The Directors: Harrison Boyce

Harrison is a director and the co-founder of production company Group Thrpy. A visual storyteller, Harrison redefines cinematic, intimate, and impactful stories. As a former BMX athlete who started out in the graphic design world, Harrison worked his way into directing by creating series and branded content hits. As a director, Harrison has gone on to concept and deliver high-profile projects for a variety of clients and agencies and for many sought-after brands such as Rimowa, New Balance, LVMH, Ferrari, and Aimé Leon Dore. Harrison recently published his first photography book with Rizzoli and continues to work with some of the industry’s highest-regarded editorial outlets, collaborating with next-generation creatives, musicians, and athletes.

Name: Harrison Boyce

Location: New York

Repped by/in: Group Thrpy

Awards: NYC Emmy ('It’s Time for NYC' for NYC via Punch Projects)

LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them? 

Harrison> A handful of different things, really. I love human stories. I love stories that capture people in their natural environments simply doing the things that they’re good at. These are the first elements that draw me in. At the same time, I’m very open to trying new things and collaborating on work that might be out of my typical wheelhouse. Ultimately, anything with a strong story and human connection, regardless of the scenario and place, is what I seek out.   

LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?

Harrison> I don’t have a standard way of approaching treatments. Sometimes I dive right into research, usually starting with my existing image library. I waste hours looking through images I’ve seen 1,000 times. LOL. I love to source and reference images though. I used to keep everything super organised, by category, but now I just organise by year, creating these massive folders with all types of images in them. I think it’s better when looking at images, to have a broader range to look at. Even if something might not be exactly related to the project at hand, it could spark an idea that you might not have thought of if you were just looking at images directly related. 

Other times, I feel like I shouldn’t look at images and let my mind do the work. I feel like it was George Lois who said you should never look at other work when thinking of new ideas. This is hard for me, but something I’m trying to do more and more.

When it comes to putting treatments together, I like to do as much of the treatment myself as possible, but, often with my schedule, I work with a support team. Even when I do work with designers and writers, I usually take over on the final days, making sure what’s in my mind has made it onto the pages and that the treatment feels like me.

It’s been my experience that no matter how much you verbally articulate your thoughts, the process of putting ideas onto the page works best when I'm hands-on. I’m always extremely proud when I finish a strong treatment because I really care about the job and the process. I want the agency and brand to be able to quickly scroll through and get a very clear idea of the style, vibe, and direction that I'm headed in. I want them to really feel the story and for the flow to take them on a journey through the creative process that's in my mind. 

It's also quite fun to come back to the treatment after you’ve finished a job and see how close you ended up to the original concept. I feel like more often than not when you do a good job, it really reflects the treatment in the end result. I think the two are really tied together. 

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?

Harrison> I one hundred percent want to know what the brand is, what they're about, and their history. First and foremost, I want to make sure that I'm comfortable with who they are and what they do, to ensure that they align with my values. Second to that, from a creative standpoint, I simply love to learn about brands, their stories, and their customers. The more I know about them the better job I can do. As a commercial director, I think as much as we want to think that our sole purpose is to create narrative stories, we’re still advertising and ultimately selling something. 

For me, thinking about the sales angle and what is going to connect with the brand’s customers is valuable. In order to do this, you have to understand who their customer is, how they look at content and media, and where they're going to be seeing your work. Lastly, I like to look at what they've done in the past and figure out how I can come in and bring something new to the table. As much fun as it is to create straight-up art, I think creating successful commercial content is also a great challenge and a true achievement when you do it right. 

LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?

Harrison> It’s the relationship that I have as a director to the information. To me, that's crucial to create something good. To have clarity on the reason for the ad to exist and why everybody's there is vital. The more you understand, the better you create. As the director, I need to be able to articulate my goals and my vision to my crew and the people that are working with me. This is imperative for them to do their job well and for all of us to work together as a team. From the PAs to the EPs, when everyone understands what and why we're doing what we’re doing, everyone’s excited to work hard for the ultimate result.

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?

Harrison> It’s taken me a long time to figure this out, but the more I think and talk about it, I keep landing on travel and luxury. For me, these genres allow me to explore visually and emotionally. I love to understand and appreciate the emotional connection people have to brands, and how the human experience is positively amplified by travel and high-quality products made with intention and a beautiful aesthetic. I enjoy brand heritage and creating a story and look that conveys an ethos. I’m a brand loyalist, and sometimes get obsessed (on a personal level) with specific brands and their stories. A compelling reason for existing, design, and quality are very important to me in every aspect of my life. 

