Banjoman Signs Big Red Button
Production company Banjoman has announced the signing of director duo Big Red Button.
Big Red Button are otherwise known as Johnny Burns and Pier van Tijn. Having met just after film school they have been working together for what now seems like a very, very long time, directing commercials, short films, sketches and long form comedy. Their work is hard to pigeonhole, but is united by a cinematic visual approach, detailed production design and a surprising and subversive sense of humour. They are very passionate about carefully crafted stupidity and often find themselves putting way too much time and effort into dumb ideas that don't help their careers and that they can't justify to their families.
The duo’s first big break was shooting a taxidermy dog called Pablo for Talk To Frank, which won them a Silver at the BTAAs. After that it took a solid three years to get anyone to trust them with directing anything other than inanimate objects. Thankfully, since then, their career has been pretty varied. Big Red Button are drawn to ads that have real wit or stupidity (either works), some visual flair, and ideally an opportunity to get stuck in with the creatives to help push the idea as far as it will go. Because there’s two of them, they’re hardwired to want to brainstorm and collaborate to make the best thing possible.
Career highlights include winning a Gold at the BTAAs for their film ‘Chav Tranquiliser’ with Paddy Power, having their short film ‘Don Vs Lightning’ feature in the New Yorker and streamed on Disney+, getting to meet Stephen Hawking, and being abandoned in a parking lot in Marseille mid-shoot by a production company that probably realised we weren't actually contributing that much.
Matt D’Arcy, head of production at Banjoman, comments, “We are thrilled to welcome the guys to our roster. As people, they are singularly hilarious too and their work captures that same energy. As a company committed to creative progression and evolution, signing Big Red Button represents a big step for us and our roster of world class talent.”
Big Red Button comment, “When Banjoman approached us about joining their roster we were super excited. We've been watching the Irish market for a while and it feels like there are a lot of exciting and funny ads getting made at the moment. We like the idea of working with a smaller but very ambitious company as they tend to be the most invested in making great creative work. And Dermot [Malone] and Matt [D'Arcy] struck us as warm and smart guys who we'd really get on with. For us that personal connection is really important. Also, it's our understanding that they'll be paying us in banjos.”
They add, “We’re really excited for our future with Banjoman and for the opportunity to make some great comedy films in Ireland. We love the Irish sense of humour and feel like this signing finally gives us an excuse to imitate the accent.”
