The Pitch Process Is Broken | ft. Erin McBean, Infinity Squared | EP 09 The Director and The D.O.P

The Pitch Process Is Broken | ft. Erin McBean, Infinity Squared | EP 09 The Director and The D.O.P

Erin McBean is Executive Producer at Infinity Squared. In this episode she breaks down Mountain Dew's "Do the Dew" campaign — a green screen shoot built almost entirely on AI-generated backgrounds, until the client's legal team said no three days before they rolled. We get into how the production pivoted, why a smaller budget sometimes gives social content exactly what it needs, and what happens when you push back on an agency's creative approach before a single frame is shot. Erin also on the pitch process — competitive pitches on shrinking budgets, jobs that get cancelled after three production companies have put in weeks of work, and why that needs to change. Plus where production is actually heading in 2026. Erin's been at Infinity Squared for five years and has watched the industry shift faster than it ever has.  In What We're Watching: a punk band trashes a Denny's and it becomes the best brand ad of the year. And an AI campaign that convinced the entire internet — including Ethan — that Nike had just made the greatest sports ad of all time. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Cold open 00:22 Intro — episode 9, running out of outfits 03:05 Meet Erin McBean, EP at Infinity Squared 04:10 Mountain Dew "Do the Dew" — why this project 05:00 Car park budget, not Sydney Park 07:38 AI backgrounds — building the whole concept 09:18 Client says no to AI — three days out 13:00 The casting — Caleb gets painted green 14:15"Bite off more than you can chew and chew like crazy" 23:21 The pitch process is broken 25:06 The rejection/dating parallel 27:05 Where is production going in 2026? 31:08 What do you wish people knew about the EP role? 38:17 What We're Watching — Denny's punk band ad 40:54 The AI Nike campaign that fooled everyone 45:31 Wrap-up 📷 Instagram: @directorandthedop #commercialfilm #filmmaking #advertising #executiveproducer #director #cinematographer #podcast #thedirectorandthedop #behindthescenes

What Clients Actually Mean | ft. Marcus Friedlander, Colourist | EP 08 The Director and the D.O.P

Marcus Friedlander is a colourist working across commercial production in Sydney. In this episode he breaks down the grade on Nike "Run Your Run" — shot in one day in Southeast Asia, multiple cameras, and a director who walked into the grade and asked him to push the look further. We get into what density actually means, how to unify footage from different cameras in a single working colour space, and what happens when a client asks you to make something more poppy and you've already hit the legal limit of the farm. We also talk about the colourist being involved earlier, why the DP needs to be in the grade, and the new piece of client feedback nobody quite knows how to decode yet — "we don't want it to feel AI." Plus — our very first listener question. Yun from Sydney asks how to work with a colourist for the first time. In Gear Chat: Cooke AP3 Anamorphics. 1.5x squeeze, user-interchangeable mounts, tiny, and about to be everywhere. 00:00 Opener 00:26 Intro — e-bikes, cyclists, North Sydney Bears 02:48 The Breakdown with Marcus Friedlander, Colourist 03:43 Nike "Run Your Run" — why this project 06:09 Look development — seeing it with fresh eyes 07:31 Technical challenges — one day, multiple cameras, harsh light 14:21 Working colour space — unifying different cameras 15:33 The gatewave — making digital feel like film 20:20 "We don't want it to feel AI" 21:33 Make it pop" — decoding client language 24:58 Director's cut workflow — backing up before client notes 27:32 What colourists wish production understood 28:40 The DP needs to be in the grade 33:05 Marcus's question for Ethan 37:50 First ever listener question — Yun from Sydney 42:37 Gear Chat — Cooke AP3 Anamorphics 47:44 Wrap-up

We Had Our First Fight plus guest Casting Director Steph Pringle | EP 07 The Director & The D.O.P

