The Directors: Lara Everly

Lara Everly is an award-winning DGA director who celebrates female-driven content and dark comedy. Lara’s sharp wit and comedic sensibility first gained attention in her sketch comedy content. She's adept at bringing humor to unexpected topics and using comedy to disrupt the status quo, a skill she weaves into her projects.

Some fresh credits include directing an episode of NBC’s “American Auto”, a pilot starring Geena Davis entitled "I Can By Friday", a Netflix Family series called "Like A Mother", and a Jewish dark comedy short called “Heritage Day” starring Rachel Bloom about how we reckon with the past.  

Lara has written and directed for a range of platforms including Disney, Netflix Family, Refinery29, Scary Mommy, Oprah, Funny or Die, Million Stories, Awestruck, Babycenter, Working Nation and more. In the branded sphere, her directing has been commissioned for broadcast commercials including Fisher Price, Walmart, Little Tikes, ACLU, Swehl, Fellow Americans, Bloomlife, Schwarzkopf, Geico, Diono, Swing Left, Super Majority and Netflix. Her recent comedic political spot for Mothers Against Greg Abbott won a Webby Award after going viral with 26 million views.

When she is not wrangling a cast and crew, Lara’s wrangling her children and rescue pets, and hopes to one day have more cats than is socially acceptable.

Name: Lara Everly

Location: Los Angeles

Repped by/in: Backyard

Awards: Webby Winner for Best in Activism and three time Telly winner

LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them? 

Lara> I love bringing humour to unexpected topics. I get really excited when the ending is unpredictable or a twist. My spot 'Always & Forever' for Mothers Against Greg Abbott is a great example of using comedy to attack a cause in an entertaining way. When you come at someone through the back door and take people on a ride with jokes and story you can Trojan Horse cause related issues without it feeling didactic and heavy-handed.

LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot? 

Lara> I start with the images. Commercials and filmmaking is such a visual medium that finding photos and gifs that speak to the look help shape the accompanying language.

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?

Lara> I’m a total nerd and do all my homework. I will research the brand, their past marketing and their target audience. I find the more I know about it, the more I am empowered to elevate the content for the brand. Research helps me define what has worked in the past and what can use a refresh.

LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why? 

Lara> I mean the ‘correct’ answer here is the client. You have to be able to execute that the client is looking for first and foremost. But from a creative team perspective, it’s a real toss up between the talent and the DP. The DP is my eye and guiding what the audience experiences but the talent is huge! Actors bring the flavour and the cast can really change the vibe of a spot. And if it’s a comedic spot, I find the right casting extra essential!

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? 

Lara> Female-centric dark comedy! I love using humour to reframe and disrupt the status quo. I was really lucky because I directed an episode of broadcast TV - 'American Auto' on NBC and while the show is a workplace ensemble comedy, my episode wound up being all about abortion rights and gender equity in the workplace. It was such a challenge and a gift to be able to tackle a complex topic like for broadcast television.

LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong? 

Lara> I hate when people call my work 'cute'. I know there are cute elements, especially because I work with kids often, but I also feel much more layered and subversive as an artist overall. I think it’s a female director thing too - like a common word people use toward women’s work and it just feels thin....and this girl is in her thick era. ;)

LBB> Have you ever worked with a cost consultant and if so how have your experiences been? 

Lara> Yes, and luckily I always have worked with solid EPs who have insulated me from the accounting and cost process. For the most part we have always had positive experiences with both agency business managers and brand cost consultants.

LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it? 

Lara> They say don’t work with babies or animals and I’ve somehow worked with both, a ton! And recently have shot several scenes for different projects with both babies and animals in them at the same time and let me tell you, it’s chaos! In a film wrote and directed 'Heritage Day' we had a dog tackling two kids in a scene there was also a baby on the ground and an open pool and I was like please lord don’t let things go south. I think the trick is letting go of control, and seeing what magic can happen. You can’t really shot list your way out of some these moments, it’s just docustyle grab what’s naturally happening. If you strong arm it too much you will miss the moment.

LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea? 

Lara> For me it’s about integrity. I am collaborative and a good listener and I always want the agency and client to be super happy. And at the same time, I can’t lose my integrity as a creator, so if there is an element of the storytelling or branding that bumps up against that - like an outdated stereotype for a character or the messaging needs to be more conscious - I will speak up and state my case.

LBB> 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? 

Lara> Hell yeah. Forever and always! When I have the hiring power I hire as many women and BIPOC crew and talent as possible. Work begets work so the more we offer those opportunities, the more connections get made for the next job. I’m so grateful for diversity programs as well. It’s been such a cis het white man’s club, that we need that kind of intentional infrastructure to help shift the paradigm.

LBB> How do you feel the pandemic is going to influence the way you work into the longer term? Have you picked up new habits that you feel will stick around for a long time? 

Lara> Zoom, Zoom and Zoom.

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)? 

Lara> Aspect ratios give me anxiety. So many brands don’t just want to produce a spot, they want content for social at the same time and they want you to protect for every aspect ratio possible. So you need to shoot content that looks good in the standard 16x9 and also in 9x16 for TikTok and IG stories. I think it’s important to know what is the hero - what is the priority - and then find out if that footage can be used for other formats or if you need to create separate shots and content for social. Sometimes I do think it all gets a little watered down and compressed and I miss the time when it was just about creating one super amazing commercial and that’s it.

LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work (e.g. virtual production, interactive storytelling, AI/data-driven visuals etc)? 

Lara> ChatGPT answered this entire interview. Kidding aside, I know it’s here and but I’m not fully immersed in it yet minus my experience using visual effects. The tech is incredible but think we need to be wise about it and I do feel protective about storytelling from human intelligence vs artificial intelligence.

LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why?

Lara> Here are a few work samples that show my combination of comedy and advocacy. It’s a wild world and life is short. Make content with an impact and don’t underestimate the power of a good laugh.

Always & Forever - Mothers Against Greg Abbott

This is truly the little spot that could. My co-writer and I had the idea for it before we had the brand. We were able to procure funding through a non-profit to make it and after it was fully made, it was picked up by Mothers Against Greg Abbott. It wound up going viral with around 25M views on TikTok and won a webby for Best in Activism and Public Service. It’s great example of using humour to tackle a cause and make a point.

Annie - Fisher Price

This was one of four spots I directed for Fisher Price and NBC for their 'Annie Live' airing. As a mom I love working with kids and am good about bringing that mom energy to set so the kids have fun and feel taken care of. My favourite moment in this spot is the large man with the tiny drums. He played them so sincerely! Fun fact: the adult orchestra was made up of real musicians.

American Auto

This is a quick teaser for my episode of 'American Auto' called 'The Letter'. I actually teared up when I read the script because as fate would have it, my episode was about abortion rights which is something I am so passionate about. Handling this topic on broadcast TV was delicate and I had the studio, the network and the showrunner all weighing in on what we could say and how far we could go. It meant trying a lot of different takes so there were options in the edit. I’m so grateful they trusted me with this episode.

Someone You Love - Supermajority

This spot was meant to be testing. And then it tested so well it got online distribution. And then that went so well it got picked up for broadcast and had a successful broadcast run. It was a lesson in never underestimate what might resonate and be prepared contract-wise for spots to evolve. Creatively it was really important for me to show a wide range of emotions that surround abortion. I wanted to show both grief and joy as that was the most realistic and human story of abortion I could tell.