For Helen Downing Directing is All About Collaboration
Known for her visually captivating work, Helen Downing has directed major campaigns for top brands like M&S and Sainsbury’s, Domino's, Progresso, and Blue Apron. With a versatile background that spans culinary series, music videos and performances, along with branded content, she brings a unique perspective and immense talent to collaborations.
Helen’s career began in TV where she worked as a multi-camera director on shows such as ‘The Big Breakfast,’ ‘Big Brother,’ ‘SM:TV’ and ‘CD:UK.’ She went on to film iconic artists at national and international venues, capturing concerts for Blur, Oasis, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gorillaz.
Harnessing her strong passion for both food and the countryside, she collaborated closely with Jamie Oliver directing the series “Jamie at Home.”
Her advertising work celebrates the joy of friends and family, often centered around the shared experience of sharing and preparing food, delivering work that is both uniquely atmospheric and genuinely warm.
Music is an enduring influence and plays an integral part in her approach to compelling and original campaigns.
Name: Helen Downing
Location: US
Repped by/in: SCHROM x Yacht Club In the US
LBB> What are some upcoming projects that you're excited about? Tell us a bit about them?
Helen> I’m excited about all projects – every time a script lands and I turn my thoughts to visualising, it’s always the most exciting moment full of possibilities. However big or small the job, it’s a creative mission to understand the ambition and to work one’s own vision to get the most out of the idea.
LBB> What excites you in the advertising industry right now, as a director? Any trends or changes that open new opportunities?
Helen> Everyone has their own unique perspective and hopefully as directors, that is what we are chosen for. I like to think that agencies and clients meet that uniqueness, whatever it is. In my own world, I hope things are becoming more naturalistic, a more pleasing take on reality than the artificial sterility - particularly with food and gathering - that the advertising world seemed to relish for so long.
LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?
Helen> I like scripts which have some room for maneuver of course, I suppose the ones where I really feel I can add to the style and intensity of the atmosphere.
LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?
Helen> This really depends on initial conversations and getting a feel for how the agency and in turn the client would like to be led. I’m always raring to go to write everything down after an initial meeting but sometimes there are better references in my mind than there are in reality! Communicating the vision is nuanced and the skill of conveying the mood and atmosphere of a film before it shoots is complex in that you are using many elements to illustrate the idea alongside the written explanation. It’s an often underestimated or underappreciated aspect of the process.
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?
Helen> Even when the brand is familiar, there should be no assumptions about the marketing directive. There has been a huge amount of work both on the client and agency side to get to this point and I wouldn’t ever assume the ambition of the campaign before I’ve heard and understood the background. So in that way, it’s always new, however familiar and so better to think of every job as a clean slate.
LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?
Helen> I rely completely on a great team of creatives and the collaboration is what really makes the job so fun. I try to be really clear about my ambitions but sometimes I’ll need some technical chats right at the beginning of the process, sometimes in the pitching process to see if something can be done. Otherwise I like to build the picture myself and take that to the team individually to start to work through more detail and then I’m ready for good ideas to bounce back and true collaboration begins - I think it’s extremely important for everyone to be given the space to bring their creativity to the table so it is paramount for the structure to be established to then put the flesh on the bones - or rather more flesh! It’s a guiding job from there - or as the French call a (female) director, ‘une réalisatrice’, pulling the best aspects together, we ‘realise’ the film.
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?
Helen> Setting a scene, creating atmosphere, letting the action happen within the frame. I’m very happy imagining sets and costumes and I’m always busy designing something if it’s interiors or gatherings - a beguiling environment is extremely important to me. What I do is a response to an idea and there’s something really pleasing about that, offering that perspective, a challenge as it always is to make seductive images of whatever is offered within a script.
LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?
Helen> People started pigeon-holing me as only a tabletop director which has been frustrating. Having worked with 20-odd cameras at a time for years when I started as a multi-camera live director, I always think of contrasts and the bigger picture is always in my mind, no matter how reduced the frame size. Atmosphere is key and that’s what I love to build, no matter how wide the frame. Working with actors is great and I’ve done plenty of that over many years too.
LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?
Helen> The one which always makes me laugh seems insignificant but somehow sums up the ridiculous nature of what we do; We were shooting an ad with several pets, and I needed the dog just to settle down by the fire. When it came to it, the dog just wouldn’t lie down. The owner said very earnestly, “Well, I didn’t know you needed him to lie down flat, he doesn’t really do that!” I think I might have left someone else to solve that one as I reflected on my childhood watching the stunt dogs of ‘Lassie’ and ‘The Littlest Hobo’.
LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?
Helen> It’s all about collaboration, from the first chat with the creatives. The second you think it’s your own film is the second it will go wrong - we are creative facilitators, taken on for our unique perspective but that has to play back to the bigger picture of any campaign.
The most important thing is to garner as much information as possible about the job from ambition to personnel, history, relationships, whatever is possible and find out any doubts or worries.
When the idea is approved and we’re in production, it is essential to communicate widely so everyone understands the intentions and we can manage expectations.
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?
Helen> Of course we should. Of course, I think the idea of female directors being a tick in the box for diversity is laughable but as I look around I see too few people like myself on set full stop. I’m always up for encouraging anyone with an authentic interest. I feel that’s what we all did when I started - shadowing was such a big and important part of the process, and we need to continue to do this for new talent across the board. I’m not a natural teacher; but I will very happily nurture anyone I think shows real passion for learning.
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)?
Helen> You have to imagine the work through whichever format is relevant and most often it’s several. Of course it’s the most wonderful to think cinematic, the very impact of the large screen, but in any case, it has to work on the phone as well. Sound is a real heavy player here - the impact of low or no music or SFX has to be considered when building any scene.
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.)?
Helen> I don’t want to hold the camera or set the lights. I do interfere in set dressing and food styling, but I see the point of my job being to steer others in technical roles, and in a way, I become like an editor, looking at the bigger picture with my eye on the detail of each department. I think that also applies to technology - I’m very happy to learn where it can be useful, but I want someone else to take the technological responsibility whilst I think about how it can be implemented to best creative effect in whatever the context of our film.
LBB> Which pieces of your work do you feel show what you do best – and why?
Helen> This is a difficult one because my work has been so varied. I’m going to pick a tabletop, a performance led and a music video:
Deliveroo - The brief was to showcase all of these different foods which ‘Deliveroo’ deliver in an energetic and appetising way. So I’m straight to texture - what way can I show a pizza, burger, chicken etc. and get over the idea that they are made fresh, made with urgency for the hungry customer. It taps into the textural delights of those familiar foods, and I hope in that way nudges the viewer towards real desire. Nordsee is similar - all about texture; that’s what I seriously crave so that’s what I like to see!
Fire & Fern - Freedom within a structure; unscripted, a bit weird and without particular narrative. It’s shot where I live in the country, just as life begins to emerge after a long winter with people gathering, preparing, sharing. There’s no particular system to it other than fluidity and noticing detail amongst the gentle energy of the people in this atmospheric and ancient place. Sounds is always a great leader for me, whether emphasised SFX or music and most importantly, how the images are cut together musically.
Little Twists - I love working with people involved in the business of gathering, cooking, eating. I particularly love including children in this world, they often give something extra because they’re not as prescriptive as adults and are generally less self-conscious! Working with food is unpredictable and really you need to set up the context and the atmosphere of the scene, however wide or narrow and be really ready to capture the moment - pretty similar to filming with children! I like the kids in this film, also Blue Apron and Masterfoods. The casting sessions are always hilarious.
