Daniel Huntley
Q&A with Daniel Huntley - News Editor and Social Media Manager at shots
Daniel Huntley is News Editor and Social Media Manager at shots, a global platform dedicated to creativity in the advertising space whose aim is to inspire and inform brave creative thinkers and makers. A member of the Curation Hour network, he nurtures and supports new talent through shots Unsigned. We had the chance to ask him a few questions about how he discovers new directors and selects content to feature online.
You are News Editor and Social Media Manager at shots, focusing on discovering new talent with shots Unsigned. Can you tell us more about how shots unsigned works? For example, how do you discover new talent, what do you look for and how does it benefit directors?
shots Unsigned is broken down into three main parts, part one is the shots Unsigned archive. The archive is currently home to around 1100+ directors and this where we host an unsigned director’s contact info, bio and a highlighted film that I thought was worth sharing with the community. The page I create here is behind a paywall and can only be seen by Source subscribers.
The second part is the monthly shots Unsigned showcase that we host on shots. Each month we select six films all curated from the shots Unsigned archive. This is promoted across all of our social media.
And the third part is a monthly interview on shots with an unsigned director. This is where they can elaborate on how their film was made, tell us about their background, their motivations and their dreams for the future. Again this is promoted across our network.
The way I usually discover new talent is by spending quite a bit of time on Vimeo, Youtube, Instagram. I have a checklist of websites I am looking at daily, student showcases, graduation reels, award shows, newcomer events, platforms for underrepresented talent. This is where I will find a large portion of candidates for shots Unsigned. I also have the privilege of seeing heaps of content every week through my editorial role at shots, so anything that doesn’t make the cut for our work or news section I can sometimes find a place for them in Unsigned.
We also accept submissions so people over the last few years have been sending us work directly, which makes it easier for me, especially if it is something outstanding… Plus I have a few secret locations online that I just can’t share!
The things I look for in a shots Unsigned director can be many things, but generally I select work for the archive that I either think looks cool based on my own sensibilities, features a glimmer of potential or has an interesting focus point or narrative. All of these films I select can have various different levels of style, substance, technique, and execution, they don’t all have to be perfect films.
Can you share with us some of your latest discoveries in terms of talent and content? What was particularly outstanding about these productions?
One director who we recently showcased was Solmund MacPherson, he directed a short film called Wolf in Dude’s Clothing. I really rated the overall execution with this short, it's an absurd scenario, full of fun moments and some fantastic looking shots. Great fun.
I recently visited the Filmakademie Baden Württemberg for the Porsche Awards and met an unbelievable selection of talented filmmakers. One that stood out to me was director Natascha Stogu and her film Dagestan Ear, about wrestlers and their cauliflower ears - this is something I avoided in my rugby career! The film was a great blend of interesting compositions, voice over, music and a slice of real life. Natascha just had a great energy and a unique background.
Another one that I really enjoyed was Paul Wie’s spec campaign Soundtrack to Greatness. The mix of energetic shots, quick edits, and young athletes all soundtracked with NBA star Allen Iverson’s infamous “practice” rant made for a great film. This could have easily been a fully fledged Nike campaign, loved it, short and sweet.
In your opinion, where are we heading with content? Is there anything in particular that directors should be aware of, for example specific genres, formats or techniques to explore?
Good question, I often wonder this myself… There will always be a place for the 15-30 minute short film, the 3 minute music video or the 1 hour documentary type film. But I think what is coming next is going to be dictated by emerging platforms and the content creators working within those fields.
For example shorter, tighter content delivered to the audience anywhere-anytime-anyplace, this is obvious, and is mainly due to how people are viewing content these days, but I just don’t see it going any other way. I think a genre that can be amazing for certain types of emerging directors is documentary. This can really work in the directors favour if the film is a passion project. You will see some absolutely phenomenal work in this genre that often gets overlooked as I think some viewers consider them too long or boring.
As far as formats go, I consider music video to be the ultimate format for emerging talent to show their hand. Just look at all the incredible talent working in that field currently, I think we are spoiled with talent when it comes to music video.
The technique side of directing is the hardest because you are either born with natural artistic talent and a vision for filmmaking or you can pick up all the tricks via film school and become a technically gifted director. The dream is to find directors who have both the vision and the capabilities and are ready to pursue their vision.
“Look at the content being awarded at certain shows and align yourself with the ones that you feel you belong to. This should be a good learning experience for a director, as rejection is part of the process”
Do you have any advice as to what up and coming directors should prioritise to get ahead? For example should they be looking at festivals, media visibility, growing a social media following or getting signed by a production company?
Great question. The market for most creative fields is always pretty competitive and there is always someone out there who has more desire to reach the next step, so I would say that prioritising your online presence is a must.
Once you have all of these outlets you can then start to connect with everyone and become part of a community. I would also say try and make one platform a priority. Vimeo is a good platform for filmmakers and from what I have seen a supportive community. Put it this way, are you going to only publish your work on YouTube and be subjected to negative comments from trolls or publish on Vimeo and be pumped up by encouraging comments from likeminded individuals? Like the rapper Too $hort says: “Get in where you fit in”.
Once you have laid the groundwork and got your films and content online, you can share with the world and start entering appropriate festivals. I feel these are a perfect way to stimulate your visibility online and potentially lead to that fortuitous business opportunity. Plus if things go well for you at a festival or awards show, you will be platformed by them and shared with their community, so again more visibility for your project.
You’ve been on the jury for many awards, including UKMVAs, YDA, Porsche Awards, EPICA Awards, shots Awards, Berlin Commercial, Creative Circle Awards and Shiny Awards. What is the role of a good award show? As budgets are generally tight, what should directors be on the lookout for when submitting?
I think the role of a good award show is to champion these talents, no matter how far along they are in their filmmaking journey. Any bit of encouragement given to them can make the world of difference. I think sometimes creatives need to be pushed and encouraged to “keep on keeping on” as it can be brutal when things do not pan out for directors.
As far as the award shows I have been lucky enough to be part of, directors should know that all the work we discuss is with the utmost respect and these conversations from the juries can get quite deep and personal. So much of the work we are seeing over the last few years is sensational, the levels of craft are rising year after year.
As far as submitting work to an award, I think the director really needs to do their own research, you have to look at the content being awarded at certain shows and align yourself with the ones that you feel you belong to. This should be a good learning experience for a director, as rejection is part of the process.
How can new talent connect with you and shots?
Any unsigned filmmakers who wish to submit their content for shots Unsigned consideration can reach me at daniel.huntley@extremereach.com.