Spotlight On: Spence Nicholson

View Spence on AboveTheLine.TV here: http://www.abovetheline.tv/profile/Spencefilms

Name: Spence Nicholson

Hometown: Born in Santa Barbara, CA, and raised in Portland, Oregon

Currently Reside: Ojai, CA

Signed With: Red Van Pictures

Last Video: Steel Train "I Feel Weird" and Socratic "Boy In a Magazine"; we shot them back to back in Austin Texas. Both artists are signed to Drive Thru Records.

Favorite Videos You’ve Done And Why: I have a blast directing every video I do. However I would say my last several videos (the videos I have done this calendar year), though challenging in their own ways, have been my best and most fun work to date.

Someone else’s video/s that inspired you: I have had the great privilege of being mentored by the legendary Wayne Isham. His works were always influential to me, even before I got the opportunity to meet him, and since working with him I find myself constantly inspired. Other video directors who have had a formative impact on my work include Jonas Akerlund, Jonathan Glazer, Mark Romanek and Joseph Kahn.

Besides videos and films, I am constantly inspired by still Photography. There are a number of photographers who constantly inspire me: David LaChapelle, Charlie White, Mark Seliger, Patrick Demarchelier, and Rankin, to name only a few.

Any education affiliations? I attended Brooks Institute of Photography. I did not go to get a degree or to graduate; it was never my intention to finish the program. I went to learn what I needed to learn (or what I thought I needed to learn at the time) and to make contacts. I told myself that the first opportunity I had to leave I would, and I did. I got an internship at RAW Films, a Commercial and Music Video house in LA (now defunct). At the time they had many great influential directors, including Wayne, Kevin Kerslake, Nathan Cox, and many more. Every director there was a director I looked up to. From the internship, I ended up working with Wayne and his producer Dana Marshall more and more until they hired me full time. I have had the best education I could ever have had as a Director working with Wayne and Dana.

How did you get your start in directing? It was the first thing I found that I was ever good at and could actually make a living off of, and looking back, it's all I really have ever wanted to do. After working with Wayne for some time, I got the itch to direct again. I had done some shorts in school, but looking back on them they rank of student insecurities. I met a band at a house party and convinced them they needed a video. They didn't have any money at the time so I paid for it myself: $1,000, leftover film and a bunch of favors. If you search hard enough I am sure you can find it, because I sure as hell am not going to flaunt it at this point. After that I contacted a bunch of bands on MySpace and did a few more where I split the budgets with the bands just to build my reel. All along I had been sending all my work to Neil Maiers, the rep @ crossroads (where Wayne is signed) and after some time I guess he saw enough of an improvement and an amount of potential in me that he started to send me tracks for lower budget jobs.

Let’s take a walk through the production process:

What is your process for coming up with concepts (where do you find inspiration)? I listen to the song a million times, rack my brain trying to come up with an idea, get frustrated that I can't think of an idea, take a break and try to forget the song, and then the idea comes out of nowhere, usually when I am doing something really mundane and totally unrelated. Each track is different but this is my average process, it seems.

Once you have the concept, how do you pitch it to the band (write treatments, draw storyboards, etc.)? I write the treatment. I tend to overextend myself and try to cram as many references and YouTuube links (usually of obscure 80's Television shows and rare German commercials) as possible, but I'm beginning to think that less is more in many instances.

How do you find the right crew to work with? And as a follow-up, what technical and/or personal qualities in an individual stand out to you when hiring your crew? It really comes down to who is appropriate for the job. Fortunately for me, my crew members are my best friends in my personal life as well. I am lucky to have some of the most talented and creative people in our industry as friends. These are the people you are going into battle with- you need to trust them and they need to trust you. Any time I tell a crew member what I want and they say OK, but then go and do what he/she thinks is right for that take instead of what I told him/her I wanted, then that is the last time I will work with that person. If they were to have told me what they were thinking for that take, and why they thought it would be better than what I thought, then I would have listened, we would come to an agreement, and the take would be that much better. I would then hire that person every chance I get because WE WORK TOGETHER. Filmmaking is all about collaboration.

What are your pre-production steps after the concept is accepted? I tend to get ahead of myself before the job awards. I bug my DP, PD and producers on a constant basis before we even get the job. So, usually, once the job books we hit the ground running. Generally, one of the first things I do is casting, if the job calls for it. Shot lists/storyboards, etc.

How long does it take for you to turn around a video on average (estimated number of days on pre-production, production, post, etc.)? Usually right up until the deadline, which can be as little as a few days after the shoot, up to a few weeks after the shoot. I try to spend as much time as possible to get it right and trying to attempt perfection- which is impossible, no matter who tells you otherwise.

