Growing up in the same small coastal town of Kiama NSW, Justin McMillan and The Inspired Unemployed boys have shared a similar journey in making their way to the big screen (hailing national attention from each of their respective work).
The story began fatefully one morning in Byron Bay, when Justin and Falcon were doing a surf check and joked about the idea and collaboration. Justin McMillan comments “I bumped into Matt Ford (Falcon) while we were checking the surf one day in my street in Byron Bay and we got talking about the idea to shoot a parody fragrance commercial, naming the product 'Inspire for Men'. Nothing happened for a while, then it turned out that Chemist Warehouse pitched the boys the exact same idea... Falcon asked me if I was still interested to help put it together and we were away.”
Represented exclusively by Born Bred Talent, Australia’s leading influencer talent and creative agency, of which The Taxi Group has an interest in, The Inspired Unemployed boys need no introduction and have skyrocketed to fame in recent years through their parody videos on Instagram, concepting, shooting and editing content at a lightning pace.
Famed commercial director, Justin McMillan has Queensland representation by Taxi Film Production - the award-winning production arm of The Taxi Group. So, the stage had been set for a powerful collaboration from the very beginning.
When crafting the concept, Justin set out to write funny vignettes that were on brand for The Inspired Unemployed but inexpensive to execute. He set his sights on ensuring the scenes were so ridiculous, that it was obvious to an audience that this was a parody (sometimes hard to distinguish in the current climate of abstract luxury fashion advertising).
He goes on to comment, “The fact that it was shot with a challenging budget only helped this approach.”
When asked about what it was like working alongside The Inspired boys, Justin said it was hard to keep a straight face. “The boys have been directing and editing their own work for years, so I made sure it was a collaborative process where no ideas were shut down. It was fun to see the guys step out of their comfort zone in a few of the scenes. Physical comedy is hard to achieve in camera, but the boys were adamant in nailing the right performance to land the gag and took direction well. They’re both brutally honest with each other... which I love.”
The fragrance, ‘Inspiré by No. Emploi’ is set to captivate audiences nationwide, leaving a trail of laughter and generosity in its wake. The scent is available exclusively at Chemist Warehouse stores and online from November 9th 2023.
Justin sums this whole experience nicely in his director’s statement: “Tonally, my intention was to create scenes in the film that appeared intentionally absurd, making it clear to the audience that it was a parody of a high-end fragrance commercial. Fortunately, the Inspired Unemployed brand of humour effortlessly transitions into the realm of a luxury perfume film. I truly admire that the boys are donating their profits from the perfume sales to charity, and it was a privilege to contribute my time and experience to help bring this campaign to life.”
A special thanks and shout out to the following: Angus Sampson, Tyson Llyod, Aidan Rice, Brendan Chartres, Ryan Dein, Manning Allen-Scott, Dylan Lalor, Ken Kimura, Lucas Vasquez, Tanya Woelfle, Beth Halsted, Harley Graham and Mez Graham