The Director & The D.O.P

The Director & The D.O.P

The Director & The DOP is a video podcast for the commercial production and advertising industry. A director and a DOP break down real projects — no theory, just the work. New episodes weekly. 🎙️ Hosted by Ethan McLean (Director) & Liam Brennan (DOP)

  1. 1 day ago

    How Do You Edit a Film for Four Screens at Once? | Ep 25 w/ Jamie Rusiti

    For the first time, we put an editor in the chair. Jamie Rusiti breaks down a Destination NSW immersive experience — a four-screen dome you physically walk inside — that he and Ethan built together over six months with no rulebook to follow.How do you cut for a room where the audience can look anywhere they want? Jamie gets into the homemade four-screen preview rig, the RED Komodo 360 array, a 12-speaker sound mix designed to steer your eye around the space, why everything had to be locked on a tripod, and the hardest lesson of all — pacing your cuts so people have time to look around without losing the story.Then a genuinely great conversation about editing itself: why a film is written three times, the "make the worst edit you can" trick for beating the blank page, why editors should never be on set, and what it means to dream about your timeline.00:30 Intro06:35 The Breakdown: a film for four screens23:52 A 12-speaker mix that steers your eye56:30 On editing: a film is written three times1:00:50 Life of a Freelancer: booking holidays🎙️ New episodes weekly.#thedirectorandthedop #filmediting #postproduction #immersive

  2. 7 Oct

    We Built a Monster by Hand (No AI, No VFX) | Ep 24 w/ Andrew Seaton

    In an age where everyone's reaching for AI, director Andrew Seaton (Mint Films) built a monster by hand. He breaks down ResMed "Lossy" — a lack-of-sleep puppet brought to life with a hand puppeteer and mechanical eyes instead of VFX, and why the tangible, practical approach gave it a charm no prompt could.Andrew takes us through finding puppeteer Rob Cook, ADR-ing a puppet into cute international gibberish, and the on-set magic of grown adults talking to the puppet instead of the man inside it. Then the Mint Films story, and a genuinely useful conversation on directing: decision fatigue, directing athletes vs actors, and using callbacks as rehearsals.Plus What We Watch: a Jamiroquai "Virtual Insanity" redo, a sound-design masterclass, and a love letter to Gary Oldman in Slow Horses.00:20 Intro 06:00 The Breakdown: ResMed "Lossy"7:37 Why a puppet instead of VFX24:48 Everyone talked to the puppet32:20 On directing: decision fatigue and talent55:00 What We Watch🎙️ New episodes weekly.#thedirectorandthedop #commercialfilm #puppetry #directing

  3. 30 Sept

    "It's Such a Dumb Job" — A Director on Directing | Ep 23 w/ Toby Morris

    Toby Morris (Cousin) is one of the most in-demand directors in the region, with a singular, playful visual style. He breaks down his Kia Seltos spot — shot with two full crews running simultaneously, a solo-built CG fly-through of Sydney's Town Hall, and a director's-cut approach of jamming the best gags out in the edit. Then the bigger story: Toby's just-finished independent feature "Cooee," a passion project a decade in the making that a cancer diagnosis finally forced into being — and a genuinely moving conversation with Liam, a survivor himself, about why it takes a wake-up call to pull the trigger on the thing you keep putting off. Plus a Gear Chat eulogy for Miller — the Sydney brand that invented the fluid-head tripod in 1946 and just closed its doors. 00:21 Intro 05:12 The Breakdown: Kia Seltos 07:37 Shooting with two full crews at once 29:34 "It's such a dumb job" 31:48 Cooee: the feature, and finishing what you start 45:07 Gear Chat: farewell to Miller tripods 🎙️ New episodes weekly.#thedirectorandthedop #commercialfilm #directing #filmmaking

  4. 23 Sept

    We Built a Whole Backyard in a Studio in 48 Hours | Ep 22 w/ Ruth Levi

    Art director Ruth Levi breaks down Liquorland "Score More This Summer" with Pat Cummins — four completely different worlds (a talent show, a game show, a bowls green and a backyard) crammed into a single shoot day, and the torrential-rain forecast that forced her to build an entire backyard from scratch in a studio with 48 hours' notice. It's a window into a department this show has never covered: the noughts-and-circles motif hidden in plain sight, a black-market hunt for incandescent globes under a Sydney underpass, why she refuses to send a set to landfill — and the quiet philosophy behind it all: if you notice the art department, they haven't done their job. Then What We Watch: a genuinely stunning ABC crime drama, the cinematic leap of GTA VI, and a love letter to editors. 00:18 Intro 05:38 The Breakdown: Liquorland "Score More" 11:55 Building a backyard in a studio in 48 hours 19:58 The black-market globe hunt 37:57 "You shouldn't notice the art department" 51:07 What We Watch 🎙️ New episodes weekly.#thedirectorandthedop #artdirector #commercialfilm #productiondesign

