The Directors: Nick Stachurski

Director Nick Stachurski grew up outside of Ann Arbor, MI, spending many of his childhood and teenage days snowboarding and engulfing himself in the snowboard community and culture there. Nick was drawn to start filming his friends while snowboarding – and, captivated by the culture as filmmakers often are, Nick felt the pull to capture life as it was in its purest form. 

Because of this, Nick found filmmaking. Throughout high school, Nick started to film more than just his life on the hill, and eventually, he went off to Michigan State to study Business Marketing and Film. Stemming from a producing background, Nick is a very self-motivated director, with a passion for diving deep into story structure. His focus is discovering the raw elements of personal stories and finding ways to pull those emotions from story, to screen, to viewer. Often these stories deal with subjects of identity, family, personal growth and healing. His ability to find positive aspects in every person and situation is transparent in his style. He always finds a way to connect with any actor or real person, even in complex situations. Every story Nick touches brings honest human emotions to light in a cinematic presentation. When done properly, these stories provide an emotional journey that can help people through their own struggles. Fun Fact: Nick also turns into a little kid around any dog he meets.

Name: Nick Stachurski

Location: Detroit, MI 

Repped by/in: Equals MGMT (International), Hummingbird (US), Eightfold (Detroit)

Awards: YDA Shortlist (2x), Slamdance 2022, 1.4 Awards Gold for best Personal Project, 1.4 Award shortlist (2x) Best Short Portrait DocLA

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

Nick> There are so many things that get me excited immediately, usually just the puzzle logic of “how the hell are we going to do this?!” I’d say if there is one core thing that gets me super excited about a script, it’s when I can tell I’ll be able to mine an authentic, truthful performance. 

While certain visual styles, tonal risks, or just pure, energetic cleverness of wordplay can get my visual mind racing, what always impresses me the most is an un-preciousness from the agency and the client that allows us to tweak our narratives around our cast/talent.

This always results in positive pivots - like, we stumble on a magnetic actor who’s bringing another dimension to the role, why would we force that person into the existing constructs of our narrative? Let’s start shaping a new narrative with and around them. This has a compounding-creative effect, our actor is able to stop acting and just be in the moment, furthering the truth and authenticity of this performance. That’s the goal. 

But the other goal is to always leave the audience with an uplifting, pleasant feeling. I love getting to tell deeply emotional stories, and sometimes those are dramatic or incredibly sensitive narratives, but injecting humor or keeping the tonal needle squarely on positivity is very important to me. 

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

Nick> Maybe this is the wrong way of looking at it, but it’s the only way I know how to approach each project - my goal is to get the agency/client re-excited about their own idea. 

Usually, they’ve been mulling over a script for weeks or months and the truth is - I’m not here to reinvent the wheel. So on the call with the agency, I just want to hear what originally got them excited, and if they feel they’ve accomplished that with their scripts or if they’re still having sleepless nights trying to figure something out. 

Most of the time if they’re very happy with the creative, my goal with the treatment is to clearly lay out the process for plussing up their idea with some visual flair and emotional truths. But if they’re worried about certain elements, then my job for the treatment is really to lay out how I think we can solve those creative hurdles. 

Physically creating a treatment is a nebulous process - how I approach the finished presentation changes from project to project. Sometimes, brevity is king and I don’t want to muddle the potency of an agency’s creative with too many visuals or copy. Other times, it can be like a novel to get all of the stylistic and emotional ideas out.

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?

Nick> Oh, this is essential. If it’s a health ad, I kind of turn into an informal surveyor, I’ll ask my producer, coordinator, friends, wife, random people on the street, browse Reddit, read dense journals I don’t really understand - I’ll do anything to understand not only what the problem is, but how it emotionally and practically affects peoples’ lives. 

And sure, that makes sense for something specific like asthma, but I film a lot of car spots, and I need to know what exact demographic we’re after. Even a five-year difference in age range affects visual, stylistic, and tonal approaches. If it’s about the dependability of motor oil for vintage car enthusiasts, we need to make sure every minute detail of our cars and mechanical workshops is absolutely real, and we’re also going to have a more earnest, warm feeling. It’s those subtle differences that make the spots really resonate with our audience.

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

Nick> I have some long-winded answers, but this one is easy - producer. 

From inception to finished ad, having a producer who cares about making the best, most creative version is by far the most important working relationship.

There are a million insanely important fingerprints on each ad, and obviously I wouldn’t even be working if it weren’t for the brilliant ideas and incredible copy from the client/agency, but the one constant in things turning out great is a great producer. 

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?

Nick> I guess the one unifying thing for me would be stories that have a positive emotional outcome. Call me 'Disney-fied', but I do want people to feel good after watching any ad I’ve worked on.

And not to get too heady or philosophical, but I think there’s a subconscious, bonus factor when a spot has that undeniably positive emotional effect. The audience then can’t help but associate that feeling with the product or brand. 

