#MonkTalk with Ben Phillips, Senior Film Creative: "Create an environment for yourself where the ideas flow, where you can do your best thinking."
When we first digitally met Ben Phillips, a question mark has popped up. "Film Creative...What on earth do they do?" As die-hard fans of movies, we couldn't stop ourselves poking him and diving into his story. Ben is a senior film creative at MediaMonks, always having a human-centric approach as a core to bring a smile from people who watch his works. Let us take you onboard on this insightful and humorous journey of Ben and reflect the true purpose and intention of our work with creating right environment for a creative process.
Ben! You're working as a film creative, which we're really intrigued to investigate more. Can you elaborate on what it means to be a film creative at MediaMonks?
It means so many different things nowadays. Compared to when I first started out in this crazy business, nowadays, it’s just the evolution of what we do with so many more screens, so many new stories, and there are so many ways to tell them.
What a film creative is doing could be working with anything from a 60 seconds film that's gonna go online, on TV or in cinemas, or it could be a documentary about a brand, it could be original content, it could be so many things to be a film creative’s medium, which is super exciting because I get bored very easily. So, the variety of stuff we do makes it fun for a film creative’s career.
As certified Korean/Russian spies, we sneaked your portfolio and you’re claiming that you started off in this industry since '87, how did it all kick-off?
Damn, how far should I go back? But yeah, it's all a happy accident when I look back.
My family has a diverse background with a large portion of civil servants: my brother was in the Navy, my mom was a nurse, my dad was a police officer, my sister was studying chemistry, and another brother works in construction... And I’ve always been the little weird kid upstairs drawing, or coloring. I always knew how to do that kind of stuff. Because I'm selfish and rebellious who always gets away with all sorts.
One day I’d got experience with my mom in the hospital where I walked into a theatre and I saw somebody in a compromising situation about to be operated on, so I started laughing and I got told off and told to leave. My mom told me to get out, so I never went back, and then also I thought I wouldn't do advertising.
When I did my course at university I was like, ‘Oh, advertising s*cks.’ I've never really bought into advertising as a thing, mainly because there's so much bad advertising. Then ironically you find yourself doing it, being quite good at using those skills and you just carry on with it. Oh, don't write this stuff down.
Haha, actually it sounds quite familiar, but life is full of ironies, isn’t it? Now we wonder who influenced you throughout your journey.
Mentors and learnings, I've been very lucky to have a number of mentors who have looked after me and nurtured certain qualities they've seen in me such as the people who have been the seniors like at TBWA given us those skills. When I was a middleweight I was partnered with this quite a senior creative who used to be a creative director. From then I was just exposed to that every day and thinking it was just brilliant. I learned loads of stuff very quickly, by osmosis by learning by doing but also tremendously from my mentors and people within the industry who have done lovely things, who are nice to other people, and who don't particularly have strong egos.
It’s invaluable to have mentors like those around you who are genuinely good people and give honest feedback.
Yeah, I think so, somebody like my first writer. We used to do these horrible emails for a fashion brand which was dull as dishwater. To make it interesting, I would write things that were interesting to me. I used to write things that had a little insight into it or a little truth for a thing that was around the situation for the item we were selling.
I used to take to my mentor at the time and he would make me go and do it again. And then I repeated it about five times until I was like, frustrated and stuff. But by the last one, little tiny things were changing.
So what my mentor was doing, which I realized much later, is that he was teaching me to push beyond that first thought and to not only push beyond the first idea but then go one, or even five extra miles. It’s like you can do this and you can do it better and so then I crafted every kind of sentence and structured the entirety in it.
And he was giving me that kind of appreciation for a sense of detail and a sense of craft that can be taken for granted or can get lost. So through this experience, I acquired quite an important skill in my career.
You also mentioned this phrase about learning by doing. At Hyper Island that's the mantra that we say at least 10million times until we graduate. And another thing that Hyper pushed us to do is to answer this question of what craft you as a person throughout your life. So, we are very intrigued to know what the three milestones are that influenced you and crafted you professionally and also personally.
The first one is to have a realization while watching a film called F/X2. It's the shittiest 90’s film you've ever seen in your life, but the big films that we're watching, these stories that people are telling us, gave me an insight into what's going on in the background. That there are people who make these things happen and I thought, "f**cking hell, that's quite cool."
Before that I was just an observer of films, I would sit and be entertained by them and be like, "Alright, okay, lovely, it’s a nice story in there, I'm engaged". But then I saw that film, I must have been about eight or something weird, and thought “Whoa, there’s this whole world around making films. I want to do something to do with that one day.”
That was the epiphany moment of 8 years-old Ben Phillips which you’re looking back on now as a film creative!
Yes, but it wasn’t a straight and easy way because then you get into like your teens and stuff. Things in life get in the way. Nevertheless, I always had that kind of love and killings in film which constantly sparked my intrigue, and I always thought “Right, one day I could be like a special effects person, it sounds cool.” And then thought, right you need science, chemistry, and all this stuff. I’ve always been quite good at the art stuff. But then I thought I needed all this stuff.
"Brilliant. I don't know how I'm going to do it but I fancy doing that."