But having said that, I do love doing a broad range of work. It keeps my job entertaining and I love the different experiences you end up having on each job. When it comes down to it, another aspect that I really love is working with talented people and bringing interesting stories to life in my unique way. From athletes to artists, highlighting their skills and abilities brings me a lot of joy. Since I have a background in sports, and I’ve been on the other side of the lens when I was younger, I have a deep understanding of how to collaborate with talent. By asking them the right questions to really understand why they do what they do, I end up learning as a director. There are a lot of missed opportunities when you aren’t willing to ask questions and go deeper. I love learning new things above all - that's why I wake up every day. 

LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?

Harrison> I don't really know if I encounter any misconceptions about my work. Some people may be surprised at my actual budgets and timelines, because I strive to elevate even the most logistically challenging projects.  

LBB> Have you ever worked with a cost consultant and if so how have your experiences been?

Harrison> We've bid on jobs at Group Thrpy that have had cost consultants looking at the bids on the production side, but I haven’t personally worked with them. I tend to let my production team handle them and I stay focused on making the best work possible.

LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?

Harrison> I was on a travel job for Marriott that shot in 15 countries across 53 days. It was an incredible job with a very small, nimble crew. We were traveling with our own camera equipment and we'd pick up local production support in each of the countries we shot in. When we arrived in Egypt, they would not permit us to bring our gear into the country. 

At first, we thought that we’d have to fly someone in to take our gear to our next stop in the Maldives because they wouldn’t let us leave the airport with it. Our local producer in Egypt ended up having a connection at the local airport customs office, and they ultimately agreed to let us store our gear at the airport. They taped it all up, wrote all over it, zip-tied all of it closed, and then it was placed in the lost luggage room, so it wasn't even secured. We had a small drone with us, and the authorities put a sticker on it that said ‘weapon.’ We had to roll the dice, trust the system, and hope for the best when we returned.

Our local producer and local crew had gear, so we used that and it ended up being one of the most incredible trips I've ever been on - we shot on the pyramids, rode camels, ate incredible food, and had an amazing experience. Then we grabbed our gear in the airport on our way back out and headed on to the next stop. 

LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?

Harrison> Being able to communicate my ideas and the reason behind my decisions to the client and the agency in a clear way is imperative. It also comes down to understanding their goals, what they're trying to get out of the project, and being on the same page. I love collaboration and the back-and-forth of asking questions and gaining insight. What's the reason for the creative and how can I bring that to life in the best possible way? I base every decision that I make on whether or not it will serve the creative. 

I know that the creative is often worked on for months and months before I ever see it, and there are reasons behind every choice that has been sent to me. So, understanding the creative process on the agency and client-side is important for me to collaborate with them in a good way. I also love productive feedback and critique that works toward making the work as good as it possibly can be.

LBB> What are your thoughts on opening up the production world to a more diverse pool of talent? 

Harrison> I think it should have always been open to a diverse pool of talent. I'm a firm believer in diversity and inclusion. I think there are a lot of incredibly talented people out there and everybody should have a fair chance at getting to do great work. Nobody should be prohibited from doing that based on their background. I do believe that diversification is extremely important and we as a company do everything that we can to diversify our sets and our call sheets. 

LBB> Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?

Harrison> Absolutely. The importance of exposing a broader demographic to creative work, the opportunities that exist, and the professional careers that you can have in production and creative work in general are extremely important at a very young age. The more we bring in younger kids and mentor them, it will help to diversify the production and creative world to better reflect our actual world. 

I was a white kid who grew up in the suburbs of Kirkland, Washington, and at a pretty young age, I understood that there was a way to make a living as a creative person. This is because I saw it through my upbringing. A lot of kids don't have that information at a young age. They don't know that these things are possible, they don’t have a support system around bringing their ideas to life, and they don't have places to go to express their creativity. 

When Shelby Ross and I founded Group Thrpy, we launched a mentorship program to create opportunities for underrepresented talent. We support and mentor new and experienced creators alike, at any stage in their careers. We hope to provide a positive environment for them to feel comfortable to express themselves and explore their creativity. 

LBB> (Since the pandemic) Have you picked up new habits that you feel will stick around for a long time? 