What are some of the difficulties you’ve experience on set that you’ve learned to be prepared for next time (lessons learned, things to watch out for, etc.) Every video is a learning experience. When I look at my work from as little as a year ago, it's crazy to see what garbage I used to make, and I’m sure I will say the same thing a year from now about my current work as well. I have, however, learned that nothing is going to turn out exactly as you originally conceived it. There are going to be many things that happen on set that you could never have anticipated. You have to roll with the punches and think on your feet. The great thing is that this is usually when you have your best ideas and get the best footage. Also I have learned that it's not all about me, I am there to showcase the band/artist (or a product). It's EXTREMELY important to collaborate. Collaboration is one of my favorite things about the filmmaking process, whether it be with the band, the commissioner, manager, my DP, PD, hair, makeup, all the way down to a PA. Everyone is (or at least should be) on set for a reason and it's the director’s job to realize that and to filter everything into the final product.

What equipment do you use for post-production? Whatever is appropriate for the job. However when I edit, I strictly use Final Cut Pro; I hate Avid. I am a very hands-on type of person and I have found Final Cut Pro lends itself much more to that style of work. I am a huge fan of old fashioned film, but have gotten great results with HD. But in reality it's all about the lenses: my favorites happen to be Cooke S4's for HD and 35mm, and Arri/Zeiss Ultra Primes for Super 16. I think it is a shame that the motion picture industry hasn't embraced the digital revolution in quite the same way as the still photography industry has. It seems like everyday the still industry creates something truly groundbreaking where as us in motion pictures are still waiting.

When the video is complete, how do you start marketing it? I don't, that is up to the labels/management. I do however send my latest work to commissioners, managers etc. with whom I have previously worked with, or whom I want to work with, in order to market myself as a director.

What is one of the coolest techniques you’ve used in a music video and how did you create it? Sadly the coolest techniques/ideas I have had have, at this point, been too expensive for the budgets I've been given.

What is your craziest on-set story? I don't kiss and tell, unless you happen to be my friend and we have had too much to drink. :- )

What would people be surprised to find out about you? If you have met me you probably wouldn't be too surprised to find that I am deaf in one ear, have a severe case of ADHD and am borderline OCD. I am one loud motherfucker. However I consider the ADHD and OCD to be of great benefit to me, personally, as a director, but of very little benefit to me in my personal life.

What are you working on now? I'm writing on a bunch of tracks, waiting for something to stick.

And finally, do you have any advice for future music video directors? It really all comes down to two things. Talent and passion. If you have the talent, and you have the passion, then you must persevere. Be prepared for long nights that bleed into days, days that bleed into weeks and weeks that bleed into months. There have been many times where I have gotten maybe 12 hours sleep in an entire week, going from job to job working with Wayne, and that seems to have continued into my directing career as well.

This has to be what you want to do, and you have to want to do it for purely legitimate reasons. If you want to be a director because of the money, stop now, go to law school, business school or study medicine; you are going to make a lot more money as a doctor or lawyer. If you want to be a director because of the fame, stop now and get on a reality show, because people care a whole lot more about reality stars than they do about Music Video and Commercial directors. If you want to be a director because of the money AND fame, then become a plastic surgeon.

If you legitimately want to direct purely because you love it and have the passion for it then get out there and do it. Contact as many bands as you can and go to as many shows as possible. Try to meet as many like minded people as possible, try to build a crew.

I suggest going to school only if you can afford it. If you have a rich grandma or rich parents who want to pay for it, then go for it. I'm still in debt up to my neck and I didn't even finish. If you need a degree for whatever reason, i.e your parents want you to or you feel like you need one to feel complete, then get a degree in anything but film. A degree in Film is about as important as a degree in janitorial services, you DO NOT NEED ONE. When someone wants to hire you as a Director, they are not going to ask to see your degree. Get a degree in psychology, history, English, biology; these degrees are much more important to a director than a degree in film. I was fortunate enough to grow up in the age of the internet, and for the most part I am self taught. If I wanted to find something out I would immerse myself in the subject, either online or at the public library. Read as many books as possible, and subscribe to American Cinematographer. You are going to learn a whole lot more researching on your own, than you are from a Professor who is trying to live out his film fantasies through you. When you finally get on set as a PA or Grip, or whatever, you are going to find that little of what you learned in Film School really matters, and you are going to spend a good deal of your time trying to unlearn a lot of things. You are going to learn a whole lot more on set watching professionals.

Try to learn every aspect of filmmaking. It is important for a director to at least have a cursory knowledge of Cinematography, Production Design, Editorial, Fashion, etc. You don't have to be a master cinematographer or production designer to be a director but it definitely helps to at least understand the fundamental principles in order to better communicate with your crew of what you want.

It's not going to happen overnight, we all like to think we are going to make one kickass video that is going to catapult us into the stratosphere, but that is not the way it works. You are going to need to be humble. Your shit actually does stink and I have yet to meet someone who's shit smells like anything but shit.

Keep on Trucking,
Spence Nicholson