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

Nick> You really flatter me that people might think about me or my work at all, so thank you. It’s not true, but I’ll take the compliment! 

But if people were to digest my oeuvre (always wanted to get to say that), they’d be digesting a lot of gasoline and motor oil… I do a ton of automotive work. I also shoot a lot of films with a naturalistic yet cinematic docu-style approach. It just feels authentic. 

So I guess there’s no misconception about my work, but as much as I love shooting sheet metal, and as much as I love working with that naturalistic edge, I’m just as enthusiastic about working in scripted, casted, and more formalist-styled spots. So long as we’re able to excavate natural performances, the style and energy that support those performances present exciting and fresh challenges for me as a filmmaker. 

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

Nick> I definitely have, and it can be helpful, but I’ll go back to the #1 key to my whole approach - my producer (I promise I’m not getting paid off by the Producer’s Guild).

Cost consultants are undoubtedly useful, but my producers are so critical to my process, they’ve presented budgets and approaches before I’ve even had a kick-off call with the agency. And after the kick-off call and ahead of a treatment, those same producers have usually done a great job reeling in some 'wilder' notions. 

LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve encountered during production – and how did you solve it?

Nick> I’d say if I can lend any actionable advice, it’s less about a specific problem and more about fixing problems. 

Say a location or actor drops out. It’s not going to miraculously fix itself, so instead of going into a tantrum or going to crafty to eat your feelings away, I desperately try to use that same toxic, manic energy in problem-solving. Your emotions are SO heightened in these moments, it almost feels like 'Limitless' in how quick and fast your brain can move in finding a solution.

So, don’t get angry at the problem, use that weird energy in creative problem-solving.

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

Nick> The main job I’m here to do is to get the agency re-excited in their own idea they’ve spent weeks, months, or even years iterating on. 

Trying to get the best visual language for the existing idea rather than reinvent the wheel. They decide what cake we’re baking, I’m here to compliment it with the best frosting and - decide how to bake it and what frosting and sprinkles to put on top. 

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?

Nick> My thoughts are on both are a RESOUNDING YES! Please reach out to me! 

And to elaborate a bit, it’s essential, industry-wide, in opening up production to more diverse talent. But it’s also essential that this isn’t something like a quota or corporate mandate. I mean, if that’s what it takes to get more diversity - fair enough - but we need to be telling stories of every form of diversity. Stories that are real, and really matter. And through telling diverse, real, impactful stories, there’s a self-perpetuating and growing momentum to casting more diverse actors, giving a platform to diverse storytellers, and getting just plain better, more interesting, more impactful stories. Everyone wins.

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)? 

Nick> I’m not that old, but I’ve been working in advertisements long enough to see 15 second ads become the new 30’s, 9’s become the new 15’s, and now 6 second videos are part of pretty much every campaign.

I actually love getting to think through multiple aspect ratios, but I really, really, really appreciate it being a decision prior to bidding. When it’s an afterthought and it’s cobbled together in the edit, that breaks my heart. But when we can design shots and sequences to be center-framed, that opens up a whole, new, sometimes exponentially larger life for each spot to live on TikTok, Reels, or Shorts. 

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)?

Nick> I’m not super tech-y, but I work with people who are. If my DP is jazzed about a new image sensor, I’ll be happy to share in that excitement. But for me, it all falls back onto emotion and story. Writing is very tough for me, but even I seem to still have a leg up on Chat GPT. 

Having said that, I worked with a concept artist who used Midjourney on a project recently. We couldn’t find just the right picture, and it definitely delivered a great representation of what I was thinking. But there was still an artist using Midjourney as a tool - I hope that’s how everyone moves forward with this tech. The other reality is kinda bleak and very, very boring.

LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why? (Please upload 4 videos to your company archive).

Ipseity

This piece really speaks volumes to the type of storytelling I would love to do more of. Outside of creating an amazing piece, the relationship and trust I built with Marisa along the way is something I will cherish well beyond the lifespan of the actual film. Also being able to capture such an amazing bond between a mother and son on 16mm film was such a personal experience. Many of the shots in this film were “one take wonders”. 

Pennzoil

From an advertising standpoint I loved this project due to the fact the focus was working with real people from the start. There were many hurdles we had to face but I love the emotion behind this campaign and the fact I still got to shoot running footage with some high performance vehicles. 

Speed

This is another film that really captures the type of stories I’d love to share. Seeing Speed's passion for helping horses was something that needed to be told. In this scenario I was fortunate to have the opportunity to share his story on 16mm film. 

Pepsi - 313 Day

This is another piece I was able to capture on 16mm film as well. Having the trust from a major brand to shoot on celluloid is a rare thing in this digital world. Being able to share the rich and powerful history of Detroit through the voices of OG Detroiters was once in a lifetime opportunity.