LANDIS SMITHERS 2.0 - "Director"

the most unexpected part of this argentine shoot,
the part that changed me the most,
involved taking a risk.

in one of those classic, last minute, down to the wire moments,
our cinematographer fell out.
kira brought us darius, under the wire.
and through a series of other events and bumps and slight bruises,
we looked at each other as a team, and decided to do things differently.

we brought along the production team that knows us so well,
we had found killer talent,
we were shooting the whole thing on camera RED, hd digital, for the first time,
and the team let me direct the film.



which even though i am holding a clacker, actually meant that our team worked harder and tighter than we ever have. richard brought beauty to the world in all the production design, betania found the talent we needed, connie locked down the music and created puppies and change from thin air, kira found land rovers in a country that didn't even import them and moved schedules to make scenes work, paul norman kept us on time and the talent on point, rita brought out emotion and subtlety in the actors, sara fisher was an actual weather witch on at least four occasions, and we collaborated every inch of the way.


you know, that is simply a recipe for heaven.


my biggest task? keeping the bigger picture and guiding the performances.
with everyone else around me at the top of their fields,
loving their game, they made it easy.


i now know that i do two things, and i do them very well:


1) i tell a great story.


2) and i know how to find people better than i am to bring that story to life.


it was the most intense time i have ever had in my career.

And because of the faith of my friends,
and the support of a brand like old navy,
it was also
the best time i have ever had.