Creating a World for Performers with Louis Sutherland

Louis Sutherland was born and raised in Wellington, where he got a taste for storytelling from a very young age after performing in his school play as a show-stealing shrub. 

Louis graduated from Toi Whakaari, New Zealand’s national drama school. During his time there, he found his love for making documentaries and combined his skills in both acting and production to create emotive and authentic work. 

Louis honed his own personal experiences growing up as a bicultural dyslexic child in the 1980’s and wrote and directed the feature film, “Shopping” which has been taken all over the world. “Shopping” premiered at Sundance, and won the Golden Prix at the Berlin International Film Festival. 

He is also currently working with some of New Zealand’s theatre companies to share and develop indigenous stories on stage.

Louis uses his knowledge of directing and performing to create commercials that feel like film. His ability to zone into the intimate moments between well-crafted characters has led him to producing commercials for global brands such as McDonald’s, IKEA and HSBC.

LBB> As a child, what drew you to the idea of storytelling and why do you think it stuck with you?

Louis> When I was eight or nine, I started recording my own stories over my sister’s ‘Queen’s greatest hits’ tape on a tape-deck. I felt a bit embarrassed by this weird game, so did it hidden under the bed. I learnt to voice all the characters in a comic, or just improvise stories with stupid voices. It was important as a young kid because it was ‘my’ thing and gave me a form of expression, even though back then I thought it was just for shits and giggles.

LBB> How does narrative feature film making differ from commercial films?

Louis> I don’t think it differs hugely - not in my approach anyway. Maybe in scale and personal ownership.

In features, there’s obviously a larger window to write, explore casting, find emotive frames in pre-pro etc, and you get to dig into the heart of it more. That said, I always want to bring the same hearty and integral game to ads which I have in filmmaking. A story is a story, so whether long or short form, my sole job is to craft it in a way that persuades people to really feel something.

LBB> How do you ensure that you gain authentic moments while directing? Do you believe your experience training and working as an actor has also helped with being a director?

Louis> To build for authenticity in ads, I create a whole world on set where the performers and especially the kids are immersed in their own game/environment. Much is for group connection, or specific relationships so they read as real, some insights might be for specific individuals so they can sound off the others for reactions. Nothing is rehearsed. Often the prompts I give off camera don’t match the script, but their raw reactions seamlessly fit into the edit...well, mostly haha.

With a performance background I feel at home with performers. It probably annoys some DPs as I usually leave my director monitor and find myself sitting or kneeling beside the actors just out of frame, so I can see and hear what’s happening, and easily whisper any adjustments mid-take.

LBB> When working with children, what’s the secret to illuminating their personality on film?

Louis> I stand by street casting kids, not only for a ‘look’, but for the guts that non-actors bring. 

Actor Julian Denison is case and point. I found him at a local school just up the road from where we live. At eight years of age, he cracked up a room full of kids when he stood up from the back of the hall to bellow out a question to me. The good ones all have this inherent personality and are happily confident in just being who they are. Being a dad of six helps too, because I’ve been through every age and stage and know how to build a relationship and draw the spark from a child. I build with my process from there… but that’s the boring stuff.

LBB> What is your favourite thing about being a director?

Louis> I love working with people. I get excited when we as a team solve and have ideas around creative problems. It’s the collaboration I enjoy the most. Again, this probably stems from my theatre days.

LBB> Thinking back on your projects, what has been the most challenging to you and what did you learn from it?

Louis> Commercially, the IKEA film I shot with The Monkeys was the project I learnt the most from. 

As a team, we let the children write the spot and I was quite literally on my knees drawing out the idea while winning these kids over. I had jumped on a flight to Aussie the morning after my youngest daughter Nellie was born and was wearing my heart on my sleeve, riding that wave of a deep personal connection to the film, and making a commercial for a wider audience. It was gruelling and I matured a lot as a commercial maker after that but was just so grateful for a trusting creative team that went with my instincts and managed my crazy.

Longform workwise, probably my feature film Shopping. The pressure of making that became immense and possibly the driving tone on set which served the drama. But afterward, retrospectively, I wish we had allowed for more fun. Let ourselves be more curious in moments. You need to tighten the jib sometimes and loosen at others to catch the good wind on your journey. Yoda told me that.

LBB> If you could go back in time and visit Louis who had just graduated, what would you like to tell him?

Louis> Lose the goatee mate.

LBB> And I have to ask, what is the secret to playing an audience grabbing, spotlight stealing shrub?

Louis> Haha. During a romantic scene in the play, as the ‘kissing’ happened, I shook my branches so the eaves vibrated, playing a metaphor I guess. The director didn’t scream at me after the audience laughed, so I did it every night after that. I was hooked.