Hamlet
Mon, 06 Feb 2023 12:06:00 GMT
Tucker Bliss is a director. New York born, New York based. Characterised by his unique ability to tell relatable human stories, with a little wink.
He has made his name in commercials and short films winning awards at Cannes, Young Guns and The One Show to name a few. His short film, ‘Monster Factory’, showed at Tribeca and SXSW and is currently in series production at AppleTV+. His background includes studying cinematography at Boston University and creative directing at SpecialGuest, a boutique agency in NY/LA, working with Google, Facebook, Apple and some of the other big ones. He is not a serious person, and doesn’t take anything too seriously. He just wants to make you laugh or cry or both. He is represented by Reset in the US and Soft Citizen in CA.
Name: Tucker Bliss
Location: NYC, NY
Repped by/in: RESET in USA/UK/Amsterdam, Soft Citizen in Canada, Hamlet FR/CN/Belgium
Tucker> My ears always perk up when I hear cheeky or charming in a brief. I love an opportunity to be a little playful in any genre. Even in more humanistic, authentic pieces I always try to put a few funny-cuz-it's-true-isms in wherever I can. So I suppose I get most excited about scripts that are open to humour through authenticity.
Tucker> Well first I read the script…can’t forget that. Then I usually find a tone through music that feels right for that initial read. I’ll create a playlist on Spotify (God bless the Spotify algorithm for finding more tracks in the same realm). Then with that music, it usually informs my tone and feeling while I write. I start with the style first based on that initial gut feeling, then I'll tackle the script. With the script I usually do some subtle re-arrangements of the brief, and add bits of recognisable humour where I can. I find it most important to envision the version of the script I’d be most excited to make.
Tucker> I like to do my research before the briefing call, what they’ve done in the past, what was the last campaign, did they love it? Hate it? Also I think it’s huge to have some interest and ideas for that initial call, everyone worked their asses off for months on that initial brief, so the least I can do is come up with some thoughts to see what direction we can push that initial vision in. I’d say for me the brand is less important than current strategy and tone, as those are what can change on a dime.
Tucker> This is hard…I think with ads we’re in an obvious visual medium, so my first thought would be to say the DOP or set designer. I think that’s a tie honestly. Don’t make me choose. But, I also need to give a shout out to the line producer. They’re the backbone, and if you have a bad one, the whole skeleton is loose and wobbly. Three way tie.
Tucker> I like to explore genre, and straddle styles. To me I’m most attracted to little stories, dialogue and pieces that feel like micro movies. Tonally and stylistically though, I try to live in the valley between cinematic and comedic. I find that a lot of folks do one or the other, and I love to make people smile in a world that looks like a film.
Tucker> Forever I was stuck in the doc-style world. I could not get out for the life of me. It was one of those things when I was starting out we had no money and no reel, so those were the jobs you could get. Then a few years later, because that’s all you could make, that’s all you were known for making. So I had to write myself out of that hole by creative directing and narrative work, writing scripts I could then direct in the realm I wanted to be in.
Tucker> Not directly, but on just about every job. Sometimes it’s been fine, other times we lost some equipment/crew that seemed pretty essential to doing a good job. But as always with filmmaking, we problem solve and we manage.
Tucker> I was on a road-trip job in the backwoods of Pennsylvania for a University I shall not name the week before covid hit. We were off the grid so had no idea what was happening. Our crew started dropping like flies, and we just kept on going. It was pandemonium, we had no AD, so our EP had to step in and AD (luckily that was his background) but we ended up in Philly, had our lunch break at a Whole Foods, and looked around and it was truly like the film Contagion. No food, masks, running, panicked everyone. We pulled the plug and drove like 90 mph back to NY on completely empty roads. I’m not sure we solved it…the edit turned out fine though.
Tucker> I think it's important to realise that we are all making something together and we all want it to be the best it can be. I’m not making my magnum opus feature film, but I am trying my hardest to make what I think is the best version of what I was pitched. I like to be opinionated and have a clear purpose. I find that things are much easier to defend and fight for if the reason is really simple to understand. Versus fighting for something because it is cool or looks good. I’m a big fan of reason and storytelling with purpose, so I think that gives clients and agencies a chance to be a part of understanding the process at a deeper level so we brainstorm together, collaborate and protect the idea as a team.
Tucker> It’s been amazing to see the production world making efforts to be more inclusive, with crews, cast, etc. Obviously it can go farther, and should, so apprenticeships and mentoring is an incredible way to get some exposure to the world of production. Especially for younger kids and students who might not have access or knowledge that production is even a job possibility. As soon as you step on set, it’s like this crazy magical weird world, and it’s so so cool to bring folks into that, who can now see it as not only an incredible place to be, but a viable and lucrative career. I’m always looking for more mentees and apprentices, so feel free to email me!
Tucker> Yes I think it’s changed the casting the most. The way we cast, who we cast, etc. Virtual call backs and self tapes have been a godsend. But I think most of all, casting changed how we find people. I’ve been working with a lot of families and friends of actors since the pandemic. If we need a group of friends for a scene, it’s been so amazing to cast a single actor, then have them cast their own friend group. Change the direction “act like you’re having fun with your friends” to “have fun with your friends…” it’s just real.
Tucker> Thank God for the higher K’s. I love to shoot widescreen, and cropping anamorphic for 9:16 was just about impossible in the olden days. Now we have the Venice, Alexa 35, and LF, plus a slew of 35mm cam options with 4-8k scans, it’s much easier to get all formats in one. Nothing needs to be lower priority, we just focus on the storytelling, and technology can sort out the rest.
Tucker> We’ve been exploring a bit, but the world is still fresh and developing. I’ve done virtual production, and it’s cool for certain things, but I still find that unless you need to shoot somewhere impossible, or have insane Star Wars sets in space, it’s just more fun to be on location. But we shall see where it goes, I'm open to evolution.
Tucker> I feel like these films teeter that line of charming, yet cinematic. After I wrote and directed the Keynote film for the Google Pixel 6, a good deal of my jobs coming in have taken that tonal shift into a sort of relatably-charming-script-based storytelling style, versus mostly vignette work. I totally enjoy doing both, but when there is a narrative arc and a reason for everything happening on screen, I find my job to be so much fun. It’s just like making a little film,that comes with its own really exciting challenges.
view more - The DirectorsHamlet, Mon, 06 Feb 2023 12:06:00 GMT