John Slattery’s involvement in the advertising business now extends beyond his brilliant portrayal of NYC agency founder/executive Roger Sterling, Jr., in Mad Men. Slattery is venturing out to become a real-world member of the ad filmmaking community, joining Park Pictures’ directorial roster for commercials and branded content.
A four-time Emmy nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series on the basis of his work on Mad Men, Slattery also began his directing career on the acclaimed AMC series, helming five episodes (“The Rejected” and “Blowing Smoke” in 2010; “Signal 30” in 2012; “Man with a Plan” and “A Tale of Two Cities” in 2013).
Slattery also diversified into feature directing with God’s Pocket which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, earning a Grand Jury Prize nomination. Slattery co-wrote the screenplay (with Alex Metcalf) for the film which is an adaptation of Peter Dexter’s novel about the overlapping lives of working class people in the God’s Pocket neighborhood of Philadelphia. The cast included John Turturro, Richard Jenkins, Mad Men co-star Christina Hendricks, and marked one of the final screen performances by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.
God’s Pocket was produced by Park Pictures Features, a sister company to Park Pictures. Slattery is a long-time friend of Park Pictures’ co-founder/exec producer Jackie Kelman Bisbee, feature division head Sam Bisbee, and director Lance Acord, a Park Pictures co-founder. Park and Slattery have experience working together in the ad arena back when the actor served as spokesperson for the Lincoln Motor Co.
Acord directed Lincoln spots featuring Slattery and produced by Park Pictures.
Given his comfort level with and trust in the Park ensemble, Slattery brought the script for God’s Pocket to the company and eventually the film came to fruition. Director Acord, who’s also an accomplished DP (Being John Malkovich, Lost In Translation, Adaptation, Where the Wild Things Are), lensed God’s Pocket for director Slattery.
Most recently Slattery directed a couple of episodes of Love, Judd Apatow’s comedy which Netflix is slated to roll out next year. “The show had a lot of improvisation, which I had never done before as a director. It was a great experience,” noted Slattery.
SHOOT: What’s the allure of commercials and branded content for you as a director?
Slattery: I’ve always been a bit of a TV addict dating back to when I was a kid. I always responded to good creative. Anyone does. To reach out and tell a good story, the right story, to connect with an audience is gratifying. I’ve always been fascinated with how to tell a story, how to get a message across in a minute or 30 seconds. Short-form storytelling is an art, being able to not only effectively tell a story within a limited time frame but also somehow being able to stand out, to make a dent in this world where there’s so much media, with people coming at potential viewers and consumers from so many angles.
SHOOT: Why did you gravitate to Park Pictures as your roost for commercials and branded content?
Slattery: I’m friends with Jackie, Sam and Lance. We’ve traveled together a lot. Our three families have spent time together. They are great people. Lance is a truly great artist. Jackie runs that business so well. The creative and business vision there is great. The filmmakers on their roster and their body of work are pretty impressive. I’ve had great experience working with them—when I was spokesperson for Lincoln and when I directed God’s Pocket. I came to them with God’s Pocket, and Sam, Jackie and Lance were so supportive. I felt so fortunate to have Lance shoot the film. He is brilliant.
SHOOT: What drew you to directing?
Slattery: I’ve been acting for awhile, thinking what would I do if I were making the decisions as a director. With Mad Men, it was clear the show would be around for awhile. The level of everyone’s work was so good, the writing so brilliant, that it was the perfect place to give directing a try. I learned from everybody and they were gracious enough to give me a shot.
I really loved directing—and still do. Communicating with actors, drawing out performances seemed natural to me. But I also love directing for the challenge it presents to do things outside my wheelhouse—editorial, shot making, things I hadn’t done much of before but which I now feel more comfortable with. With directing, it was great to see everything come together and to get the chance to exercise your vision. It also gives you confidence as an actor. Sometimes you think that the weight of the world is on you, that your performance has to be perfect. But when you see how everyone contributes, it relieves the pressure. You realize that you’re just a part of what’s happening and that you have their full support of people whose talent and work make you better.
SHOOT: Reflect on what Mad Men has meant to you personally and professionally.
Slattery: It was one of those experiences that will never happen again, certainly for me. The mistake would be to try to top that or think that you had to top it. The writing on the show and the production from top to bottom were brilliant. It was a life-changing experience to be able to play a character who was that complicated, funny and emotional for that long a time. With a long-running TV show you can dig into areas of a character that you don’t have time to do in a feature. Working with all those people—the actors, directors, designers and crew—is what I will miss most. Everybody was so proud of the work, striving to do the best job they could.
SHOOT: As an actor, you’ve had the chance to work with and observe assorted directors. Did any of them mentor you or help you in your directing career?
Slattery: Phil Abraham is a great cinematographer and director. He shot The Sopranos and his first directorial outing was on that show. He then shot the Mad Men pilot and was responsible for establishing the look of Mad Men, and then went on to direct several episodes. He is a generous person, allowing me to attach myself to him and follow him around asking a lot of annoying questions for a few months at a time. I did this a few times and it helped me develop as a director.
As an actor, you can observe and learn from all your directors. I have been the beneficiary of great direction and the subject of not-so-great direction—all those experiences help you develop as a filmmaker. You see how people relate and how putting actors at ease is so important.
