Action-Packed and Dynamic: The Art of Directing Sports Ads
Depending on which part of the world you have spent the past three months in, we've been treated to an undeniably action-packed summer or winter of sports. It all kicked off with the European Championship and Copa America to satisfy the football/soccer needs of three entire continents. That was followed by the entire world convening in Paris for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
According to Jungle, a directing duo at Park Pictures, the art and the grind of directing commercials shares a striking resemblance to endurance sports. "It’s a continuous process of preparation and persistence, always staying ready until the next project arrives," they say. "When it arrives, it’s like stepping into the game."
And in today’s fast-paced world, that game unfolds quickly. The final outcome often reflects everything that a filmmaking team or athlete has been absorbing and thinking about. Depending on the project, the preparation and shoot can be an intense period of sleep deprivation, high pressure, and a relentless need to stay physically and mentally sharp. "It demands an uncompromising will to succeed but also the ability to be in the moment and improvise when needed.
"It’s akin to a triathlon, where you must embrace the challenge," add Jungle. "It’s about perseverance, endurance, creativity, and the thrill of pushing yourself to the limit. We believe this is a craft for those who thrive on the rush of doing, pushing boundaries, and of enduring the process to create something you are proud of."
And this, they say, is what makes it truly fascinating. "The shared challenges and ‘suffering in the trenches’ forge invaluable personal connections and a powerful sense of camaraderie as we work together towards a common goal. In a way, we are creative athletes."
With all of that in mind, LBB's Addison Capper tapped the expertise of eight directing entities for a deep dive on what it takes to make engaging sports advertising that resonates with relevant audiences.
Initial Approaches
Ryan Booth, director at division7
“I tend to approach sports focused commercials in the same way that I approach any documentary or music focused film in which my main talent isn’t a professional actor. I spend a great deal of time helping define the creative boundaries for what I’m asking of my talent. Directing anything is actually an indirect artform. And nowhere is this more clear than sports work. To use a sports metaphor – directing is a bit like shooting a bank shot. Aim for the right spot on the backboard and you’ll have an excellent chance of making the basket. Meaning – as the director – I’m not the one building the sets, I’m typically not the one operating the camera, I’m not the one saying the lines, and I’m not the one cutting the scenes together. I’m shooting bank shots. Find the right people, build the box, and then set everyone loose to be creative within those particular parameters. So – for sports work it’s often about designing a process, a playground, for our athletes to do what they do best. To perform, to prepare, to be themselves, to forget about the camera for the briefest of moments.
“There might be some specific choreography required, but everything is in service of an authentic expression of what the athlete does best. I feel like sports work starts to veer into the danger zone when you’re asking athletes – often some of the best in the world at what they do – to do something that is outside of their areas of expertise. I spend a lot of my time working with agencies and clients to help construct the box that – no matter how our athletes bounce around inside of it – will lead us to an authentic, interesting film that plays to the strengths of the athletes we’re putting in front of the camera.”
Nike - Joga Pra Sempre - Brazil Women's National Football Team
Director: Sarah Chatfield
Sarah Chatfield, director at Station Film
“When I dive into a sports commercial project, the first thing I do is become a student of the game. I need to understand the sport inside and out. It's not just about knowing the rules; it's about feeling the rhythm, the intensity, and the passion. I study the history, the iconic moments, and the people who make the sport what it is.
“Next, I focus on the fans. Who are they? What makes them tick? What are their hopes, dreams and frustrations? Understanding the audience is just as important as understanding the sport. I want to know what language they speak, what their cultural touchstones are, and what will truly resonate with them.
“Building relationships with athletes and teams is crucial. They're the heart and soul of the sport. I collaborate closely with them to capture their authentic personalities and translate their stories into compelling visuals.
“Only then can I start to shape the creative concept into a bold, memorable audio-visual experience. By immersing myself in the world of the sport and its fans, I'm able to develop ideas that are not just entertaining but genuinely connect with people on an emotional level.”
