The Essential List: Brian Williams
Now an internationally-acclaimed director helming films for the likes of Jose Cuervo, Virgin Media and Toyota, Brian Williams grew up watching Clint Eastwood and Marx Brothers films, devouring 2000AD comics and dressing up as a ringwraith from The Lord of the Rings (way before Peter Jackson made it cool) [check out fetching pick below]. He grew up to become a graphic designer and work with the band U2, first as a designer and then as a filmmaker.
He’s represented for commercials by Butter in Ireland, Bang in the UK and USA, El Colony in Eastern Europe and View-Finder in Germany.
With more than an inkling that he's a man of interesting tastes, we had to ask him for his Essential List.
Lifestyle
o Place of birth: Dublin, Ireland
o Hometown: Dublin
o Staycation: Dunmore East. Waterford
o Vacation: Rome. NYC. Copenhagen. Any remote beach in Asia
"This year's South East Asia
o Pet: None currently. But I was president of the Mongolian Gerbil Society as a kid, we had dogs, rabbits, budgies and they’d all come with us on holiday. So pets will feature again
o Place of work: Could be anywhere, anytime but in between, my home office. I’ve had many, this current one is my favourite because I installed many many plug sockets
o Place of workout: Run around the area wherever I am
o Mode of transport: Car, bike, Über line and the actual tube reluctantly
o Bonus Travel Essential: Too many! Packing and prepping is my dream hobby - I have to be prepared for any weather at any time and I have to bring a lot of kit. But for the extremes if I had to choose; hot weather: my Cool Towel by TechNiche.
"Some of my fave packing 1"
"Some of my fave packing 2"
o Cold weather: My USB heated jacket by Flexwarm
Culture
o Artist: Syd Mead
[Production Designer really, but he’s to blame for everything]
o Musician: Kraftwerk. Hammock
o Commercials / music video director: Damien Krisl
o Film director: Ridley Scott or Steven Spielberg or David Fincher or…
Photographer: One of his many talents but I love Danny Yount.
o Film: Blade Runner, Jaws, Alien, Them [original B&W], The Thing…
o Series: Mindhunter
o Commercial: Audi 'Bull'
o Music Video: Radiohead: Just. A little Kafkaesque masterpiece
o Video Game: Gears of War
o Board Game: Masterpiece, the art auction game! Yup, we’d play this as kids. No wonder people beat me up. The money looked so gorgeous!
o Book: The Swarm by Frank Schätzing
o Graphic Novel: Less a graphic novel but 2000AD. Lucozade and 2000AD when I was home sick from school. My poor mother had no idea what she was buying me. Way ahead of its time. None of that wimpy Marvel
o Podcast: David Attenborough's Life Stories. Better than the Calm App
o Newspaper (off or online): The Guardian because I like living in a Liberal Fantasy World
o Magazine: Wired
o Bonus Culture Essential: Artstation and Pinterest. But with Pinterest you have to unfriend all your friends. Otherwise its endless crappy hobbies
Food and Drink
o Breakfast: Eggs Benedict
o Restaurant: London: Charlotte’s Place Ealing Common W5. Sadly, it exploded recently. I’m gutted.
o Ireland: Strand Hotel, Dunmore East. Unexploded and still delicious
o Cheap bite: London: Santa Maria Pizza, Ealing. Dublin: Borza’s Chipper
o Working lunch: London: Charlotte Street Hotel.
Dublin: Delahunt on Camden St
o Dish: If it’s my death row meal, spaghetti bolognese
o Snack: Fiskemandens Karry Sild on Black break. [Curried Herring, it’s my Danish wife’s fault]
o Guilty Pleasure: All cake, any cake, especially ‘70s style iced cakes. Cut me in two and I’m Battenberg all the way
o Bar: Dublin: Keoghs or Hogans. London: Rose & Crown Ealing or Blind Pig Soho
o Booze: Whiskey & Ginger Ale. The perfect airline drink. Trust me, it’s the pressurisation or something but SO mellow
o Not Booze: Lemon & ginger tea with cinnamon
o Bonus Food: John Dory fish with hollandaise sauce
o Bonus Beverage: Dark & stormy
Kit
o Phone: iPhone of course but best phone ever was my silver Nokia E52
o Computer: Workhorse Mac Pro 2016 maxed out, MacBook Air [my favourite, so light, so brilliant]
o TV: Sony. Less concerned with stupid Ks and gimmicks more about accurate colour. Although my head has been turned recently by LG and Panasonic
o Headphones: Bose Quiet Comfort for flights
o Camera: Canon 5D MK IV, Sony A6300 with adaptors for AF – EF lenses
o Soundsystem: Everyday at my mac: Bose Companion 50 Multimedia Speaker System. Living room: KEF’s LS50 Wireless
o Pen / pencil: Uni Pin Drawing pen forever
o Where you document an idea: Apple Notes
o Casual Clothing: Carhartt T-shirt
o Smart Clothing: Carhartt shirt
o Footwear: Everyday: Adidas Originals ZX 750. Work: Salomon Snow Boots
o Watch: I love watches and I have many. But my favourites are my Luminox Sea Turtle or Casio Pro trek because it helps tell the temperature and I’m obsessed with knowing what temperature it is. All of the time
o App: FiLMiC Pro, Artemis Pro and the Pantone App
o Website: Pinterest. Remember, dump your friends. My inspiration page.
o Blog: Slash Film
o Work program: Adobe After Effects CC
o Digital work tool: Evernote
o Analogue work tool: Spiral Muji notebooks with the PVC pouch
o Morning grooming / makeup essential: Murine Red Eye drops for hangover or jet lag
o Bonus Kit Essential: Go Travel Quiet Zone Earplugs and multiple Locking Carabiners; attach any extra crap to my main Think Tank bag to get through security and many other uses!
o Things I should never have sold: My Roland SH-101
Bonus pictures of Brian on set!
