Creativity Squared: Always Being Curious with Clemente Bornacelli

Executive creative director Clemente Bornacelli is an award-winning creative director who has worked with BBDO, TBWA Chiat/Day, Deutsch, Omelet, Media Arts Lab and Mother. With a career spanning more than a decade, Clemente has been a Cannes Lions finalist, and has received numerous advertising awards. He created global campaigns for FedEx, Visa, Pepsi, Volkswagen, HBO, Netflix, Moët & Chandon, AT&T, Guild Guitars, Square Enix, The Pokémon Group, and more. As a musician and producer he received a Latin Grammy nomination and the John Lennon Songwriting award.

Person

First and foremost, I see creativity as a collaborative dance. It's a beautiful choreography where ideas flow freely between minds, where the resonance of one person's vision harmonises with another's.

Since I can remember, I’ve been a curious person: What’s behind that door? How did they do that? What happens if I pull this? You might call it adventurous, rebellious, or naughty. (Sorry, mom!) It’s never been about breaking the rules or calling for attention, but I’m just fascinated with creating something out of nothing. 

So I was that kid who always looked at the extra features on that DVD before watching the movie; I loved looking at behind-the-scenes photos or reading articles about making films or records. And that leads me to a critical discovery in my life: I don’t know sh*t! 

Seeing artists in their natural habitat is always a humbling experience; witnessing untethered talent and courage come together to create art always made me feel like I have lots to learn. 

So, at the heart of it all, my approach to creativity is a delightful mix of humility and curiosity. I mean, we're just humans trying to make cool stuff, right? There's always a new rabbit hole or a wacky idea that is genius. So, I embrace the absurdity of it all and keep the creative rollercoaster going.

Product 

In music and film, storytelling is at the core—every note we compose and every frame we capture serves a narrative purpose. To succeed creatively, one must be a musician or filmmaker and a storyteller. Whether it is a lyric or simply evoking a feeling we are in service of the story and that’s the ultimate measuring stick. 

Take What Are You Working On? For example, This docu series for Nike explores the unseen lives of athletes, their struggles and triumphs. As you can imagine, these are complex stories that dive into different emotions and stages of life. Our role was to simply contextualise it with sound, to outwardly express everything that can help complete the narrative to the viewer without having the athlete specifically say it. 

But then something like Sonic, we are literally telling you the story with the lyrics.

It is an ever-evolving creative journey, the possibilities are boundless, and that's what makes it an exciting and fulfilling pursuit in both music and film.

Process

My background as a former creative director in advertising and a musician uniquely positions me to bridge the gap between Film and Music. I can translate between the "let's make it pop" ad speak and the "let's hit them with a killer bassline" musician lingo. It's like being fluent in two languages that are convinced they're speaking Klingon to each other. 

Establishing clear communication and allowing our agency partners to express their vision in their own language is the first step. We must understand the story we are trying to tell before we play a note.

On the other hand, music, on its basis, is an experiment in self-expression. Each artists has a unique voice and style and we ultimately avoid hindering them from freely using that. Finding the right artist for each project is key, but then speaking in a way that clearly gives them a sandbox to play in without telling what to play is always a balancing game.  

Picture creativity as this wild dance party. It's where ideas collide like energetic dancers on a packed floor, and you are trying to create harmony, pure and simple. 

Press

Creativity is also about staying open to inspiration from everywhere. 

I was born in Caracas Venezuela, so my early childhood was spent in South America. The flavours, sounds, and culture are all enshrined in my subconscious but around 10 or so I became obsessed with MTV. Music Videos were in my face as much as possible, Give It Away by RHCP, Nevermind by Nirvana, Black Hole Sun, Gin and Juice, are stone tablets chiselled in my brain. Right around the same time I bought my first electric guitar, (Sorry again Mom!) my older brother took me to see E.T, and Filmmaking became a new obsession. Of course, I loved the world Spielberg created but the score by John Williams spoke to my soul, it transported me there and suddenly I was Elliot flying on his bike.

Ever since I’ve been a sponge, watching every film I could and listening to as much music as my ears can handle. I’ve been on tours with bands and on shoots for weeks, I’ve worked with incredible talent in many different places around the world, and all those experiences live in my brain like a roll of the deck giving me references and inspiration. You never know when the next big idea will come along. So, I keep my radar on high alert, soaking in everything. 

In the end, creativity in music and film is like a never-ending improv comedy show. We just roll with it, find the humour in the chaos, and keep creating.