Tim Perell has been producing films, television and music videos for more than 15 years. He’s a recipient of the Film Independent Spirit Producers Award and his work spans a variety of genres and has premiered at such high profile festivals as Cannes and Sundance.
Perell began his career as an A&R talent scout for Warner Bros Records before moving on to film. He then worked for indie film icon John Pierson (Slacker, Clerks) at Islet Films. With several production credits already to his name, Perell founded Process Media in 2001. He has a hands-on style, engaging in both the business and creative aspects of the films his company produces. He works with writers to develop a script, enlists well-known actors, and then secures financing for the project. Perell is also actively involved in shooting and postproduction, and develops marketing strategy with distributors.
This focused involvement, from idea to distribution, has proven successful at Process. The indie feature production company’s credits include Last Chance Harvey (Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson), World’s Greatest Dad (Robin Williams) and A.C.O.D. (Adam Scott, Amy Poehler and Jessica Alba).
Last year Process formally diversified into the ad arena, launching a shop dedicated to the creation and production of original branded content and commercials.
Process’ roster in the ad space includes filmmakers Mary Harron (American Psycho starring Christian Bale), directorial team Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (American Splendor), John Krokidas (Kill Your Darlings), Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace), Greg Camalier (Muscle Shoals), Daniel Schechter (Life of Crime starring Jennifer Aniston and Tim Robbins), and the directorial team Clubhouse (consisting of Ross Finkel, Trevor Martin and Jonathan Paley who under the Guagua Productions directing collective banner have to their credit such documentaries as Ballplayer: Pelotero, and Schooled: The Price of College Sports).
SHOOT: Provide some backstory on the launch of Process’ commercial/branded content division. What was the rationale behind its formation as well as the directorial roster you’ve assembled?
Perell: About a year and a half ago, I got asked by a creative at Mediacom to develop a short film for Audi starring Claire Danes, a cut down of which would air on the Emmys. I was asked to dive in because of my relationships with a wide range of film and TV writers. We pulled Stu Zicherman in to write it–Stu and I had just made a film together, A.C.O.D., which tonally was close to what Audi wanted. After nine drafts of the script, we bid to actually produce it–against a couple of very established commercial production companies. We were awarded the job because we brought a great independent filmmaker to the table, Jordan Vogt-Roberts–his film Kings of Summer had just been a hit at Sundance. Claire and Audi were excited by the fresh approach. It was this experience that opened my eyes to the opportunities in the content space and, more specifically, to what Process can bring to the space, where our value would be in this space. After the success of the Audi film, I started building this division–we assembled our initial list of directors, trying to have an eclectic group across a variety of styles and genres. The list is still growing and, occasionally, we reach outside of our list to other filmmakers depending on the needs of the opportunity. We are also refining the list based on what we are seeing–we have a couple of great comedy directors and need a couple more!
SHOOT: What lessons have you learned and/or what has (have) been the biggest surprise(s) you’ve experienced thus far relative to the new venture?
Perell: There’s very clearly a lot to learn–I’m learning about, and enjoying, the accelerated schedules for content pitching and production. Films are a long haul and it’s a great re-calibration to move so quickly in this space. I think the commercial and content space is unfairly thought of as bland but the range of creativity and enthusiasm in the space has amazed me.
SHOOT: How and why do agencies gravitate to feature filmmakers for commercials and branded content?
Perell: What we’ve found so far is that agencies and brands respond positively to filmmakers for the longer form (2+ minutes) content because they are looking for people with natural storytelling abilities, filmmakers who can build and sustain narratives while weaving strong emotion into the stories. Feature filmmakers also have a lot of experience with all kinds of actors and the agencies/brands seem to recognize the value of the performances they are able to achieve. We also work with a number of filmmakers with strong visual styles and perspectives, which has resonated with agencies and brands as well. Also, there’s freshness to our filmmakers approach, which has excited a lot of creatives.
SHOOT: Share with us the most notable projects you’ve produced thus far via the division formed last year?
Perell: I’m extremely proud of the five short films we are making for ESPN and Adidas–three different filmmakers we represent are directing them and they are each distinctive and unique films, from straight doc. style to more stylized storytelling–they have heart and humor and emotion. It’s the kind of content we formed this division hoping to make.
SHOOT: Reflect on the differences and similarities between producing short-form and longer form fare.
Perell: Producing a film is a long journey that goes through many phases over years with a lot of different people and perspectives entering the process over the years–films evolve and grow and there are so many creative and business elements to manage. I love the speed of content and I’ve really love the quick and intense collaboration involved with the agencies and brands–our filmmakers have particularly loved having creative partners. With films, it’s often all on the director’s shoulders but in content there are other amazingly talented creatives driving the car with you. From a practical perspective, it’s pretty much the same–managing people and budgets. We’ve made films from 2-25m and content from 10k to 2m so we are used to dealing with budgets of all sizes and very used to not having enough money but stretching it!
SHOOT: What’s next for the Process division? Are you looking to bring in commercial directors and expand the roster beyond feature filmmaking talent available for ad projects?
Perell: We are pursuing a number of opportunities through agencies and have been having conversations with a lot of the new digital platforms that are hungry for content–Condé Nast, Refinery 29, etc. We have been developing a lot of our own ideas and shopping them to brands and/or platforms, often for series ideas, content that can be ongoing and create a deeper level of engagement between a brand and an audience. We are definitely expanding our roster–always open to talented filmmakers. For the moment, it is all feature people but who knows where it goes. All kinds of filmmakers excite me.
SHOOT: Bring us up to speed on the overall company’s feature and TV endeavors? What projects has Process been involved with and for which directors on these fronts?
Perell: We have a film in postproduction at the moment–Geezer starring Billie Joe Armstrong (who also wrote some original songs for it), Fred Armisen, Chris Messina, Judy Greer and Selma Blair. We are also prepping a film that starts shooting in NY in three weeks–a film about a high school basketball star and his gambling addicted father. We have a couple of other films set to start in the fall and we have been developing a number of scripted TV series ideas that I am hoping will be ready to pitch at the end of the summer. The goal is to be making content of every length for a wide range of distribution platforms from theatrical to digital.
