The Directors: Ramez Silyan

With a gritty visual style, director Ramez Silyan entertains with dark, satirical interpretations of story tropes and current affairs. Known as MEZZY to close friends and collaborators, he embraces tempered absurdity in creating fictional realities, often employing long camera takes and layered soundscapes. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Silyan draws from diverse subculture experiences across filmmaking and the music industry in creating entertainment. He’s a first-generation Syrian American.

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

Ramez> Subversion, self-awareness, and authenticity. We are surrounded by so much façade, that anything that feels truly revealing, whether drama or comedy, is attractive to me. 

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

Ramez> I simply write what I want to see. What would make me, as a viewer, excited?

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?

Ramez> Understanding is everything; if I'm unaware of the overall story, then I won't know where we want to end up. It's a bit like getting dressed without checking the forecast.

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

Ramez> The lead creative team, whether agency or in house at the brand. A casual and direct line of communication is integral to fulfilling the vision. Second is a producer who is quite literally prepared for anything. Anything can happen and it always does.

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?

Ramez> I'm a huge fan of levity. Approaching the hardships of life through the absurd! When brands can make fun of themselves a little bit, it goes such a long way! Ads are serious business, but the contents of them don't have to be.

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

Ramez> The biggest misconception... that film is too expensive or 'not worth it.' I've found that the few times I have forgone film, I have regretted it. The work at the end of the day would have been better served by shooting film. It is my preferred format and it never ceases to surprise me.

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

Ramez> Where to begin.... earlier this year I took on a passion project, a music video for a good friend and collaborator, Jesse 'Rainbow.' It was about six months in the making with my DP Marz Miller that started as a slight curiosity and evolved into tracking down a Photosonics high speed 35mm film camera (previously only really used on Inception), shipping it over from Germany (huge thanks to Dedo Weigert), custom machining aluminium film cores, testing the European electronics on American power with the only tech in town, Andy Bethke, and doing a test shoot to make sure when all was said and done the film actually exposed properly (1000ft converted to about six seconds of real time!). Once we confirmed everything was good to go, the weather went completely south. Hoping for a sunny day, we got huge cloud cover and rain, so we had to call in a huge favour with our gaffer, Nick Durr, to bring out six 18K HMIs, which were all pointed at our static subject: A fully casted, modelled, painted replica of the artist's head that we were set to blow up. The result was magical. No AI, no VFX, all in camera.

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

Ramez> I think that really begins with creatively aligning early on. If my sensibility matches the creative, it feels effortless. Of course when this doesn't occur or if there's creative resistance, it's important to figure out where we are trying to end up. My job is to help get there.

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?

Ramez> Being a child of Syrian immigrants, it's incredibly important to me to mentor people - especially those under represented in the industry.

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? 

Ramez> I think I've used more hand sanitiser in the past three years than my entire life. Personally, the pandemic shifted my focus on germs in a way that I hope never happens again. Professionally, once we were able to de-mask, it really hasn't affected me too much.

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)? 

Ramez> It’s always important to keep all desired formats in mind, but the main delivery always takes priority for me. 

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)?

Ramez> I love combining the old and new. I would love to develop a workflow for 35mm film with Unreal Engine volume stages.