The Directors: Darren Price
As an animation director, Darren Price has done it all. 2D, 3D, VFX, stop-motion and live action. He has a keen eye for movement, design and lighting. Darren was once Head of 3D at Nexus Studios in London before founding the Sydney based animation studio, Mighty Nice. He won a BAFTA for his first short film and hasn’t stopped since. Mighty Nice is repped globally by Nexus Studios and also works with the best local Australian agencies, making their nice ideas mighty through artfully crafted character animation.
Name: Darren Price, Director and Founder of Mighty Nice
Location: Sydney
Repped by/in: Nexus Studios
Awards: D&AD Gold Pencil, BAFTA, One Show, Webby, Clio
LBB> What are some upcoming projects that you're excited about? Tell us a bit about them.
Darren> In June, we ticked a big bucket list item by pitching our new animation series 'The Grot' at MIFA Pitches as part of the Annecy International Animation Festival. It’s a story about teenage con artists in a swampy, post-climate change Australia - about as different to Bluey as you can get! When we started, everyone told us we were crazy to steer away from making pre-school shows. However the project was really well received and we are having some great conversations with overseas networks, so stay tuned on that one.
We just completed the new promotional campaign for 'Great British Bake Off' with Nexus Studios for Channel 4. Our very own Bonnie Forsyth directed it and it’s a gorgeous 2D, classically-animated psychedelic world of cakes that is bringing the world some sweet relief. Plus, we got to design Noel Fielding as a butterfly which was another career highlight I didn’t realise I needed.
And 'She Creates Change', which was previously broadcast on Discovery Asia, has just been released on YouTube. It is the world’s first nonprofit-led animated short film series to promote gender equality through the stories of young women around the world. Bonnie Forsyth was selected amongst an international group of female directors to tell these inspiring stories.
All very different projects telling very different stories, but very gratifying to see each of them out in the world.
LBB> What excites you in the advertising industry right now, as a director? Any trends or changes that open new opportunities?
Darren> On a personal excitement level as a director, we’ve just moved to a great new three storey building and it’s big enough for us to build a new stop motion studio downstairs. We’ve recently worked on a number of digital stop-motion projects where we use CG to recreate stop-motion aesthetics, but it’s great to be able to get our hands dirty and do some stop motion for real again.
Moving to the new studio is part of the trend I’m seeing across the industry where everyone is trying to get back into the office again - and figure out what this means. I think this means you need to put more effort into creating spaces that clients and staff want to come back to and spend time in.
We’re doing this by bringing some of the magic back for agencies (and ourselves) through getting the cameras out, designing physical puppets and some beautifully built sets - which are for me, the perfect antidote to too many zoom calls.
LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to animate them?
Darren> The scripts that stand out for me are the ones in which the visuals and character support the message in an interesting way. It sounds obvious, but animation is an incredibly visual medium - you can literally do anything that you can think of - so it’s great when we read a script where the visuals have been deeply considered as part of the storytelling. An average script is one where you could replace the product or character with any other - and it would still work - so if the main character is a middle-aged, plasticine, talking tortoise then that should change everything.
Peter Cheung (Aeon Flux) wrote, “The best films will engage and transport us, stir our emotions, provoke discussion, even shift consciousness.” It’s up to the writer and the director to create a visual momentum that pushes a clever message forward to make the film stand up to repeat viewings. After all, animation is a laborious and time-consuming endeavour so we’d like our films to be savoured and not just devoured.
LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?
Darren> When you’re pitching, you need to build the vision quickly and be clear about how you communicate that. Nobody wants a vague treatment - it’s got to be thought through well.
Michael Keaton said that when going to acting auditions you shouldn't think about the film ahead but focus purely on the audition because it's “the job itself” and pitching for us is like this. We’re lucky to have a studio that rises well to a treatment, and everyone enjoys the pressure of doing a quick creative flex.
Our process is to go in deep straight away. However, through the process things always surface. So, after we are sure that we have serviced the needs of the brief, we usually like to include a wild card section - a section at the end where we can throw in some extra magic and extra ideas for discussion in the pitch.
All this being said, we always love getting awarded a job without a creative bid process, just putting it out there…
LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?
Darren> It’s not a two-way relationship, I find it’s often a foursome - their producers and creatives and ours putting their heads together and making something new.
The producers need to understand each other’s needs - one may have a client that’s never done animation before and needs their hand held, while the production company needs key moments to be respected and given proper time. By developing mutual respect towards each other’s needs we can deepen trust in the process, which is what our best agency relationships are based on.
Animation takes a bit more sign off at the start, but once everything’s locked in there’s a lot of space to finesse creative decisions and add extra creative easter eggs. It only gets messy if you suddenly need to go back or are having trouble getting started in the first place.
From a creative point of view, when the creatives from each side meet there is a similar need to maintain respect - giving both sides the power and agency to bring out the best in each other. Again, like in all solid relationships, there’s still the constant need to keep an eye to the bigger picture - knowing which battles are worth fighting for.
LBB> What type of work are you most passionate about - is there a particular genre or subject matter or style you are most drawn to?
Darren> We pride ourselves on staying style agnostic and not having a house style. Frequently, there are several styles being considered for every script. Sometimes we might be pitching different techniques against each other to see which one works the hardest for the script.
The sort of work we aspire to create is “talked about work” - when animation sears into the viewers’ retinas, can become part of the zeitgeist and help an important message get remembered. The highly considered nature of animation opens up great potential for iconic design - where every frame could be worthy of a poster.
LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?
Darren> We’ve noticed recently a new generation of agency creatives who are yet to work on a big animated campaign and so there are misconceptions around animation taking longer and costing more than live action. With poor planning or communication, it’s easy to burn through a budget.
We may be biased, but we find that dollar for dollar well-planned animation is right there with live action and often works harder.
LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?
Darren> So many it’s hard to choose.
One thing about directing animation is my problems just sound weirder. I find myself coming home at the end of the day and venting about how “the quokkas’ arms are not long enough to play guitar” or “how does an oil heater cage fight?” My problems still need to be solved, they just sound more fun than others when you say them out loud.
Creatively, one of the craziest problems we had to solve was in our launch spot for the digital paper tablet, reMarkable. We had to sell a tech product whilst the script was focused on pointing out the evils of tech and social media. The campaign was called 'Get Your Brain Back' and it definitely felt like an anti-demo video. However, through well observed funny scenes and visual metaphors, we drew the viewer in and got them on the train to understanding. The launch went well and six years on, the script is still relevant.
LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why?
Darren>
KO for your Boiler
This script was funny and had us from the moment we laid eyes on it. Austrian housewife in a deathmatch with her old oil heater. And we got to give it the nickname O.D.B - Old Dirty Boiler. Too good.
HBF - I Need a Zero
Big Hair, Quokkas and 80s power ballads - so much to love. This was the one that really sealed the deal for us with our friends at Leo Burnett and we committed to an ongoing quokka relationship that just keeps getting better.
Nike - Psychedelic Lava
Again, an amazing opportunity when Nike sees something on your website and then writes to ask you if you can remake it but for Nike. No brainer. With psychedelic screaming skulls bursting out of a lava lamp, how can you go wrong?
ReMarkable - Get Your Brain Back
We talked about this one before. Working with director Simon Robson, we pushed our 2D team to some new places to create a product launch film unlike any other.
