the brand.
LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other, and what sort of scripts/boards get you excited?
Julien> When working in ads, we only have a limited amount of time to capture an audience. So, the most exciting scripts/boards for us are those that allow us to create characters - whether it be the characterisation of a product or actually developing three-dimensional subjects to carry out the narrative.
LBB> Is there a genre (or subject matter) you’re most drawn to?
Justen> We’re science fiction nerds. So, the ability to create in the sci-fi space is always an opportunity that we will jump at.
Julien> Comedy is always fun too.
LBB> When the script is for a brand that you're not familiar with, don’t have a big affinity with, or is part of a market you're new to, how important is your research and understanding the brand’s strategic and contextual aspect? If it IS important to you, how do you go about doing it?
Julien> It’s extremely important for us to do research on a new market and company. We usually start by studying similar brands and markets to understand the space the brand is attempting to fit in. We then identify what strategies work in the space; then we ideate on strategies we see in other spaces that aren’t being utilised already. Through this, we develop a rough outline of our approach, adding our Turner Brothers' twist. This is what really separates our treatment from others.
LBB> What’s the most important working relationship for a director to have when making an ad? And why?
Justen> We believe that when making an ad, the most important relationship for a director is that with the cinematographer. Often our ads are high pace and energetic as we’re attempting to convey a lot of information in a short amount of time with a stylistic edge. So, very precise, elaborate movement and blocking is usually our favourite tool.
LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter, and what’s wrong about it?
Justen> One of the biggest misconceptions about our work is that folks often think that we only work in the minority-led content space. The fact of the matter is that most of the opportunities we’ve been afforded thus far have been for minority-owned brands. However, we believe our voice and talent can translate to all audiences.
LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in production – and how did you solve it?
Julien> The craziest? Hmm… okay, on the morning of the first day of production for the second instalment of our Nike x Social Status series, our cinematographer tested positive for covid. As you can imagine, this threw us for a loop, but luckily we allocated extensive time for pre-production walk-throughs and blocking with our talent and core crew - which included our talented camera op on this project.
Justen> Fortunately, as a result, our very able camera operator stepped up and took on this role while we maintained remote communication with our DP until his replacement landed on set. It was an intense time, but we made it work. I was willing to step up too, if needed. It helps that I have some chops as a cinematographer as well.
LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?
Julien> We try our best to strike that balance in pre-production, often over-asking and over-explaining so that both parties understand what the plan and goal is.
Justen> We also build into our production schedule different iterations of takes so that we have as many backups for revisions as possible, giving us the flexibility to deliver our full directors' vision with the first cut while also having plan B and C in the can should the client want to adjust.
LBB> What are your thoughts on the production world requiring and opening up to a more diverse pool of talent? Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?
Julien> We feel our work is a great example of the value diverse talent can bring to the advertising industry both in front and behind the camera. Exposure and inclusion not only impacts those in production but appeals to a broader consumer base. We’re always looking to mentor and bring others on set through apprenticeships and/or PA roles.
LBB> How do you feel the pandemic influenced the way you work today? Have you picked up new habits that you feel will stick around for a long time?
Julien> The pandemic has shown us that creative solutions to restrictive situations can sometimes be better than the original plan.
Justen> We feel like we’ve adopted a more comedic approach to how we shoot as a result, leaning into our locations and talent’s strengths to tell the most entertaining story, no matter how restrictive the setting may be.
LBB> Ad content is 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)?
Justen> When we develop our stories, we’re always thinking of what moments we're able to create and extract for smaller vignettes that can be adapted for smaller cuts for all the various short form and social media formats.
LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology, if at all, and how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work (e.g. virtual production, interactive storytelling, AI/data-driven visuals etc)?
Justen> We have yet to truly dive into the possibilities of future-facing tech in our own productions, but we have been looking forward to attempting to use AI-imaging for storyboarding.
LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why?
Julien> We think the work that shows what we do best is our Nike x Social status YouTube series that we have released over the last two years. It was a true product narrative.
Justen> Yeah, I agree.
