The Directors: Ethan & Tom
Renowned for their technical fluency and authentic casting, this dynamic London directing duo blends experimental aesthetics with inventive direction. Their work captures the essence of UK tone and culture, forging intimate connections with artists like Fred Again, Coldplay, PinkPantheress, Tendai, Wu-Lu, and Jeshi. Collaborations with brands such as Toyota, North Face, Puma, and Gorillas highlight their ability to tackle challenges head-on while maintaining a unique artistic vision.
Name: Ethan & Tom
Location: London
Repped by/in: Partizan Global
Awards: UKMVA
LBB> What are some upcoming projects that you're excited about? Tell us a bit about them?
E&T> We just finished up a commercial for Candy Crush which was a lot of fun to make, it was a project that relied on a lot of CGI and VFX which was something new for us. We’ve also created something special for an artist we’re big fans of that will come out next month. Shooting it was a long process with lots of waiting, since it's mostly animated. Alongside that we are really proud of a collection of scenes we created for Coldplay’s new album, part of a patchwork of content which will form videos for the album.
LBB> What excites you in the advertising industry right now, as a director? Any trends or changes that open new opportunities?
E&T> It’s constantly exciting to be presented briefs and ideas from creatives and agencies, it’s always such an engaging process reading a concept and translating it into a film. It seems like more brands are leaning into short-form narrative lately, which is exciting to see. We love the challenge of distilling and translating an idea into condensed impactful moments that resonate.
LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?
E&T> It can really be anything. I don’t think you can boil such a specific feeling down of ‘this is great’ to a specific element in that way. I think what gets us excited initially is if it instantly connects with us, and we instantly can see how we’d want to do it, how we’d change it, how we’d shoot it, how we’d want the performers to be. Once your brain starts to sort of snowball, that's when you maybe know the script and its idea is working.
LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?
E&T> Our approach is usually having conversations with each other about the script and how the film could be. It’s important for us to think about how to extend the idea, build on it and really push it to its full potential. From there we’ll probably make a quick animatic ourselves, something that we can both critically look at, scratch our heads at, then you go in and get your references together that support the direction you’ve landed on.
LBB> If the script is for a brand that you're not familiar with/ don’t have a big affinity with or a market you're new to, how important is it for you to do research and understand that strategic and contextual side of the ad? If it’s important to you, how do you do it?
E&T> Getting to the heart of what the agency or client wants for the project is super important for us. We need to understand the purpose behind it to figure out how to craft it. We also dive into understanding the brand from both a creative and marketing angle.
For example, with a recent Candy Crush spot, we fully immersed ourselves by downloading the game, playing it, and discussing it with friends and family. This deep dive helps us truly get into the brand’s and even more the consumer's headspace and see what resonates and what doesn’t.
LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?
E&T> It’s collaboration really. We’re quite young and work with people that have been on many more sets than us; so, it’s about listening and having conversations with everyone we’re working with, from the HOD’s we work with, the team at Partizan, to everyone else on the set: a great idea can come from anyone, so it's all about listening and talking. Their experience is invaluable to us.
There’s a reason the credits are so long at the end of a movie - every single person is there to make the film the best it can be. Having those conversations, hearing people’s opinions and trusting them, that’s the best way to be as a director in our opinion. Naturally having each other is a big part of it too, having someone you trust to tell you that's amazing or that's completely rubbish helps a lot.
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?
E&T> I think we’re still on a journey to figuring that out, and it’s very exciting to be on that journey. Our recent spot for Candy Crush was comedy focussed and that was quite new to us. Suddenly we realised we can be funny, and we made ourselves and other people laugh. That was an immediately gratifying moment - we hadn’t done that before. We are drawn to things we haven’t done before I guess!
LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?
E&T> Maybe an early misconception of us when we first started working was that we make mainly ‘mixed-media’ work…whatever that means. If there was ever a point to that, a lot of it comes from necessity. When you’re starting to make things you have very little means to make them, you’re always trying to capture people's attention or make them feel something: that's the constant regardless of what you’re doing, so it comes from that.
LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?
E&T> There have been plenty of wild moments—like crashing our university’s transit van into a height restriction sign, or arriving at Pinewood Forest at 4am for a car chase scene only to find the lock frozen from the night’s snow. We spent 10 minutes thawing it with a lighter just to get inside.
