The Way I See It: MJ Delaney

I was born in London in 1986. By the time I came along, both of my parents were working in advertising. My mum was a creative director at J Walter Thompson and my dad had his own agency: Delaney Fletcher Delaney Slaymaker Bozell.

I wanted to be a dog for a long time. I used to eat food in bowls off the floor. My commitment to being a dog was quite strong.

My commitment to being a dog was quite strong.

Neither of my parents particularly encouraged me to follow in their footsteps. My dad wanted me to be a novelist and/or a lawyer. I think he’s never quite forgiven me for not applying for the All Souls Fellowship after university. That being said, they’ve always been delighted and proud with what I’ve been doing.

Once I started directing, I loved it. It was an expensive hobby at first, and I had to kiss a few frogs, but once I got paid to do it I thought it was excellent.

Above: Newport, Delaney's breakthrough spoof.

I’ve had some kind of unwilling mentors that I foisted myself on. People that I’ve just like gone to and been like, “help me”. Yann Demange has always been incredibly generous with his time and advice, and Misha Green on the TV side has been instrumental in guiding me.

I sometimes think I should pay that forward and start adopting people. There’s something kind of weird about that though, isn’t there?

Find your people because that’s how you get things done.

At the start, I relied on the people around me. We’d all crew for each other and share resources, whether it was a dolly a friend made out of skateboard wheels (Geoff, it was called) or editing each other’s projects. Find your people, the ones you’ll have fun making stuff with, because that’s how you get things done.

The success of Newport [Delaney’s breakthrough spoof music video that went viral] meant that I was picked up by United Agents, and so from there I did Coming Up for Channel 4 and then Powder Room. However, you’re not making a great deal of money doing that, so having ads as well was great.

Above: A Christmas Journey, the first of a six-part festive series Delaney directed for M&S.

Working in commercials is great on two folds. First, you can actually make a living, but also, having not gone to film school, it's an incredible education.

Making ads means you get to play with the big toys — cranes, multi-camera setups, all without the long-term responsibility of a TV show or film. It’s a great way to build confidence in handling the equipment and understanding what everything is really capable of before you’re responsible for the budget on bigger productions.

The director’s really the only person on the set who is there for the actors themselves.

Regardless of whether it’s a film or a TV show or a commercial, the director’s really the only person on the set who is there for the actors themselves. Your job is to facilitate them to be able to do the best work that they can.

There’s nothing quite like the feeling when you know something special has been captured on set. I love the moments when the crew goes silent.

Above: A pair of clips from Apple TV+'s Ted Lasso, for which Delaney won an Emmy.

I didn’t quite grasp how big Ted Lasso had become until I saw it reflected in everyday things. I was in Target last Christmas and they had Ted baubles, and I thought, “oh fuck. Wow. People watch this thing.”

That show’s success is largely due to its timing. Ted Lasso came at the right time during the pandemic. It was a show about kindness when the world really needed it.

Ted Lasso was a show about kindness when the world really needed it.

The best part about the success of the show was getting to see each other more often because of the whole awards circuit [Delaney, plus most of the cast, were nominated for numerous Emmy’s during the show’s three-season run]. We genuinely loved each other, and the success of the show allowed us to spend more time together.

Above: Delaney's powerful, Spice Girls-aping film for the UN's gender equality movement.

I think sometimes my heart yearns a little bit to do something that feels like it makes more of a tangible difference to the state of the world. You can tell yourself “this TV show it makes people happy”, but I don’t know.

The films I made for the UN were incredibly rewarding. The Spice Girls one for gender equality in 2016 and the Beyoncé one in 2017. Those projects had an impact, and they reached a lot of people, which was exactly what we hoped for.

The films I made for the UN were incredibly rewarding.

After working with the UN, and I had a fantasy about centralising their creative output. The way they work can be quite bureaucratic and convoluted, and I felt like there could be a much more efficient way to approach it. If they had some kind of internal creative hub, working on something like that would be really cool to do. That being said, I think you’d probably have to go to an office every day, which is something I’ve never done.

Above: Delaney's Global Goals Freedom film, featuring music from Beyoncé.

My mum once told me to never cover a smell with a smell, which I think is really solid advice.

My dad always said, never be the first to arrive or the last to leave, which I think is also bulletproof.

I care what people think of me, but it’s something I need to get better at.

I don’t think I’m robust enough for time travel. I’m quite dependent on all my modern comforts. All the other eras are pretty shit for women.

I care what people think of me, but it’s something I need to get better at. There’s a need to be liked, but that is separate from being an honourable person. They’re two different things.