Michael Kuhn, part of The Hudson Dusters at Greenpoint Pictures
“We have been honing our style of filmmaking really from the beginning. If you go back to the early days of our sports work, there is still a piece of it that you can see and feel today. Only back then, it was just the two of us, and if we were lucky, a sound person and a PA. But the technique was still there: try to make something that really relates to the audience and, at the same time, throw in some style that feels different from the rest. That still is our motto today. On any project, sports or not, we want to find an angle that feels a little different than what’s out there. But with sports, we tend to lean into the gritty side of it because every sport is badass, cinematic, and really hard to do at such a high level. We want to push that emotional feeling.”
NFL - We Run as One
Director: The Hudson Dusters
Walker Higgins, director at CLICKON
“The first thing that I think about when directing a piece on sports is authenticity and honesty. An audience can smell bullshit from a mile away. So when directing sports it’s not just about fast cuts or crazy shots (although you absolutely need those) - it’s about effort. Grinding for gold.
“We watch sports to witness people who have mastered a physical craft push themselves beyond what even they think is possible. We’re tuning in to witness miracles, moments of brilliance, and sweat. Triumphs look better when they’re earned. And so when creating a high intensity piece of commercial sports content, the people in the piece had better be really getting after it and working hard (or at least be damn good actors).
“In this way, I think that imperfection is OK to show. It’s not about the cleanest point, it’s about the point that’s scored against the odds, the weight that’s lifted when it seems like you’ve got nothing left, the goal that’s miraculously saved.”
Cutting It Fine with Time
Jordan Bahat, director at Golden LA
“Working around athletes’ availability definitely needs to be a huge part of the prep process. You don’t want to experiment and improvise when you’ve got an athlete for a narrow window and perhaps their nervous agents and handlers agitating on the sidelines. Typically, that means drawing up a precise and achievable plan and rehearsing things to a fine point with the crew and doubles, so you just need to drop the athlete into the shots you’ve designed. The athletes themselves are used to being instructed by coaches – so the repetitious process of the shoot isn’t new to them. I just try to be super clear with what I'm after and what I’d like to work on with them – and if possible, I try to get their buy-in on creative ideas. In reality, many of our pro athletes have spent as much or more time on set as we have.
“When it comes to the sporting elements, top athletes make your job very easy (as long as the shot is in focus). Though with more character-performance bits, it’s super personal whether a pro feels comfortable trying out ideas that may be outside of their persona. Techniques (and results) may vary there…
“One thing I have learned the hard way is never telling an athlete you just need one last take unless it is indeed the last one.”
Body Armor - One More
Director: Jordan Bahat
Sarah Chatfield, director at Station Film
“The most challenging part of working in the world of sport is the limited time you get to spend with celebrity athletes. Now that I’ve been doing this for some years, I have developed methods to quickly put them at ease as soon as they walk on to set. Creating something of a bubble around the two of us to shut out the rest of the noise of the shoot and all the distractions as much as possible. This way I can help them dig deep and bring forth the best possible performance, helping to tell whatever story we are telling in the most raw and honest way possible in the short window of time we have to spend together. All that being said, you always wish you had more time. But that’s what body doubles are for! I’ve learned how to capture extra movement with body doubles so that it flows smoothly in the edit and you’d never know the difference. This is really the key to maximising your limited time with a celebrity athlete and still making sure you have enough shots to create a mind-blowing action sequence in your edit.”
Jungle, directing duo at Park Pictures
“One big challenge is that athletes can be unpredictable – sometimes, they just don’t feel like doing a scene or might not show up when expected. It really depends on the individual and what stage of their career they’re in. During our EA FIFA shoot, we saw this firsthand. We had a mix of athletes; you could see how their personalities and experience levels played out. Defenders were generally more patient and steady, while strikers were more likely to improvise and could be a bit more challenging to work with.
FIFA 23 - Matchday For The World's Game
Director: Jungle
“To deal with this, you have to plan but stay adaptable. If you only have a short time with a star, make sure you create moments that really count and reflect their personality. Always have a backup plan in case you need to switch things up, and try to connect with the athlete to make them feel more comfortable.
“In the end, it’s all about maximising the time you have on set by being organised and creating an environment where the talent can be themselves. If you’re prepared and can adapt quickly, you’ll be able to handle whatever comes your way.”
