Matt Eastman Is a “Hang-with-Me-at-the-Monitor” Kinda Director
Matt Eastman is a director living in downtown Toronto. He’s been everywhere from Singapore to Santiago, directing pop stars in Shanghai, coffee klatch in Kyiv, and skateboarding skunks in Jakarta.
Matt obsessively travels the globe looking for that perfect early 90s rap record or killer breakbeat, and is fond of visiting his parents in the hippie haven of Maynooth Ontario, where, in the summer, he obsessively hunts for new and undiscovered swimming holes.
Matt recently sat down with LBB to discuss his process creating a treatment, runaway actors and picking your creative battles…
Name: Matt Eastman
Location: Toronto
Repped by/in: The Deli, Canada
Awards: Cannes Lions
LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?
Matt> Naturally, it would be a thriller, with some lavish costumes, and a joke or two. OK fine, yes I stole that line from Sir Alfred Hitchcock, you caught me.
But seriously, ever since the invention of the volume wall, the we-open-on-a-beach gambit has gotten less exciting. What still pops off is detectable pleasure – when you can tell the creative team is having genuine fun at the Hermes 3000 typewriter.
LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?
Matt> I wake up and I drink coffee. I read the script like 30 times, and then I do everything in my power NOT TO THINK ABOUT IT.
I listen to loud music (big shouts to Flo Dill and her NTS breakfast show). I dance, I putter. I wander my Dundas West neighbourhood, hit up the vintage shops. I vibe out on the colours and let the patterns seep into my unconscious. I Shazam stuff. There’s a fancy magazine store and I flip through super niche indie magazines about absolutely nothing. I talk to my barista pals, bump into a friend. Then I stroll home and by the time I’m back at the computer, the first sentence of the treatment is fully formed in my mind.
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?
Matt> While I’ve never been a LARP-er or a cosplayer, I do do research. I’m an agency brat, advertising is in my blood. I remember my mum working on the Levi’s account back in the early ‘90s, and to wear or touch any other denim products in our family would have resulted in a time-out.
Because I drink copious amounts of bubbly water, my dream client is La Croix. The label, the colours, the flavours, the whole damn brand really speaks to me. I understand it. When I’m in the supermarket, I can tell if someone is gonna reach for La Croix or Bubly. Test me on this, I’m telling you, seven out of 10 times I will be right.
LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?
Matt> Definitely the creatives, one hundred percent. They hired me, and I answer to them. Plus, they’re your best friends! I’m like a hang-with-me-at-the-monitor type kinda guy. Why keep running back and forth to video village? This ain’t some sacred, divine process – let’s just chill at the monitor together and make a great little movie. You move quicker, and everybody feels included. That’s the vibe.
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?
Matt> Comedy with a LOOK. With apologies to Louis Malle and Michelangelo Antonioni, a movie is not two people talking. (Okay, sometimes, sure, fine, but whatever.) I once did a spot where I had a dude pace back and forth wildly across a room while his pal was sitting down. It was a huge pain in the ass to shoot because we had to establish a new eyeline every time our fella did a foreground cross of his homeboy.
But it gave the spot an amazing jolt of jittery energy that the script called for. Point being, cinema is the most powerful medium in the world, so let’s have some fucking fun with it.
LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?
Matt> That I’m just the class clown. I love comedy, but I’m actually not a sarcastic person. I can be earnest. In work and life. Let me shoot your next sadvertising gig! I will do you proud.
LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?
Matt> One time, halfway through a shoot day, the AD walked over with a depressed look on her face and explained to me that the lead actor was gone. Gone? Yes, gone. He, apparently, was a local theatre star and split set to perform in an afternoon matinée. He promised he would be back in a couple of hours, how nice of him. He was in every single scheduled shot. Why no one tackled him on his way out I’m not sure. I’m sad to say I had no solution. The crew waited for two hours and we all took power naps. He eventually came back and he asked me if I was mad at him. Fortunately I was well-rested, so I told him no and we got back to work.
LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?
Matt> What will you die on your sword for? Certainly not the colour of a pair of socks. You can’t lose the forest for the trees. What’s the core idea? What’s the driving force of this thing? That’s worth defending, that’s worth preserving. But as you get older, you realise you never need to be an asshole about it. If you’re able to articulate yourself clearly and calmly about why you’re so passionate about a specific shot or transition or casting choice, or whatever it may be, and how that ties back to the core truth of what it is that we’re doing, you’ll always find a receptive audience. They may not agree with you, but if they can feel your passion, that’s what counts. You’ll end up somewhere good.
LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work?
Matt> I say hell yes to new tech. Embrace it, love it. Because it’s here. Can we throw in a few more AI extras in the deep background? Yes please. Wanna see this weird mockup I did in Midjourney? Of course I do, let me show you mine. I draw the line at using ChatGPT for interviews like these!
LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why?
Matt> JJ DANCE ARTS - ‘DROP THE BEAT’: You’re only as good as the last thing you’ve done, so in my case that’s this freebie vid I did for my girlfriend’s dance studio. She’s a choreographer and she’s got this amazingly skilled teen squad that she teaches. I cut this one on my own too. It’s mad fun to get your hands on the edit!
CIRCLE K - ‘MORE’: Always been proud of this one. Cinematically naturalistic but just that right amount of twisted.
BETRIVERS - ‘TAKE A CHANCE’: Damn, big shouts to the BetRivers fam! We just got back from Miami where we shot three new crazy heat banger spots but in the meantime here’s one of my faves from the archive.
IT’S EVERYWHERE - SHORT FILM: This one’s very personal to me. I love music so much, I made a love letter to it. Shot on expired 90s 16mm Kodak stock.
