On My Radar: Andrew De Zen

What’s the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen recently?

I just came back from visiting Toronto, my hometown, after a year in Paris, and going to the ROM. It’s Toronto’s largest and most well-known museum. Honestly, it’s a pretty great time. Then I stumbled onto Rune Milton’s ROM Opera film, and it’s one of those projects that is such an outstanding piece of work all you can really do is nod silently and give a tip of the hat. Everyone should give that one a watch. Most creative? I couldn’t quite say. But it’s one of those films that reminds you what an ad is capable of.

What website(s) do you use most regularly?

Honestly, I feel like most of my old go-tos are slowly fading with time. The New Yorker’s Screening Room has become a gold mine of short films online.

What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought?

It’s been a while. So, fuck it. The last one that really deserves a callout is the Valve Index VR + Half Life Alyx. I’m a gamer at heart and this was the guilty pleasure to end all guilty pleasures. We waited 12 damn years for a sequel after Half-Life 2… and then the next one was VR, because [game developer] Gabe Newell is truly mad. But, oh boy, was it worth it – that gaming experience was one that I’ll take to the grave. At certain points in life, I like to build up a kind of sleep-like hunger, only it’s more like a step-away-from-reality hunger. I throw on my hermit hat and hide out with a book, or show, or a new story driven game, and I take a few days to really escape from everything. So, after finishing Alyx and then immediately beating it again, I tossed my PC and all the gear into a box, hid it from my eyesight, and moved on with my life.

What product could you not live without?

I’m going to be super-lame and say a book. Books are products right? Right?! It’s my copy of the Magnum, Magnum photo book. It’s a brilliant piece of editing and my favourite book of photography. Magnum took their artists and had each one edit another artist, selecting their own few images from that photographer’s oeuvre and writing about them along with their own relationship to their selected artist. I take it with me wherever I go. If I feel like I need a quick dose of inspiration I throw the book open and press my eyeballs to the pages. 

What’s the best film you’ve seen over the last year?

Hands down the best experience I’ve had in a theatre the past year was Sean Baker’s Anora. A pitch-perfect execution of tone which, to me, is the most difficult thing to pull off. It’s hilarious, unpretentious, and absolutely commits to its wild swings. 

What film do you think everyone should have seen?

The film that has probably affected me the most is Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru. I’ve only seen it the one time, but it’s burned itself into my brain. It’s quite a straightforward character study of a man going about his life. Dealing with the mundane of work. The repetition of it all. Then, suddenly, it makes a massive shift in perspective where we view his life from the eyes of others. And it’s remarkably profound. I wouldn’t want to say more. To me, it’s the directors best, and left a real mark on my life that changed the way I view not just film but life, and how we can be more empathetic. 

What’s your preferred social media platform?

Talking about social media these days makes my skin itch. The only one I use, albeit rarely and with a very tight leash is, Instagram. But I’d say most of these apps are dead. And we kind of know it. They’ve worn out their use. The better question, and one worth talking about, is why I haven’t deleted all of it yet? Hopefully soon… 

What’s your favourite TV show?

A show I just finished the other day is Tokyo Vice, and it’s a fantastic series. If you get through the shaky pilot you’ll find a very well written crime show. My favourite series however must be Avatar: The Last Airbender. Always. I’ve seen it so many times. It’s a kid show with sudden swings into maturity, beautiful animation, and it sticks the landing perfectly. I think a lot about how we need to keep ourselves young, and it’s a show like TLA that sticks with me daily.  

What’s your favourite podcast?

I’m not much of a podcast guru, but I do like to keep up with Scriptnotes. Listening to John [August] and Craig [Mazin] discuss film, scripts, life and how we’re all living in a simulation while I’m cooking, lets me find some much-needed flow. 

What have you been most inspired by recently?

Living in Paris you’re constantly surrounded by new galleries, exhibitions and endless arthouse screenings. It can be a little overwhelming at times. But all that new art has been really inspiring. Also, people. People are so incredibly weird, bizarre and awesome it’s hard not to be inspired when noticing everyone going about their lives. 

If you could only listen to one music artist from now on, who would it be?

As someone who soundtracks their life, that’s a tricky one. I’d say I could float to Elijah Fox’s instrumentals. His music is full of atmosphere, and this rarely heard sincerity behind the piano. Like you can hear the room itself breathing wherever he’s recording. It’s that extra texture that brings you closer to the music without feeling too polished.  

If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?

I would love to see the ad industry run by uncool people. You know, the types of people who want to play boardgames, read, go for walks in the park, go bird watching, and who know nothing about style or fashion. Forget all the parties, all the bullshit. People who don’t take themselves or what they do too seriously. 

Who or what has most influenced your career?

Anime. Animation. Miyazaki. Animation is the thing that has influenced me the most the last five years.

What scares you the most?

Comfort. Comfort must be the scariest thing out there. Enjoy it when you have it, but settle into comfort and it can be a silent killer. For example, just sitting for 30 minutes slows down the metabolism 90 percent…