Steph Pringle is co-founder of Chicken and Chips Casting. In this episode she breaks down the NRL "This is How We League" campaign — a hybrid process mixing trained actors with community and street casting, built around one of the most articulate diversity briefs she's seen in her career.We get into what casting directors are actually doing on a project, why the callback process is disappearing and what directors lose when it does, and how emerging directors should be thinking about building those relationships.In Life of a Freelancer: how Ethan and Liam crew up — and their first real disagreement about crew loyalty.TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open — first fight teased00:23 Intro — episode 702:29 Meet Steph Pringle, Chicken and Chips Casting05:20 The NRL "This is How We League" — why this project08:46 The bilingual brief — specific without box-ticking09:45 Street casting vs agent-driven process11:32 Finding Dang — the gut feeling moment12:21 Car acting and eyeline technique20:43 The callback process — what directors are losing26:35 What casting directors wish production understood28:05 How emerging directors should approach casting directors29:55 Loyalty — building a reel then moving on34:13 Life of a Freelancer — crewing up37:30 The first fight38:25 Wrap-up FIND US🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4aYJx1Y3tfx8nXvSMnzOfp?si=9d077fcf64074702 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheDirectorandTheD.O.P 📷 Instagram: @directorandthedop Follow Steph @anditsstephaniepringle + Chicken and Chips Casting @chickenandchips_ #commercialfilm #filmmaking #advertising #casting #director #cinematographer #DOP #podcast #thedirectorandthedop #behindthescenes

What an ECD Is Actually Looking For | ft. Russ Tucker, Omnicom | EP 06 The Director & the DOP

Russ Tucker is ECD at Omnicom. Ten years ago he wrangled an uncommissioned Intel short film, a real robot from Swinburne University, and the Sydney Opera House — with no agreed budget and a TEDx premiere date closing in fast. In this episode Russ breaks down Being a Robot Usher. We cover live-coding a robot on set, engineering interviews so the Opera House staff unknowingly described the robot as their colleague, and why the best shot of the whole shoot was the one nobody planned. We also get into treatments — what ECDs are actually looking for, where confidence tips into cockiness, and who really wins the argument over which director gets selected. In What We're Watching: Expedia "Nothing" (dir. Lope Serrano, DOP Tim Lorentzen, production CANADA), Nike "Run Forever" (dir. Rodrigo Inada), and two Netflix documentaries redefining found footage storytelling — Perfect Neighbor and The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Cold open 00:23 Intro — episode 6, 50k views across social 04:51 Meet Russ Tucker, ECD at Omnicom 05:46 Being a Robot Usher — how it started 07:41 Hustling the Sydney Opera House 10:30 Jordan the robot-deer — live coding on set 14:14 The glass door moment 15:46 Engineering the interviews — they had no idea 19:59 Treatments — confidence vs cockiness 22:43 How much does the DOP actually matter in a treatment? 23:55 Who wins the director selection argument? 24:45 What ECDs are actually thinking at the monitor 27:20 Where do you find references nobody else is using? 29:38 What We're Watching — Expedia "Nothing" 33:22 Nike "Run Forever" 35:00 Perfect Neighbor + The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson 39:30 A confession — the camera we forgot to roll

The Super Bowl Ad That Almost Didn't Happen | Ep 05 — The Director & The DOP

n Episode 5, Ethan and Liam break down ESPN Have a Sick Day — an Australian Super Bowl promo for Now We Collide agency with Mint Films, produced by Henry Richardson. They get into why Ethan wrote a treatment for a job that didn't ask for one, how they found lead actor Jack William Newell through a casting tape that made the decision instantly, shooting a loose unscripted performance style with a rigid sun-driven schedule in an open street, and what it felt like when Liam lost it laughing trying to hold the Ronin steady on Jack's very first take. Then the story nobody knew was coming — a shoot postponed the day before because of the Bondi Beach shootings. How that call was made, who made it, and what it cost everyone to show up a few days later and find the energy to make something joyful. In Gear Chat — Iron Glass, a Ukrainian company doing some of the most interesting vintage lens rehousing work in the world while their country is at war. Why vintage lenses are having a moment, and what the new Air Series mirrorless mount rehousings mean for smaller camera packages. 0:25 Intro — MacGyver mic stand, 25K social views, guest updates 3:37 The Breakdown — ESPN Have a Sick Day 5:53 Writing a treatment when nobody asked 11:40 Finding Jack — the casting tape that ended the process 13:56 Liam loses it on the Ronin — first shot of the day 16:00 The trumpet girls scene 18:38 Shooting in a city — 3, 4, 5 suns 32:51 Outro The Director & The DOP is a video podcast for the commercial production and advertising industry. A director and a DOP break down real projects — no theory, just the work. New episodes weekly. 🎙️ Hosted by Ethan McLean (Director) & Liam Brennan (DOP) #commercialfilmmaking #director #cinematography #advertising #filmmaking #australianfilm