The Work That Made Me: Max Weiland
UK-based director Max Weiland grew up on set with his director father and began his career as an advertising agency creative at Fallon London and 18 Feet & Rising before becoming a director. As a commercial filmmaker, he is known for creating conceptually exciting ideas that stick. Throughout his work, anarchic worlds are devised around characters full of human charm, leading audiences to connect with his films immediately.
His first short film, 'An Arm’s Length,' premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and won Max a Cannes Lions for Best New Director. Max was nominated for a VMA for Best New Director for directing the first music video for Elton John’s iconic song, 'Tiny Dancer.' He has also made artfully enigmatic music videos for artists The Vaccines and Rejje Snow. Max’s commercial repertoire includes campaigns for top brands like McDonald’s, Samsung, Miller Lite, Smirnoff, BBC, Chase Bank, and a Super Bowl commercial for Google.
The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Max> Still can’t eat a Jaffa Cake without doing the ‘Full moon! Half moon! Total eclipse!’
The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Max> My dad was a copywriter at CDP and then a director. He is entirely the reason I do what I do. He used to bring his ads home on VHS to show us: The Guardian’s ‘Points of View,’ ‘The Water in Mallorca,’ and those Cinzano ads with Joan Collins and Leonard Rossiter. But my all-time favourite was his Hamlet Cigar commercials. The simplicity, the irreverence, the Britishness, that endline! To me, that whole campaign was advertising perfection.
The creative work that I keep revisiting…
Max> Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth. It’s totally outrageous.
My first professional project…
Max> I made a short film called ‘An Arm’s Length,’ which was a surreal dark comedy about a Jewish mother who never cut her son’s umbilical cord. It premiered at SXSW and won Best New Director at Cannes.
The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Max> I don’t like to hate on anyone else’s work. I think what we do is so hard and comes with so many levels of approval that making anything is an achievement. However, I will say that I’m totally over anything with gimmicky transitions. Surely we can go back to good storytelling and good character development rather than these shots that go into someone’s eye and out their arsehole?
The piece of work that still makes me jealous…
Max> Tim Godsall’s Southern Comfort ad is a masterclass. Every detail - from the casting to the random dog, from the shoes to the shoulder drop, even the packshot, is absolute perfection. It just feels totally and utterly effortless. I think that’s our job as directors: to make work that feels effortless - simple films full of big characters, humanity, and joyous charm. I’m only ever jealous of the work that makes me actually feel something.
I have to mention Spike Jonze’s Weapon of Choice, too.
The creative project that changed my career…
Max> I worked with Elton John and YouTube to make a music video for Tiny Dancer. It’s such an iconic track and means so many things to so many different people, so it felt like a huge amount of pressure. We shot in LA; it was one of the hardest shoots I’ve ever had. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, but I still loved every second of it. This year at Glastonbury, Elton is in his final ever UK show and played the video on the big screen behind him. I was in the crowd, and it’s a moment I’ll never forget.
The work that I’m proudest of…
Max> I recently shot a Christmas commercial for the homeless charity Shelter. It was a massive labour of love and a real team effort. I’m so proud of the little film we pulled off.
I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…
Max> I was once in a Rachel Stevens music video. I was 14 years old and had to dance with her. I still cringe now thinking about it.
The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
Max> Daniel Wolfe and I are working on a contemporary reimagining of Action Man for TV. It’s an anarchic live-action comedy based on the original British toy. It’s a lot of fun.
