On My Radar: Kyra Bartley

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

The one that stands out for me recently was Daniel Warwick's Kathmandu Summer Never Sleeps spot. I loved that it went beyond just the usual zany advertising tropes and genuinely embraced some pretty gutsy creative decisions. Everything from the music to casting to movement and animation has so much personality, which just makes it a really fun and memorable watch. Also, special mention to Omri Cohen's Estrella Galicia spot; I can't tell you how many times I've watched that in total awe wondering how they got that VO over the line.

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

I bought a nifty little motion control rig for my DSLR that I had big plans for creating some weird stop-motion tests with... but, sadly, I've been too busy to actually play with it properly. Soon!

What product could you not live without?

Probably my daily Diet Coke. Yes, it's a gross habit, and my mum would be horrified, but what can I say? I need my little afternoon pick-me-up.

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

The film that impacted me the most recently was Aftersun. It radiates empathy, sensitivity and a wonderfully nuanced melancholic beauty, and it made me consider my relationship with my parents in a way I hadn't before. I don't think you can ask much more from a film than that.

What film do you think everyone should have seen?

Bicycle Thieves is a movie everyone should see at least once. Partly because it's just such a timeless, universal, beautifully told film, and partly as an assessment for whether your heart is made out of stone (the barometer is obviously whether you cried at the end).

What’s your preferred social media platform?

This is maybe contentious for someone in a visual industry, but Twitter is my jam. It’s how I kick off most mornings; coffee in one hand as I scroll through conspiracy theories, poetry, anonymous confessions, people being over-opinionated wankers, and - my current obsession - a deep, deep rabbit hole of AI wackiness. It never fails to get my brain geared up for the day.

What’s your favourite TV show?

I recently saw Station Eleven and it just blew me away. The first episode in particular (Hiro Murai, you are a genius) had me sitting there burning with this alternating mix of awe at how good it was, and frustration that someone else made EXACTLY the show I wanted to make, even if it took me watching it to realise that. There's no shortage of post-apocalyptic shows floating around at the moment, but Station Eleven is unique in its ability to tell a story about the collapse of civilisation that still celebrates joy, art, and the best bits of humanity. It's a profound antidote to the bleakness of the genre.

What’s your favourite podcast?

Two are tied for my favourite: Invisibilia and Reply All. Both fuse narrative non-fiction storytelling with their respective niches; the science of human behaviour for Invisibilia and tech for Reply All (though I think both peaked in earlier seasons so I mostly listen to old episodes).

What show/exhibition has most inspired you recently?

Frida Kahlo – The Life of an Icon, as part of Sydney Festival. Its a kaleidoscope of immersive, interactive art that somehow doesn’t lose its heart or its impact, which I find to be sadly common in some of the big flashy tech-lead exhibitions.

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

I have the attention span of a goldfish, so the only music I can listen to while working is classical - everything else I find too distracting. So, over the years, I've somehow settled into a steady diet of modern classical and soundtracks for most of the day. Last year on Spotify I was Luovico Einaudi's number two fan, which I guess just makes me second to his mum.

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

That's an easy one for me: more time in the process for putting treatments together. Creative research and idea generation is one of my favourite parts of the job, but it only works well if you've got the time to noodle down different paths in search of something less expected. I think it's a shame when you've got to sacrifice that for the sake of speed, and hone in too quickly on your first impulses just to get the pitch out the door.