Since making her first major directorial splash in the ad arena with Amnesty International’s dramatically impactful You Are Powerful–an Academy Films-produced, Cannes Silver Lion-winning short for Mother London which earned her inclusion into SHOOT‘s 2009 New Directors Showcase–Kim Gehrig has steadily extended her creative filmmaking reach.
Fast forward to today and Gehrig is with Somesuch & Co. in London, among her most recent projects being another breakthrough job from Mother London, her agency alma mater. “The last couple of years ‘post-Amnesty’ have been really great to me,” assessed Gehrig. “I have had the opportunity to work on such a diverse range of projects, and stretch myself in different ways as a director. From Ikea ‘Kitchen Parties’ [a Gold winner at last year’s British Arrow Awards], which was more of a stylized piece, through to Coke’s ‘Beat 2012’ which was documentary and all the other different work in between, I have really enjoyed genre hopping. I think I thrive on that.”
The centerpiece of the “Beat 2012” campaign from Mother is a documentary about Grammy-winning music producer/DJ Mark Ronson making music from the sounds of select 2012 Summer Olympic hopefuls in training around the world. This innovative track is married with vocals performed by Katy B for the campaign, including in the spot titled “Move to the Beat.”
“The Coke Beat 2012 project, which took up the majority of 2011, was such a huge undertaking–an hour-long documentary, ads, a music video–but a very rewarding one at the same time,” Gehrig recalled. “It was great to be really immersed in one project and watch it grow and take different directions and forms.”
Ronson’s vision and the sheer size of “Beat 2012” challenged Gehrig. “It was a very organic project as Mark Ronson was literally making the track in front of my eyes–so as he changed his mind, I would have to change my approach,” said Gehrig. “It was really liberating in many ways. Very fast, very spontaneous.”
The nearly two-and-a-half-minute trailer provides a taste of Ronson’s creative process, opening on young gymnasts using a springboard to perform vaults. The only audio heard is the sound of each gymnast’s footsteps and contact with the springboard. On the sidelines is Ronson, who’s wearing headphones and listening intently. He captures the sounds of each gymnast performing. The question, “what will be the sound of 2012?” appears one word at a time in-between various Olympic athletes preparing for the Summer Games in London. The accompanying audio is that of other athletes in training–martial artists sparring, an archer shooting an arrow, a table tennis player, a hurdler. These distinctive sounds are meshed together as an answer to the aforementioned question.
The trailer then introduces us to Ronson who explains his plans to make a track with the sounds of Olympic athletes practicing their respective sports. While his explanation continues, shots and sounds of the sports take center stage.
Ronson’s narration and interviews with the athletes begin to merge into the documentary trailer. The multiple shots of different sports and environments give the audience an understanding of just how large and ambitious a creative endeavor this track has become.
The trailer then segues to an aerial view of London and an Olympic venue, which gives way to a stage where a live performance of the new track is about to begin. Shots of the athletes preparing ramps up the anticipation for the music. The trailer keeps building as images of the performance mix with scenes of athletes’ preparation. The Olympic hopefuls’ narration adds to a majestic feel. The piece ends with the words “Beat 2012” on screen.
The powerful images and the process of creating a soundtrack captured in the trailer only whet viewers’ appetite for more–namely the long-form documentary and wanting to hear Ronson’s full track. The documentary is due to screen in more than 30 countries in the run up to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and has already made its TV debut on U.K.’s Channel 4.
Agency roots
While her work has become more diverse during a relatively brief window of less than three years, Gehrig observed that a constant dynamic throughout has been her experience as an agency creative which she said has proved “invaluable” to her as a director. “Knowing the layers of an idea and to really get to the core of it when you are directing is something I draw on from having been a creative,” Gehrig explained. “Also being able to navigate the client and distill what’s important has been something I have taken from agency life.”
Indeed Gehrig made her first mark on the ad world as a creative and creative director on lauded work during an eight-year tenure at Mother. For the last two-and-a-half years of that stretch, she diversified into directing while at Mother, helming music videos via Academy Films, London, which later became her roost after exiting the agency arena to focus full-time on a directing career. She then joined Somesuch last year, reuniting with some former Academy colleagues.
During the time she had one foot in Mother and the other at Academy, Gehrig initially directed music videos. “I love music videos, I still do, I just didn’t have the time last year to do any,” she said. “So it’s my resolution this year to do more and re-engage in that side of things.”
She acknowledged that working on music videos has influenced her as a director. Upon making her initial directorial career inroads, Gehrig said, “I deliberately threw myself into making videos so that I expanded myself as a filmmaker beyond just adverts. This has ended up being really formative in my work, as much of it has been music-related and I’ve used music video styles within commercials.” Her music video influence can also be seen and felt in “Beat 2012.”
“‘Beat 2012’ in particular has drawn on my music video experience as it was explicitly about the creation of a song,” Gehrig said. “Creating visuals for a track while the beat was being made was a way to really connect with the craft of making music and the image. That experience in understanding that process, and the creative challenges of a musician, will definitely influence my next foray into music videos.”
Also possibly next on the horizon for Gehrig is diversifying more into the American ad market. Somesuch, she noted, has just launched with Iconoclast @ Logan & Sons. Somesuch is looking to extend its European partnership with Iconoclast stateside.
