Clients have to be prepared and willing to get fired for an idea if they believe in it, according to director Spike Jonze.
Speaking in conversation with SapientNitro global creative director Gaston Legorburu, at the Meet the Disruptors event, Cannes Lion 2014, legendary director Spike Jonze said the medium doesn't matter, art or creative, as long as you believe in the story you are telling and out yourself into it "honestly and authentically."
The ad that continues to inspire Jonze, is the Sony ad with all the coloured balls bouncing down a San Francisco street.
"That to me is just magic, and it's just got this mood, you can't help but be happy watching it. I got the board [for it before it was made] and I didn't see it, I just didn't get it. The creatives had something in their heads and they found the perfect director and you can tell the joy they had making it.
"As creatives it's a hard thing to push something that you're really excited about, especially if you’ve written 100 concepts and they keep getting shut down. If there's any clients in the room, be willing to get fired for a good idea. That's what the world needs.
"It's easy for me to say because I don't have to pay your mortgage, but it's [important to] find people that aren't scared."
He'd rather not take a job, than not be able to tell the story he wants, in the way he wants to tell it.
Although, feeling remorseful for "picking on clients" he went on to balance his argument, telling creatives and agencies they have to "be respectful" of the client or the studio that is putting up the money for a film or an ad and balancing the creative vision with the commercial vision.
"The truth is that we all have to make everyone's problems work - we have to understand the guy that runs the studio ... He's got a set of things he has to do and we have to understand that," he said.
Making the film Where the Wild Things Are, was an example of that where Jonze said he faced the problem that the studio "had to either fire me or let me make the movie I wanted" because his vision wasn't exactly the "family movie" they had in mind.
Jonze finished up by answering a question from the audience on how his approach differs between filmmaking and advertising.
"In one way it stays identical ... every project started with a feeling. It can be a movie, a short or a commercial but I have to think 'this excites me and gives me that buzz'. It can be funny or heartbreaking but it always starts with that feeling," he said.
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