Zac Ella, director at Agile Films and JOJX
“You never 100% know what you’re gonna get from the talent until the shoot day, so you find yourself quickly adapting to how they might wanna approach the day. Some arrive over-eager with their own ideas for us to filter; some have zero performance range or attention span; some just have no idea what the production is about or lacklustre enthusiasm; but most pressing is the minuscule amount of time that you get with them on set.
“Generally, I always tackle with a ‘see-do’ approach. I rehearse, film, and edit everything with a stand-in and crew before the talent steps on the floor. The one thing that sporting talents love is competition. So, if they see the stand-in pull off the stunt/performance and see how cool we make the stand-in look… they are 100% always going to want to do one better.
“Oh, and always meet the demands of their rider. I’ve seen rooms filled with expensive candles, Persian rugs on a bed of nails, and even a request to fly in a piccolo barista from a small town in Italy because a certain Portuguese footballer preferred the roast of their local beans. We flew them in, and they were inevitably delayed, which meant sending out a runner to grab a couple of Costa coffees… and nothing more was said about it.”
Ryan Booth, director at division7
“Time is the ever-present challenge when directing athletes. No matter if we have 30 minutes or 10 hours, it’s never enough. The wants/needs of the project almost always exceeds the amount of time and attention that we’ll get from any given athlete. So for me - on that first call with the agency, my first question is almost always a version of “how much time has the athlete agreed to give us?” Then – whatever number they say, I cut it in half. Then I design my process and approach to work within that (tightest) time frame. Because no matter how much you rehearse, plan, communicate…something always eats up more time than you anticipated. If we can build our process around the reality of what it’s often like working with superstars, then we stand a fighting chance of creating something interesting.
“This is more than just helping set expectations. The time constraints can become an aid to our creative objectives. Like the pressure that creates a diamond – the realistic assessment of how much time we will have can help us clarify what is absolutely essential and then we can build from there.”
‘Real’ versus Choreographed
Jordan Bahat, director at Golden LA
“That’s the whole job, right? Whenever I see a scripted movie or show about NASA, they show the whole control room. The background actors are jotting things down in yellowed notebooks, graphing trajectories, doing advanced physics. And then, as a filmmaker, you know that each of those people are actors who very likely have no clue what the jargon of the scene means. But they’ve been instructed to look pensive and jot things down. Then you see it all composed in a frame, and it works, and you believe it. That’s the magic.
“Fabricating the lie and manipulating the viewer into believing the scene is one of the great joys of the cinematic process. The job is to know as much as possible (and surround yourself with people who know even more than you do) about how the ‘real’ version works… and then train your tools on the elements of the scene that will help make things feel real (if real is what you’re after).
“Is this an observed moment that we should see from afar? Does it help us to hear the athlete’s breath? Is this a high-intensity moment? Do we want to feel embedded? Is this about struggle and heroics? Those questions and feelings motivate how you choreograph the action and the camera’s integration into the scene.”
Zac Ella, director at Agile Films and JOJX
“We’re pretty blessed with the variety of cameras available today – outside your Arri, red, and Sony. I mean, there’s a whole suitcase of action cams that are designed specifically for getting fully immersed in the choreography. And along with off-the-shelf rigging that is easy to use and readily available at a domesticated level – a polite way of saying amateur – you can strap these cameras to pretty much anything. It seems like a no-brainer when it comes to involving these cameras in a typical kit list for a sports-led shoot. They come the size of a thumb, shoot 360, and can hold up really well against the big filmic guns when you get to grade. The real challenge is convincing the DOP to use something bought off the internet over renting ‘proper gear’ from a hire company. I’m a stickler for winding up the camera crew with my 10-foot selfie stick that I whip out for an off-the-cuff drone shot or shitty snori.
“Sooooooo, I think these cameras and rigs can easily ramp up the authenticity of a choreography. They get the viewer in the front row with a myriad of playful POVs and unexpected moves. What I’d love to know is who has come up with the most inventive rig/camera position for these little eyes?”
