Top director: Henry Lu

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Henry Lu.jpgEvery fortnight Campaign Brief Asia is turning the spotlight on a hot director that is currently in the news. Last year Moxie Films set up an office in Thailand – Campaign Brief Asia speaks to Henry Lu, one of their New York-based directors, who recently finished a campaign for the Japanese market.

Henry Lu, producer of Nike’s inaugural ‘Just Do It’ spot, spent a decade as an agency producer at Wieden + Kennedy, Portland & Tokyo and BBDO before he switched to directing in 2003. He’s signed with Moxie Pictures, which has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and Bangkok and represented directors including Wes Anderson, Jim Sheridan, Jared Hess and Cameron Crowe. Prior to working in advertising, Lu studied film at Ryerson in his native Toronto and directed short films set in Buenos Aires and Hong Kong that have played at film festivals including Sundance, Mill Valley, Sydney, Soho and the Worldwide Short film festival in Toronto. He grew up in Toronto, but his heritage is both Taiwanese and Chinese. He now splits his time between New York and Toronto.

 

Kumon.jpgYou’ve recently directed four spots for Japanese language institute Kumon. What was the most challenging aspect of this job?

The recent Kumonproject was perhaps one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in thelast few years. I’ve been fortunate to work on five out of the lastseven Kumon campaigns. The most challenging aspect was to keep thecampaign fresh and present my current point-of-view of what Japan islike in 2009. I think we achieved this in a very artful manner. Thisyear’s Kumon campaign was unique because we re-interviewed kids that wehad filmed five years ago. The kids were incredibly thoughtful. It wastruly interesting to see how each of these kids had grown and whattheir new dreams were.

Have you directed many other spots out of Asia? Is this a region where you are actively seeking work?

I have been fortunate to work with Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo on Kumon andLotteria. I would like to continue filming in Japan – it is a specialplace for me. But I would also like to use my basic Mandarin skills anddo something in China. Then I could tell my mother that I was able touse my broken Chinese for work and she’d be really excited.

 

You started out as an agency producer before making the switch todirecting. What prompted the career change? Was it difficult to makethe transition?

Working at Wieden +Kennedy Portland was like getting my masters incommercial production. Not only did I work with many of the topdirectors like David Fincher and Ivan Zacharias but I also worked withsome of the best agency creatives. I left the agency after seven yearsbecause I wanted to be challenged again – I was getting too comfortableworking on million dollar campaigns with some of the best directorsaround. So I started shooting some small pieces for W+K and this leadto shooting some more small pieces and then it lead to me doing Kumonand a Nike Soccer campaign. It was a seamless transition into directingbecause I had spent most of my life on set anyway. I had known RobertFernandez at Moxie for the past seven years and this helped metremendously. Knowing what he stood for and how he approached projectsmeant we were in sync from my producer days and this has continued onto this day.

How has your background in producing affected your directing style? Are you more conscious of budgets, etc?

I would say having my background as an agency producer does give me acertain advantage on my jobs. The biggest benefit is knowing how totalk to everyone from creatives to clients and being mindful of whateveryone’s function is on a project. As far as budgets are concerned Ithink I’m very responsible and can work pretty efficiently. I oftenlike to work with smaller crews but this is more about getting anintimate performance from my actors and not about cost.

  

What was your first big break as a commercials director?

Nike Soccer. There were so many good ideas that the client couldn’tafford to produce them all so the creatives took a chance and we didthem one weekend and they ended up being broadcast right beside the bigbudget spots – you could never tell the difference.

 

Warchild.jpgWhat’s the three most memorable spots you’ve directed?

This is a really difficult question. I love the aesthetic of the NikeFootball spot and what it makes you feel. I really enjoyed the processof this year’s Warchild PSA and it has actually made a tremendousdifference for the cause.

And I am really proud of this year’s Kumon campaign – I think it was heartfelt, engaging and will make people think.

 

What do you love about directing commercials?

I really enjoy the process of sharing ideas with everyone from theagency creatives to my DOP and production team. It is a sharedexperience that only gets better and better when everyone is activelythinking about pushing the idea.

 

Your short films have been shown at film festivals around the world. Do you have any other film work in the pipeline?

The short films I have done are a real labour of love. I shot my firstone in Hong Kong, the second one in Buenos Aires and the third one inTokyo. I am continually fascinated with human nature and how we can allrelate to one another no matter where we come from and what language wespeak. I think my short films reflect this. I have been filming adocumentary over the past 16 months. It is an incredible challengingand rewarding. I hope to have something finished at the end of thisyear.

 

What are your favourite three commercials?

I’m going to cheat and say that I admire the work of Jonathan Glazerand Ivan Zacharias. So pick any three of your favourites and I’m surethey would match up with what I would say.

You can view Henry Lu’s current reel here.

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