“From Farm to Plate”: Cooking and Shooting with James Lovick

James Lovick has recently signed to BITE Collective in the UK. His passion is capturing real people and real food in his filmmaking creating intimate and authentic moments that also give you hunger pangs! He strikes a delicate balance between a premium high-end aesthetic whilst always bringing a sense of genuine warmth and humanity to his images. He has worked across a huge range of lifestyle brands such as Brittany Ferries, Volvo, Bentley as well as food products such as Baileys, Kenwood, Dorset Cereals and President Cheese. 

Q> You are an award winning content and commercial director with a specialism in food. Can you tell us how you got into this field?

James> To be honest, my first foray into the world of food was by chance. Before food, I was primarily focused on documentaries and telling the stories of real people through film. It was on a shoot for a cereal brand that was mainly about the people that eat their food rather than the product itself, I was asked whether I could grab a few pack shots and try and get the product into one of the films wherever I could. We did and the client was chuffed. My DOP and I came away from that shoot with a taste for the foodie side of film… we shot some spec commercials over the Christmas break… and the rest as they say, is history!

Q> Do you think shooting lifestyle and food go hand in hand? Was it an obvious transition?

James> I’ve always been a foodie and loved to cook from a young age, so to me it was only a matter of time until my love of food, lifestyle & documentaries collided. I think there’s definitely some cross over between the two but filming food and directing talent are actually two quite different disciplines. Having an eye for detail on the food side of things and knowing how to make the food as enticing & delicious as possible requires patience and preparation. Whereas with lifestyle, for me it’s about creating an authentic experience that feels genuine; which sometimes requires a certain sense of realism. Sometimes the best moments are ones that you can’t prepare for and you have to be ready for them when they happen. But working in both these worlds is a really nice balance for me. I love the attention to detail of food & the spontaneity that can come with my lifestyle work.

Q> Do you find shooting food and drink a tricky subject? Do you find it difficult to make food look appealing? Any tips?

James> Filming food actually feels very natural to me. Food stylists I’ve worked with have said that they can tell that I cook (I’m by no means a chef in any way, but I cook every day in our house and experiment with lots of different recipes). I think if you have an understanding of food, how it behaves, what works and what doesn’t, what’s achievable and is realistic… then you can achieve some really great imagery. My process with any food shoot is normally to use the product myself or have a play with the recipe in my own kitchen. By doing that, you get a hands-on feel for how things move, where the tricky elements are and it often sparks ideas for shots or better ways to present the food in its best light. So my tip would be, to get stuck in and get involved with the food as much as possible. 

Q> What is the work you've produced that you’re the most proud of?

James> I really liked my recent set of films with Brittany Ferries where we went to France with a family to sample a slice of the good life in Provence. It was a perfect blend of food, wine, lifestyle and landscapes and really played to all my strengths working with real people and food.

I’m also proud of the large number of films I’ve made for Baileys & Kenwood. Baileys was among one of my first food clients and it sparked a working relationship of nearly six years.

Working with brands such as these to create a whole host of films and help establish a look & feel for their content that is still going strong now was great.

Q> What are the main challenges you face in today's industry?

James> The last couple of years have been a bit of a shake up for everyone involved I think. The landscape is changing and the traditional models of where brands are wanting their output to be seen is evolving quickly. With that I think the way we are producing films is changing. Quite how that looks at the moment is still to be seen, but being agile and able to work to budgets of different scales and projects of different sizes is how I’m adapting. Approaching every project with a fluid mindset is how I like to work and that adaptability is going to be useful going forward. 

Q> What would be your dream brief?

James> I would love to do some more films that show produce going from farm to the table at home. Shooting with real producers to show the journey and hard work that goes into getting food on our shelves and then onto our tables at home would be a great job. I think we all take that for granted sometimes how much time and effort goes on in order to achieve that.

Q> Do you have any sticky stories of challenging projects and how did you overcome them?

James> I’ve had a few challenging projects in my time, but that’s what we are here to do; to take on the challenges and work out ways to solve them. On one shoot for Baileys they wanted to film in a Japanese cherry blossom orchard, but we were in London and it was a freezing cold January. But we managed to make it happen, sourcing specialist trees and recreating a small orchard in a studio complete with falling petals and sunlit skies. Magic! 

I’ve also (and I’m not naming any names here) had a client arrive to set with a broken, dummy prototype of a product that we were meant to be shooting with all day. We had to literally re-jig our entire shotlist to work around what we had in front of us. But we made it work with a bit of collective ingenuity. I think that’s one of the great things about working in this world - collaboration. With the right team around you that have a positive attitude, any problem you come up against can be overcome.

Q> Would you consider yourself a ‘foodie’?

James> As I mentioned, I am a keen cook. I love to be in the kitchen. I love growing my own food. So in that sense, I would say I’m a foodie. Less so in eating at fine dining establishments. You are more likely to find me hunting down the best street market stall or local deli than trying to get a table at a Michelin star restaurant. I love meeting and talking to the people behind the food and that interaction for me is just as tasty as the food itself.

Q> What’s next for James Lovick?

James> I’ve just joined BITE Collective and I’m excited to be part of their roster. Having compiled together such a great team who are all experts in the food world is wonderful and I’m looking forward to exploring the connections they have and to creating some great work together.