Emma Debany on Experimenting with the Surreal and Absurd
Emma Debany is an award-winning director, writer, graphic designer, visual artist and occasional Japanese-food delivery driver based in LA (the award was second place in an ice-cream eating contest). She spent her formative years in the parking lot of a 24 hour Dunkin Donuts (a New England adolescent rite of passage), before becoming the street prank PA (a real job) and then director’s assistant on the Eric Andre Show.
All the while, she was fine-tuning her own unique directing tone of voice; one that’s surreal, irreverent, darkly funny and deliciously uncomfortable. Emma aims to challenge what’s normal and what’s strange (and to have fun).
She’s gone on to direct for Adult Swim, Jack in a Box, Totinos, BetMGM, WWE and Mattel, enjoying significant festival runs and multiple Vimeo Staff picks along the way. One day, Emma dreams of owning a small town bagel shop in the woods (which would actually make it a small woods bagel shop).
Name: Emma Debany
Location: USA
Repped by/in: Nordics by HOBBY, USA by World War Seven, Canada by Circle, Europe by Mindseye, Australia by Haven’t You Done Well
LBB> What are some upcoming projects that you're excited about? Tell us a bit about them.
Emma> I just shot an ad for Pepto Bismol in Lisbon!
We got to shoot some really fun wide angles, used an old Vanette picture car and a rhino for some follow shots on a road, and I worked with the same DP who shot my Google work, which really helped push my work toward the cinematic direction I want to be headed.
Plus, our road location happened to be at the westernmost point of Europe and I got a (non-alcoholic) piña colada from a guy making them when I walked to the point before our lockup started.
Me and the two creatives walking back to set holding pineapples with cocktail umbrellas was a really hilarious moment.
I have another shoot coming up for Hard Rock Bet that's in a mockumentary style and involves character acting with a ton of improv. That set will have a lot of laughter.
LBB> What excites you in the advertising industry right now, as a director? Any trends or changes that open new opportunities?
Emma> Well, on a personal level, I'm excited that I'm repped in Scandinavia now. I love my job for a lot of reasons, but a huge perk is getting to travel. It's a very special thing that I'm grateful for. And I get to see (and shoot in) different types of locations that I've never seen in the US.
LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?
Emma> I love scripts where the concept is less prescriptive and more open -- where there's room for me to have creative input on how to approach a scene or idea. I always serve the big concept, the one above us all. The brand, sure, but more of the feeling, the big point we're trying to make ABOUT a brand or product.
It's all about finding the best way to serve that, and I love when agencies and clients are open to making adjustments that actually communicate their idea even better.
Also, I love reading scripts that are genuinely a honed-in, well-rounded concept… If I can see the spot come together in my head immediately and everything flows, it's a good script that's clearly been loved and thought through.
I do sometimes get scripts that make me go "gosh, this barely makes sense" or that feel like the agency (slash client) still isn't sure exactly what they want. Those are tougher to figure out, but we always get there.
LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?
Emma> I'm methodical in some ways and a dreamer in others. I like to check myself and make sure I'm thinking about every angle a project can take. Thinking outside the box, not just writing my first idea -- sometimes your first idea can accidentally be stereotypical or just going with a trend.
I like to challenge myself to say well, what if we did it this entire other way, what if we skewed this and kept this grounded… I think about all ways the idea can take form and envision it to see how it all works.
Sometimes I take a step back and just let myself imagine the script without any of the rules I've been given. Then I go through every section, write all my ideas, and craft the treatment into a story. I want the reader to flow from section to section seamlessly, one idea playing off the previous one.
I make sure the big-picture concepts are front and centre, but that the DETAILS of what that actually means are in there too -- how we execute them and specific ideas that serve that bigger concept.
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?
Emma> I do my research where I need to. I like to watch previous ads from the brand, to know where they were and ask the agency where they want to go. What they liked and didn't like about the previous work. And, where the current scripts came from, what forms they took and ideas they explored with the client before the scripts landed in my inbox. I also like to know what demo these ads are really for, and where the ad will be placed -- it's all important to consider.
LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?
Emma> Honestly, it's about feeling like we're co-workers, even if only for a few weeks. I want to feel like we're on the same team. I will certainly have ideas and stand by them, but I'm extremely collaborative.