Adidas - Glitch
Director: Zac Ella
Walker Higgins, director at CLICKON
“It often depends on the athlete and what they’re able to give you, but I think one of the keys is that just because it’s choreographed doesn’t mean that it’s fake. Dancers choreograph their work, it doesn’t mean what they’re doing is easy (even if it looks effortless). I think challenging and pushing the athlete is still important. It should be a workout. Or at the very least, they need to get to a place where that ‘kill or be killed’ mentality is palpable in what they’re doing. Intensity really has no substitute.
“For instance, in our work with Under Armour, it was important for us, and essential for their brand, that nothing be faked. Obviously, we have a shot list, and we have specific bits of coverage that we know will make a piece of branded content make sense, but we didn’t want things to be a walk in the park. When they’re lifting weights, running, or playing a game, we had the athletes engaged and pushing themselves, sometimes asking for one more rep when it seemed like they’d had enough.”
Under Armour - Sam Gordon
Director: Walker Higgins
Ryan Booth, director at division7
“Reality is authenticity x specificity. I am very open to following the lead of an athlete who has dedicated their entire lives to the sport we’re trying to convey. I tend to work from ‘shapes’ of ideas. Given my understanding and given what we’re trying to accomplish in a specific scene, I often present my rough sketches of what would work best. But I always present that to the athlete in a way that allows them to take ownership of the specificity of the task.
“For example, I once directed an adidas spot with an Olympic rock climber. We wanted to demonstrate the speed and strength required to climb the wall and designed a techno move that pulled across the length of a climbing wall. On the day, I explained the plan to the climber and she stood looking at the proposed route. She turned and said, ‘You know, that’ll look fast but it won’t be hard. If we take this straight line, I’ll have to jump from one hold to another and I don’t know if I’ll get it on the first try.’ We shifted our techno move and boomed up from above her as she ascended, then leapt for the hold. She missed on the first time and fell to the mat below. Our camera quickly boomed down to meet her as she slapped her hands together, frustrated at the miss. The chalk exploded off of her hands as the camera dropped below her, looking up at the wall stretching out above her. She grunted, turned, and sprinted up the wall without waiting for us to reset, so we boomed up from below her as she flung herself across the gap and nailed the hold. It was an incredible sequence that showed the speed, strength, and tenacity of this particular athlete. I could never have scripted that moment without her contribution.
“That’s the spirit I try to bring to all of my sports work. Let the athlete's guide us to that specificity, then be prepared to respond in the moment.”
Niles Roth, part of The Hudson Dusters at Greenpoint Pictures
“Choreography works best when you have the time to run it until it feels real, and it’s rare you get that time on commercials with pro athletes. We try to make the camera work feel less choreographed and more organic. When I see a commercial where everything is perfectly choreographed it often doesn’t feel real. It’s a different style. We love to feel like we are watching an exciting play unfold before our eyes. We always strive to make it feel as real as possible. So, you may not be able to fly a drone through someone’s legs or perfectly choreograph the play. We like to keep the camerawork a little grimy. This comes from years of us filming street basketball. We wanted to bring that electricity to people who have never been to a street basketball game. Keeping the environment fun and exciting is hard when you’re asking everyone to nail their marks. One of the hardest things always seems to be the defence overacting on their reactions. We try to drill it so they don’t look like they are anticipating the play coming. Sometimes letting the pro try something they aren’t expecting just to throw the defence off.”
nutmeg (Andres O'Beirne andLoucas Tsilas), directors at SLMBR PRTY
“INSERTS! We’re big fans of using textural inserts to add authenticity. Whether capturing the grit of the environment or honing in on the fine details of the action, these moments draw viewers into the reality we’re creating. Those little, often overlooked shots – like the flicker of dust in the air, the beads of sweat, or the tread of a mountain bike tire on the dirt- make the scene feel alive and genuine. We bridge the gap between choreography and reality by weaving these elements into the narrative, making everything feel more visceral and true to life.”
Scout Camper - Explore without Limits
Director: nutmeg
Widespread Appeal or Hyper-focused Niche?
