Interview with Shane McNamara
We got together with newly-signed director Shane McNamara to talk about his career trajectory, and how he creates incredible branded content.
Starting your career as a runner, driver and kit room assistant — how did you make the plunge to Freelance Director & Editor, repped by two budding production companies so early in your career?
Whilst working as a kit room assistant and driver over a two year period I started to build up a great relationship with our clients, because my role was very much customer facing. The more I got to know the clients, the more they were interested to know what I was looking to do in the future. I also used this start of my career to experiment with different projects and roles — producing a few short films for friends because I had use of the kit for free over the weekends. From there I started to build a portfolio of work and eventually directed my first piece which was a live action animation ident. One of our clients at the kit hire company saw it, and from there gave me a chance so I went from kit room assistant to directing and editing.
How did this lead you on to starting your own production company?
Timberwolf was born more out of creating a brand for myself and my business partner at the time. We pulled our talents together and started the company with no real plan, other than to work with bigger clients and to have more control over direction and the creative process. It was a great learning experience, however steep, and really pushed my work forward, working with some absolutely amazing brands.
Having been part of the crew, behind the camera and running your own production company, what change have you seen in the content landscape over the last decade?
The changes I’ve predominately noticed in content over the years is, one: budgets. When I was first starting out I stepped straight into the online brand content landscape and budgets were like getting blood out of stone. It’s good to see that there’s a shift away from traditional forms of content and this is definitely reflected in the budgets. I think in the beginning brands were hesitant, and scared to part with their money in uncharted waters, whereas now content has become much more daring and risky. When I started out it a lot of clients were playing it very safe.
When working under the brand Timberwolf, did you apply your own creative processes learnt from your experience in the freelance world?
Certainly, and Timberwolf gave me the freedom to do what I felt was right for my process, and gave me the chance to craft those processes, but I did make a lot of mistakes along the way. This allowed me to grow quicker, I guess. There’s a lot to take away from failures — I positively learnt from all of them and to this day they influence my creative process.
With the shelf life of content shrinking by the day, how do you avoid compromising the quality of the work with the new limitations of ‘throw away’ content and the need for multiple adaptations?
I try not to think about this sort of thing if I’m honest, because it can dictate where creative directions go. For instance, the trend of insight influenced content, which does ultimately have a place, can stunt creative flow. I try to just go with what I think works visually and for the brand. I still use gut feeling.
How would you define the Shane McNamara style?
I think I have two sides to my style. One being more cinematically-raw, docu-style with a focus on human stories, and the other being visually sleek and brand/product centric.
Since your move from London to the creative hub of Glasgow, what would you say the main differences are between the UK and Scotland in terms of creative output?
The only real difference, I guess, is the sense of identity in the work. Scotland very much has its own, and they are very proud of it.
Has this move inspired your work in any way?
Very much so. I recently did a lot of work for a few different brands in the highlands, and I was blown away by the beauty of nature there. It’s incredible. I really want to explore more of the world this way, bringing the natural world into my work, and the way we talk about creating content. It’s more important than ever, considering everything happening in the world right now.
Does your personal interest in music production ever cross over with your video work?
Music plays a huge part in my work, always has done. What sound can do for a piece of content and its edit really fascinates me. It has the ability to really steer and change the mood of a film, so the relationship between sound and image is something I’m always exploring.
