The Directors: Tim Wilkime

Tim currently directs pretapes for Saturday Night Live. He’s previously worked on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Late Show with James Corden and Adam Ruins Everything.. 

In 2019, his short film 'Milton' premiered at SXSW and won the Vimeo Staff Pick Award. He once campaigned really hard to direct a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial and made a documentary about the experience: Tim Wilkerson to direct a Kentucky fried chicken commercial: The Way I Saw It (his last name used to be Wilkerson but when he got married, he felt entitled to his wife’s last name so now it’s Wilkime).

Name: Tim Wilkime

Location: New York City

Repped by/in: Ruckus Films

Awards: 2023 PROMAX Awards Best Social Media Promotion Video, 2019 SXSW Vimeo Staff Pick Award 

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

Tim> There has to be an aspect to the script that you know will translate into something memorable. Whether it’s a specific performance, an outrageous stunt, eye candy production design, or sometimes it’s just a solid punchline. If I can tell a script has one of these qualities, I know it’s something worth pursuing.

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

Tim> Recently, I’ve been making animatics before starting my treatment. I’ll create digital storyboards, record all the dialogue, edit it together, find music, and sound design it. I come from an editing background, and it’s proven a helpful tool that informs what I want to focus on in the treatment. You learn what’s working with a script and what needs improvement. Sometimes I’ll even show it to clients to make my case for any changes or to just get them excited.

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?

Tim> Knowing the brand on a base level is certainly important in deciding if I want to take the job. I’m not shy to turn down a project if I don’t believe in the brand/product, even if the spot is good. As far as needing to understand the brand's strategy, I usually don’t engage with it unless I feel it’s essential to the story we’re telling.

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

Tim> It depends on what stage of the creative process I’m in. In pre-production, my collaboration with the agency team is king. In production, it’s all about the crew as they make these big, ambitious ideas possible within the time we’re given (which is usually not a lot). Then in post, your relationship with your editor brings all the pieces together and makes the spot work. So everyone!

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?

Tim> I love comedy that escalates to absurd levels. Also, having grown up on '80s and '90s blockbusters, I jump at the opportunity to make things feel cinematic: high-concept ideas, big stakes, hyper-visual, complex blocking, sweeping scores, and stunts!

 

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

Tim> Working at Saturday Night Live, the usual misconception is that folks think we have a week or more to make the pretape sketches for the show. But really, from assignment through prep, shoot, edit, and air, it’s about 72 hours, and that usually includes building a new set every week as we mainly shoot on stage.

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

Tim> I was directing a short film about a family having a sad hangout on a boat towed into a parking lot. We got permission from a boat owner to shoot with their boat, and they also said we could use the marina parking lot. As we started shooting, marina security arrived and told us they were not aware of our production and would not allow us to film in their parking lot. It was a pretty defeating feeling as this was a passion project that myself, the lead actor, and the producer were funding. After pleading and negotiating with security, they let us film in their run-down boatyard. This ended up being even better for our story. It just required some on-the-fly rewriting of the script and a slight delay to our schedule, which we could make up by simplifying our shooting plan.

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

Tim> You strike that balance by hearing everyone out but ultimately trusting your instincts that landed you the job in the first place. If a great idea is suggested, amazing, you roll with it, thank them, and share in the glory. But if not, you must respectfully and clearly explain why that idea isn’t right for the piece. It’s all diplomacy.

 

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?

Tim> Anyone who doesn’t welcome more underrepresented voices in front and behind the camera should have their head checked. As a white dude lucky enough to make a living in this career, mentoring folks and letting them shadow is the least I can do. 

LBB> How do you feel the pandemic is going to influence the way you work into the longer term? Have you picked up new habits that you feel will stick around for a long time? 

Tim> Prepping more from home and over Zoom calls has proven to be just as effective as in-person, but it gives you a bit more time to rest and, in my case, spend more time with my recently welcomed new born, which has been great!

 

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)? 

Tim> The biggest thing I’m always looking out for is the frame sizes in which the spot will be released. The last thing I want is a joke that lands in a well-framed 2-shot to die in the vertical social release because the skinny frame cuts off an actor or gag. So I always double confirm with the agency to ensure there are no additional formats than what’s mentioned in the deliverables.

 

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

Tim> These are my four favourite recent pieces that show off a range of styles and tones that speak to my interests as a filmmaker and a viewer.

Brendan Gleeson

Wing Pit

T-Mobile

Milton