Harrison> I don’t know if it specifically has to do with the pandemic, but I love learning and the older I get the more I read. My recent obsession has been this deep dive into impressionist painting and composition. I’ve been reading a lot about Edgar Degas and was initially drawn to him because of the way he captures everyday moments. Almost like a street photographer. The way he composes a frame and creates stories in his paintings is something that I really appreciate and love.

In turn, this has really inspired me to look at painting more broadly and to study it in a different way. From a framing standpoint, composition-wise, I've been leaning more toward artists and painters for inspiration, even for treatments. It's been creatively fulfilling and I've been learning a lot. I read about various painters’ lives and backgrounds to understand how they progressed while doing their own thing. 

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)? 

Harrison> It’s a big challenge that commercial directors face. It's tough to scale and frame for TV and social platforms at the same time. In addition, the attention spans and the way people are consuming media on these various channels are quite different. On socials, we want to grab attention quickly and show everything right away. If you have a spot on TV for the Super Bowl, you have a bit more time to tell a story. 

Regardless, each challenge that we're faced with should be looked at in a positive way. When we have one aspect ratio to focus on, it's such a joy to really lean into that and compose the most beautiful frames possible. 

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)?

Harrison> I’ve done a few VR projects, but I haven't done any interactive storytelling yet. I've used AI a bit in treatments, but I still feel like it hasn't affected me as a creative in a very drastic way. I always like to stay up on new tech and I like to experiment with it. It's important to know what's going on and be in the loop on where things are headed and how things are moving. It's not something that is at the very top of my passion list, so I’ve been lightly dabbling in it and playing around. 

LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why? 

Harrison> Aimé Leon Dore x Porsche SC

This was an early post-Covid project that was intense and extremely rewarding. A lot of really great friends and talented collaborators came together on it. The initial thought was to shoot the Porsche in Greece because that's where the inspiration for the car itself came from. A classic Porsche in a Greek village with a Greek fisherman driving it. After trying extremely hard to figure it all out, we couldn't do it because of travel restrictions. So we made California feel like the Mediterranean and I couldn't be more proud of how it turned out. I really enjoy filming cars being driven hard because I'm a huge car fan and I love driving. It was a great project. 

Rimowa x Kylian Mbappé

This luxury luggage brand is known for creating really interesting work and I’ve wanted to collaborate with them for a long time. I'm very proud and excited to have this project out in the world. It was shot at the Philharmonic in Paris, a cool architectural space, and the shoot went very smoothly, even though we had limited time with Mbappé. He came straight to the set from practice. 

Working with big talent you have to be very buttoned up from a directing standpoint and a production standpoint, and your day has to run smoothly. That means really fleshing out the creative ahead of time and having very clear storyboards and a lot of conversations with the agency and client. 

We captured Mbappé as he spent time with actual kids from his charity. The joy that he had being on set with those kids hopefully comes through in the film. 

Belmond Maroma x Curtis Stone

A few weeks after shooting Mbappé for Rimowa with 110 people on the call sheet, I headed to Mexico with Group Thrpy EP Min Soo Kim, one of my main collaborators, Production Designer Rebekka Fella, and my brother Hamilton Boyce. Our small crew of four spent a week at the new Belmond property in the Riviera Maya working on a series of short documentaries. The second two are still in post, but the first film with Chef Curtis Stone has been released, and what a fun project this has been. Curtis has an open fire kitchen on the property and our story with him revolved around his journey as a chef and his love for cooking over an open fire. We got to spend the day watching him cook and getting to eat some amazing food. As soon as I got home I got a new charcoal grill and have been cooking a lot more over the open flame. I was definitely inspired!

My ongoing collaboration with ALD

Ongoing relationships with clients are something I’ve always strived for. My first long-term collaboration was with Nigel Sylvester and through his friendship, I connected with Teddy Santis, the owner of Aimé Leon Dore. We’ve been working together since 2018 and it’s been incredible to be a part of the journey of his brand’s growth. Teddy is one of the hardest-working people I know and he has extreme clarity. I’m very proud of the work we’ve created over the years and it’s been a very interesting experience to be so close to so many of the creative decisions. It’s been a learning lesson in the balancing act between commerce and art. The brand obviously has a very strong aesthetic that we’ve worked very hard to bring to life, but unlike many bigger commercial jobs, I’ve been able to work directly with the brand all the way through each project and have an understanding of why specific decisions are made and how they affect engagement/commerce/sales. The Porsche collaboration I talked about earlier is one of my favourites, but other than that, the overall body of work is something I’m super proud of. Even beyond the work itself, the memories we’ve made while creating the work will last a lifetime.