Michael Kuhn, part of The Hudson Dusters at Greenpoint Pictures
“I grew up skateboarding, which at the time was super nichey, real counter-culture. Skate videos really got me interested in filmmaking. They were inventive but also grounded in reality. I personally don’t believe in completely reinventing the wheel when shooting sports and just throwing every trick in the book at it. That feels fake to me and pulls the viewer away from the emotional aspect of sport. Filmmaking should have purpose and intention, no matter what sport it is. Of course, creativity is key, but not without understanding and respecting the sport and the fan base.
“To me, every sport has a specific fan base, meaning you have to make the spot right for those one-percenters but also make sure the general masses love watching it and find something unique in the piece. It’s interesting because we are not pro athletes by any stretch of the imagination, so we don’t necessarily know the ‘inside baseball’ of every sport. Still, we are huge sports fans and are closely following sports culture, so we always try to get it right for the fans whether it’s filming a skier on top of a glacier or an NFL athlete training. To us, there can never be any false notes. That authenticity allows for something emotional and visceral, and that’s what we strive for in our work. No matter what the sport is, we will do our best to instil emotion into it so that no matter who’s watching, they walk away feeling something.”
nutmeg (Andres O'Beirne and Loucas Tsilas), directors at SLMBR PRTY
“Finding the balance between widespread appeal and catering to a niche audience is a matter of knowing your sport and the story’s universal themes. Sports inherently have a broad appeal because they tap into shared human experiences: competition, perseverance, triumph, and defeat. We lean into these elements to draw on a broader audience, ensuring the story is accessible and relatable even to those who might not follow the sport closely.
“At the same time, we respect the nuances that matter to the niche fanbase. Authenticity in the portrayal of the sport is non-negotiable; these niche fanbases know the sport inside out, and they’ll notice if something’s off. By respecting the sport’s intricacies, we honour the dedicated fans while still telling a story that resonates on a broader level.”
Jungle, directing duo at Park Pictures
“There are core elements that resonate with both broad and niche audiences and specific details that cater to each. To achieve widespread appeal, we focus on universal themes like triumph, perseverance, and the thrill of progress. For the dedicated fanbase, we weave in subtle details and nuances that true fans will appreciate, creating a trail of hints and connections. We often blend these fan-specific elements within broader themes, finding common ground where both audiences can connect. But none will work if you don’t craft a story that evokes an emotional response, as nothing will resonate if it doesn’t connect on that deeper level.”
Ryan Booth, director at division7
“One of the great paradoxes of filmmaking is that to create something that connects universally, you have to make something hyper hyper specific. Specificity is the gateway to universal connection. So - I don’t get too worried about the hyper-focused niche fanbases. I’ve had the great pleasure of making sports work aimed at the masses and work aimed at a tiny segment of the boxing fandom. I directed the NBA Finals commercial in 2023 that was, to date, the biggest ad buy I’ve been a part of. But it wasn’t ‘big’ in the scope of the individual moments. I treated each scene with as much specificity as possible. One of the iconic moments of the spot was Larry Bird polishing his championship rings. While he was mid scene, I asked him which ring was his favourite to polish – what came to mind, right now? And he looked up at the camera, pointing to the ‘86 championship ring, a massive Cheshire grin sliding across his face. ‘This one, because we broke Magic’s streak.’ Then, as quickly as the smile emerged, it disappeared as he caught himself, remembering he was on camera. A tiny, real moment captured.
NBA 2023 Finals - We're All in the NBA Finals
Director: Ryan Booth
“But I also directed a Nike Jordan spot with GGG (Gennady Golovkin) that was in response to Canelo [Álvarez] testing positive for PEDs but claiming it was because he ate tainted beef in Mexico. That spot was made in two hours just a few days after that announcement and was really only aimed at pumping up GGGs fanbase. We started out with a shot of GGG’s manager eating a massive steak talking about how GGG’s ‘Secret Ingredient’ was hard work. Then we flew through a kinetic frenzy of GGG working out. It was made with a niche audience in mind, but it was so specific and so timely that it totally went viral.
Nike / Jordan - Special Ingredient
Director: Ryan Booth
“One was mass market, the other niche subculture. But I’m equally proud of both. For me - it’s always about capturing something with as much specificity as possible, then letting the audience discover the work.”
