In a recent Director Profile, Shoot Magazine spoke to Superprime’s directorial duo, The Malloys. Their in-depth feature article details the brothers’ creative approach and work philosophy, and some of the steep learning curves they’ve encountered along the way to success.
Together, Emmett and Brandon Malloy create diverse images and stories that range in format from critically acclaimed films, to music videos for some of the biggest artists of our time, and commercials for the likes Nike, Google, and Budweiser, amongst others. They’ve been nominated for a DGA award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials for Nike’s “The Huddle,” featuring LeBron James, Grammy-nominated for their full-length documentary on the White Stripes, and nominated for Director of the Year on two separate occasions at the MVPAs. They’ve won Surfer Magazine’s Movie of the Year, Best Directorial Debut at the Music Video Production Awards, and Best Rock Video, but their talents aren’t limited to film; last year they introduced us to M.Special, a microbrewery they opened in Santa Barbara County, producing high quality, handmade, small batch craft beer.
The self-taught team discusses growing up in LA’s Hancock Park, and the trajectory of making “little surf films” to helming huge sports moments, and how they then parlayed a love of surf culture into commercial and full-length documentary success. “Neither of us went to film school, and we didn’t know anyone in the business. We both started in the ’90s at a company that made movie trailers,” they tell.
Their work and ambition continues to span branded content, features, documentaries and music videos. “I think doing all those different things is still very important for us as directors,” says Emmett. “I think it makes us better as commercial directors, as you can pull from all the different experiences – especially working on documentaries where you really are shooting real subjects and high profile people like Kevin Durant or Freddie Roach. That’s so helpful when you’re shooting a spot, as you can question yourself, ‘Does this feel real?’ and go back to how you worked in the documentary. And it’s especially helpful when you’re trying to capture reality in a spot.”
It’s “an ongoing refinement” they suggest, and “a fairly humbling business.”
Read the article in full here.
