Ross Allen: “Filmmaking Is About Truth; Whether Specific or Universal”
Ross Allen has always been fascinated by stories. As a kid, he’d meander through sprawling summer afternoons in a woodland where he grew up in Norwich, England, defending his fortress made from twigs and leaves from his friends. As a self-confessed analog kid, Ross split his time between sports and the outdoors. In either case, the only limit to his fun was his imagination.
In one sense it was a childhood as typically happy as any other. But, scratch the surface, and Ross was already building up the mental muscles that have gone on to serve him so well as a filmmaker. The director, and co-founder of GOOD IDEA, possesses the uncanny ability to use his imagination not to create new worlds, but rather to expand the real one - grabbing something mundane and transforming it into something fascinating.
“Filmmaking to me is about the pursuit of truth - whether that be a specific truth or something more universal”, explains Ross. “It’s the only way to authentically connect with people. If we believe something isn’t true, we don’t tend to listen to it”.
It doesn’t take long looking through Ross’ back catalogue of work to discover that approach coming to fruition. Heartbeat of the Nation, a moving tribute to healthcare workers delivered during the dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic, is a standout example. The film portrays a simple and undeniable truth - that healthcare workers were the heartbeat of the nation and deserved our support - in a way that connects that truth to the real world and to the lived experiences of real people. It’s reality, but more.
It’s one example of Ross’ ability to shape a story which stays with the viewer after the credits roll, or the commercial ends. “I love tapping into something deep and self-reflective”, he says. “I find that helps to make even small ideas feel big”.
That ability is there, again, in his work for Audi e-tron. “The first Audi project actually came off the back of a documentary I’d filmed for the BBC, which took me around the Rocky Mountains shooting an EV for twelve days or so”, Ross recalls. “I ended up getting a call from Audi asking me if I could create something similar for them shooting across Vancouver Island. What I loved about this project was that I was truly able to shape the narrative”.
The ad casts the natural world as its main character, connecting the concept of driving an electric car with the idea of freeing nature. Again, it comes back to Ross’ knack for crafting films which show us something true - whether that be the real world, or the potential for a better future.
Reflecting on how he first discovered his love of film, Ross casts his mind back to the shelves of Blockbuster in the 90s. “As a kid, movies were entertainment rather than escapism. It was pure enjoyment, from action blockbusters to comedy”, he says. “But that changed in my teens. Crash, Seven, Fish Tank, and London To Brighton stand out. Those films helped me realise you can make a statement or societal observation - the whole notion of film and filmmaking opened up to me. I loved the idea of crafting something so true that it felt real”.
After all, if it feels real - what does it really matter if it isn’t?
It’s fascinating to hear Ross break down this idea and apply it to brand storytelling. “Filmmakers are like societal engineers. At their best, our ideas can change how people see the world - and certainly how they see brands”, he says. “Whether they want to admit it or not, people do build relationships with brands, and advertising is of course a huge part of that. When you break down how you connect with people in a way that really inspires them, I don’t think there’s any denying that ideas are the only way to be culturally relevant. They’re the lifeblood of how brands communicate”.
Looking back on the directors who have inspired him, Ross cites commercial directors such as Sam Brown and Ian Pons Jewell. “I just love Sam Brown’s artful, stylistic way that he builds a kind of hyper-reality in his work”, he says. “Recently, my girlfriend and I ended up having a kind of accidental and impromptu movie night just watching Ian Pons Jewell’s work on Vimeo. You can do that with those kinds of filmmakers - they have incredible visions of incredible truths. Their work has a universality to it which helps brands communicate in such a human way”.
Continuing on that thought, Ross explains how these ideas can help drive effectiveness for brands. “We’re talking about films that transcend brand and commercial but entertain, captivate and twist perspectives through craft”, he says. “When you can make the audience forget that they’re watching an ad, you have them exactly where you want them!”.
There’s a kind of beauty in Ross’ description of great brand communications - captivating and human stories told within a hyper-reality, like kids playing-make believe in a forest. Perhaps that’s how to make memories that last, and the connections or associations that build up to form a genuine connection to a brand.
“People sometimes talk about ads being this thing that gets in the way of entertainment or sport, but I’ve never bought that idea”, he continues. “If you ask someone what their favourite ad is, they’ll always have one. For me it’s probably some of Volvo’s films which really embedded that brand into culture. I can name two Volvo spots that bring me to tears “Song of the Open Road”, and “Moments”. For others, their favourite might be something that made them laugh. But everyone will always have an ad that makes a genuine connection with them”.
What’s striking about Ross is his framing of truth in the context of storytelling. For him, truth is less of something you understand, and more of something that you feel. It’s an approach that you can trace back to building dens in a forest, in a space where piles of twigs and leaves felt like impregnable fortresses. And, really, they might as well have been.
After all, that’s the power - and maybe even the purpose - of storytelling.