I want to work with the agency where we're just a bunch of creative people with different eyes on different parts of the project. It's like guarding different entrances to the same castle. That's what makes the best ad. Plus, I want to have fun. I want to be their friend and just enjoy the process. Especially with comedy ads, you can feel it in the final cut if people were having a good time on set.
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?
Emma> Comedy for me! Dark comedy, ideally. Surrealism, absurdity, anything unusual. Special practical effects. Prosthetics.
LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?
Emma> A lot of my work from the start of my career is very stylised -- loud colours, over-acting, stylised set builds, bright. And all those things, when used in a certain way, are fine. But I'm trying to push my work in a more cinematic, grounded place that plays with subtlety, and (as I said earlier) surrealism, absurdity, and dark comedy. Unusual locations. Nuanced acting. That's where my heart is really at.
LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?
Emma> I'm not sure how to explain it… You just do.
I push as far as I can in the direction I truly want, but am always open to ideas and other eyes. Sometimes I want to protect an idea, and sometimes my mind is changed. A lot of agency and client notes are valid and genuinely good ideas that serve the concept, it's just about finding an elegant way to integrate them. Often they end up elevating the piece!
Sometimes there are ways to take notes, figure out the problem they're REALLY trying to solve, and then solve it in a different way that's more graceful. Sometimes running into walls makes you think outside the box in a way you hadn't yet.
You just have to be open. It's a commercial, after all, not a film -- there are a lot of things to satisfy, and figuring out how to do it all together is a part of the job that I love.
LBB> What are your thoughts on opening up the production world to a more diverse pool of talent? Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?
Emma> Yes duh! We need to be giving marginalised groups opportunities they haven't had or been encouraged to have. And I am eternally grateful to the people who, when I was starting out, actually replied to my cold emails, who gave me a chance to prove myself and learn something.
It matters a lot to me to be able to pass that on. Sometimes people email me asking for coffee or a call, just trying to figure out the industry, and I always make time to meet and try to connect them with whoever I think could help.
I really respect people who forge their own path and go out of their way to do so. It's really hard to get started. You just don't know anything. I'd love to have a mentee or apprentice that I could offer my knowledge to in the hopes that it helps them find their way.
LBB> Your work is now 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)?
Emma> In terms of vertical, horizontal, square? God, you just shoot open gate and try to keep an eye on it.
Truthfully, my major concern is the horizontal image. But honestly, usually the frames end up cropping pretty well into other formats, especially with the top and bottom lookaround room shooting open gate.
On sets where there's a bit more emphasis on the other formats, I shoot a little wider and have a horizontal 16:9 frame floating in the centre so we have more lookaround room on ALL sides. Or sometimes some shots really do just need to be reframed and you grab another couple of takes. It just depends on the project.
LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work (e.g. virtual production, interactive storytelling, AI/data-driven visuals etc)?
Emma> I've worked with LED walls and volume screens -- I love them. There's a lot that's possible with them that just wasn't previously possible.
With some foreground PD, you can be anywhere in the world on a stage! And AI has honestly been extremely helpful in concepting set builds. I was working on a project where we needed to build a celebrity apartment in an old Hollywood style with a very specific feeling to it.
My production designer generated a ton of living rooms using AI to get some ideas, and then pulled bits and pieces from each to assemble into our final sketch-up render.
LBB> Which pieces of your work do you feel show what you do best – and why?
Emma> Arby's Potato Cakes with Kyle MacLachlan - It was awesome to direct a dramatic short film that also advertised a fast food snack -- mixing seriousness with absurdity. Especially with Kyle MacLachlan!
Beetlejuice x Google - this was the set build for the old Hollywood apartment! I loved improv-ing with the puppeteers, and the edit on this one feels particularly strong (Thanks to Ali Mao at Arcade!) The cinematography also looks exactly how I'd pictured it in my head -- not afraid of a little moodiness. I'm proud of the level of polish I achieved on this one.
Totino's 'Pizza Brain' - the humour in this is just so unexpected in the ad world. This is the kind of conceptual, weird, offbeat stuff I'd like to do more of.
Trolli - loved the cinematography and how the lighting came out. I suggested the VFX Trolli worm have a some steppiness to it like stop motion, and feel it added a lot to the style. And I got to do some of those low wide angles I love so much!