  5. 16 Sept

    He Won a Show That Drops Filmmakers in 10 Countries With No Plan | Ep 21 w/ Elliot Constable

    Elliot Constable just won ABC's Race Around the World — the rebooted format that drops six filmmakers into ten countries and makes them research, shoot, edit and star in a film a week, completely solo. We met Elliot on a Destination NSW shoot; here he walks us through the near-impossible logistics, the stories (Moldova, Svalbard's polar bears, a Brazilian favela homage to City of God), and the all-time production disaster — a thorn bush destroying his camera two days before a rhino de-horning shoot, and the snake farm 2.5 hours away that saved him. Plus: the strange new pressure of having to be the personality, not just make the work; why the one thing he'd spend money on wasn't gear but someone to do his receipts; and the honest truth about online criticism. Then Hot Takes — including the first live one in the show's history. 00:18 Our own overseas near-death stories 07:50 Winning Race Around the World 18:18 How the show actually works 31:30 Being the personality, not just the filmmaker30:30 The broken camera and the snake farm 1:01:45 Hot Takes (first-ever live one) 🎙️ New episodes weekly.#thedirectorandthedop #filmmaking #racearoundtheworld #documentary

  6. 9 Sept

    Our Biggest F'ups, Our Biggest Hits | Ep 20 (20th Episode Special)

    A special one: 20 episodes in, we've ditched the guest and the breakdown to look back at the journey so far. Liam ranks his favourite alliteration intros (and finally gives Ethan one back), we count down the five most-watched clips we've ever posted — with a couple of genuine surprises — and we get honest about our biggest on-air fups, what still makes us uncomfortable, and why we've never missed a week. Thank you to everyone who's listened, watched, shared and come up to us on set. Here's to the next 20. 🎙️ Back to regular episodes next week. #thedirectorandthedop #commercialfilm #podcast #filmmaking

  7. 2 Sept

    The Ad That Threw Out the Script | Ep 19 w/ Dave Jansen

    Dave Jansen — Chief Imagination Officer at Connecting Plots — breaks down Best & Less "So Much Better," a brand-repositioning platform for one of Australia's most iconic value-retail brands. And they made it by breaking every rule.They threw out the written scripts. They sent cameras to real families to shoot themselves. They convinced the client not to come to set. And they scored the whole thing with country & western — because a billionaire owner insisted.Then the richest state-of-the-industry conversation we've had: the "wheel of cool," influencer fatigue, the return of the mini-doc, why content deserves the same craft as a TVC, and what's really happening to director representation in 2026.Plus Gear Chat on Laowa's ultra-macro lenses, and a milestone — episode 19, nearly double the 10 we set out to make. 00:23 Intro 04:57 The Breakdown: Best & Less "So Much Better" 12:45 Throwing out the script 20:00 The country music story 32:27 State of the industry 2026 45:41 Craft doesn't mean polished 50:18 Gear Chat: Laowa ultra-macro 🎙️ New episodes weekly. #thedirectorandthedop #advertising #commercialfilm #creativity

  8. 26 Aug

    We Made a Rugby World Cup Epic… With Toy Cars | Ep 18 w/ Scott Otto Anderson

    Our first ever director guest: Scott Otto Anderson (Photoplay) breaks down the Rugby World Cup 2027 campaign for World Rugby — a Mad Max: Furiosa-style epic where a dust storm reveals itself to be hordes of rugby fans in nation-themed vehicles.The twist? It was heading for a huge VFX / virtual-production build until Scott pivoted to something far more tangible: 1:10 scale miniatures. Driveable remote-control cars, finished by traditional model makers, shot at the actual Furiosa location. He explains the gravity-scale physics that make toy cars read as real, scoring each nation's vehicle with its own audio cue, a lizard named Miss Lizzy, and the 25 solo pickup days the client never sees. Then a rare director-to-director conversation — the "20-minute expert," the editor's-mind advantage, and why you should keep post separate from production. Plus Hot Takes: coffee-order justice, the word "senior," call-sheet snobbery, and whether colourists deserve a trip to set. 00:20 Intro 05:36 The Breakdown: Rugby World Cup 2027 08:21 The pivot that won the pitch: miniatures 16:25 The gravity-scale physics of toy cars 29:30 Ms Lizzy 39:28 On being a director 46:55Hot Takes 🎙️ New episodes weekly.#thedirectorandthedop #commercialfilm #vfx #miniatures

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About

The Director & The DOP is a video podcast for the commercial production and advertising industry. A director and a DOP break down real projects — no theory, just the work. New episodes weekly. 🎙️ Hosted by Ethan McLean (Director) & Liam Brennan (DOP)

Information

  • Creator
    The Director & The D.O.P
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    24
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © The Director & The D.O.P
  • Show Website
    The Director & The D.O.P

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