Another memorable one was about five years ago when we lost access to a crucial farm location mid-shoot. Running 10 minutes late, we got an angry call from the farm owner telling us to 'fuck off' and then refusing to answer our calls. With the client and label on set, we scrambled to find a new spot.
After calling every farm in Essex, a Christmas tree (or maybe strawberry?) farmer agreed to help, leaving the key out for us. We filmed, returned the key, and the label never knew there was an issue.
It’s strange but also magical, meeting strangers who go out of their way to help. Moments like these restore your faith in people—especially after dealing with a furious farm owner just minutes before. We're lucky to have a skilled production team that handles the chaos, letting us focus on the creative side.
LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?
E&T> Remaining collected and calm about what it is you’re trying to achieve helps, but also being quite reactionary about things is really great and something we’ve learnt. Once you’ve put your treatment together and you’re making the film, you’ve invited people into a world that you’ve built together with the agency/brand. Of course, curveballs can happen, but within that world you’ve all created, really anything can happen (as long as it’s within the confines of that world you’ve built).
I think we’ve learnt to be more improvisational on set, throw things in that maybe weren’t what you’d think to do three weeks prior. It’s tricky to do when things have to be concrete on paper and signed off months in advance, but, if you’re lucky, you can find amazing new things in the process of making the film that feel really rewarding and new.
What are your thoughts on opening up the production world to a more diverse pool of talent? Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?
E&T> 100%. It can feel like the landscape is improving but there is much much more to be done. We wouldn’t be doing this without the relationships we formed shadowing other directors and interning at production companies in the past. The industry growing more diverse absolutely benefits everyone. There is no question about that. Working with diverse teams is essential for this progress to continue.
LBB> Your work is now presented in so many different formats - to what extent do you keep each in mind while you're working (and, equally, to what degree is it possible to do so)?
E&T> We’re always thinking about those different formats when you’re working. I think it’s probably been in our minds from the beginning just because of us being around the use of different media formats. The marketing and distribution side of the work really interests us, because you’re constantly shaping the work to be the best version of itself. If no one sees the thing, then what's it for? It becomes incomplete without the engagement of an audience.
LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work?
E&T> We have a very open mind with these things, and are constantly trying to incorporate them to see what it does to the work. I think it’s the same as anything before really, ‘this new version of photoshop will help you do this and not help you do that’, it’s no big deal. You have to be receptive. Some things are helpful, some aren’t. Some things produce interesting things and some don’t. But relying on any singular tool to make your work doesn't feel like the way forward.
We’re firm believers that there's always a solution to every problem. Sometimes the most random or ridiculous idea makes it all work. Usually taking something apart and putting it back together again will give you the right answer or a new and even better answer.
LBB> Which pieces of your work do you feel show what you do best – and why?
E&T> Candy Crush
We did this recent advert for Candy Crush last month, which was a lot of fun. Much of the performance relied on animation, so we spent a lot of the shoot using our imaginations to picture moments like an animated gummy bear strolling into a room. It was very rewarding seeing it all come together!
This film we did entirely ourselves, we shot it, produced it, a good friend of ours edited it, another friend production designed it, it's something we’re really proud of and reminded us how much we can do when it's just us and friends. We only had a few days to write an idea and make it. It was really special to be awarded the UKMVA for this film, Miles (Wu- Lu) is a very close friend of ours and so it was very special to do. Budget was next to none but we love the challenge.
A film we got to shoot in Scotland for The North Face, where we had a massive amount of freedom. It was incredibly rewarding, working with people that really believed in us. Alfie Kungu the artist in collaboration on the clothes has a very reactionary practice, and that allowed us to learn that sort of way of working too. It was a very great learning process, and we’re very proud of the film we made.
Geordie had the idea to do something set completely in a bowling alley, and so it all started there. We riffed off of each other and made a film we really like. We also got to play a bunch of bowling with the cast and crew, which was just great.
Shooting this was a lot of fun. We got to dive deep into the concept, and collaborating with The Corner on the creative side was a real highlight. Instead of a typical influencer-style video, we took a new direction and built something unique with stock footage. Our first car project, hopefully the first of many!