And then I took a GCSEs, and the big day comes around, and you receive your results, you didn't get any GCSE, haha. That's probably number two, getting about three GCSEs in sport, design, and geography were probably the three subjects that came the easiest but I didn't really study for anything else, school wasn't for me, to be honest. I was very much a learning by doing the type of person.
I asked myself ‘How am I going to do now?’. I had a choice of either doing business studies or design, and I chose design, then went on to do like a year course and a two-year course then all of a sudden I'm at university, and I'm like "SHIT!". This probably led me to the third biggest thing, well nothing's happened in the last 14 years.
Nothing but only brilliant things in your works!
Haha, well, but all the lessons almost come from mistakes in my life and now when I look back they’re the biggest milestones that brought me somewhere unexpectedly brilliant and made me grow as a person.
I guess that tie backs to what you said about happy accidents. What’s the third one?
Oh yeah, straight out of university I was offered a job in a design company. But I thought it didn't feel right at the time. Then I had an opportunity to do a master's, so I had over a year in university. And I think it was one of the same ways the Hyper Islands run today. It was a similar kind of vibe you know, it's all about self-development and things like that. That makes it the third milestone because it took my career into a totally different direction, more into the advertising world. I landed a job at TBWA straight after that. And I've never looked back.
As newly graduated Hypers, education is definitely one of the stepping stones in life for sure.
Massively. I always thought, when I came out with a degree in advertising, I was like, “I don't really like advertising.” I was more leaning towards design. So I studied design theory, and there's more focus on design and self-development and stuff, and that sent me off on a different path. I don't think the original degree made me feel like I was armed with the knowledge that I wanted to have at that time, so I wasn't ready. I was like a little tiny bone. I just needed another 20 minutes in the oven before I could come out...
Haha, I think many people can resonate with it, ‘Give me just another 20 minutes!’. But in the end, life is full of mystery and surprise! Ben, we would like to ask you what your biggest revelation about the industry in these past years.
It’s a tough one to answer but the biggest revelation for me was when I sensed there was a change coming in the industry. I found myself once again getting bored since there was kind of a formulaic approach and it was like the same way to every brief, the same approach. You come to work then you'd have a task to do, a few ideas you have to develop which result in all very formulaic kind of work that was coming out that it felt very samey.
When I sensed a bit of a change within this industry, MediaMonks came to see us one day, John from the London office, showing us this documentary. I was like "F**ck! This is where it’s going. This is where it's heading!” That was a big revelation showing where else it can go and where the industry is going. At that time I was ready for something fresh, new, and different. And I was like, "Hold on a minute, I want to do what they're doing over there. I'm going to have a look at that."
I started stalking MediaMonks then I saw a job that was ‘a film creative’. “Absolutely. That's all the best bits, the job description was with all the best bits of what I like about doing my job right now. More production rather than making thousands of PowerPoints.”
How cool, that’s like ‘Oh, that’s my dream job right there!’ moment. When did this shift happen?
It was four or five years ago. There were all these screens that were available in different sizes, shapes, screens combined with storytelling and technology. So much potential has been unlocked and I thought, ‘How can I be part of that?’
Right, I guess it’s crucial to know where it’s all going and where you want to be in the next years to come. How do you envision the industry in near future? Maybe another shift or a tendency you’re spotting at the moment.
We're entering into an age of hyper-personalization. We've already entered the world of screens all around us. There's going to be even more screens, and they're going to be more personalized to you. The way that you interact with the screens is going to change as well. It's not just going to be a one-way thing but a two-way thing, where the screens aren't just broadcasting, you've got some level of interactivity, which we're already starting to see. You know things like Alexa and Amazon take over and Google as well as Siri. You're already starting to talk to the screens. And there's gonna be something that's going to continue and that level of personalization is going to just increase.
Ben, now we wonder what makes you stay curious and inspired?
I do things that make people smile, something like, you do it because you want your mom to tell her friends about what you've done. That's probably why the traditional advertising bothered me because you will just be talked at which is a bit dull. So I like doing things that get reactions from people that make them smile or make yourself smile when you're doing it because it's just purely fun. We're not scraping bodies off battlefields nor going to give an open heart surgery. We should always keep fun inside of what we do.
Maybe there should be a tradition getting a tattoo when you enter the industry, ‘DON’T TAKE THINGS TOO SERIOUSLY’.
I think so, but don't get me wrong, because we have the skill sets to do lots of important and good things as well with some of the skills and talents people have to tell stories and make people be aware of what's happening in the world around them which is super important. Some of the stuff Beryl (Senior Creative at MediaMonks) does is so inspiring because she is using those talents to drive awareness for certain causes and the issues are what's going on in the world around you. Right now there's so much shit out there in the world. And there are so many people putting messages and opinions out there.
I think whatever you do, you should always try and put stuff out there. It isn't just the clicks, it actually does serve a purpose. It can make people entertained, educated or it can even make them think and see things in a different way.
What would be your piece of advice or wisdom to all these young creatives that are starting their career right now? What would you say to them in order to prevent a catastrophe?
One advice I'd give, and it’s not just young creatives but anybody in the industry, is to turn off your notifications on your phone, seriously. Especially for creatives because I don't know about you guys but sometimes when you're in the flow it’s when you're either talking about an idea or you're writing it down, or you connect the little dots within your brains. And you get into the flow of something and you're like, ‘Right, I’m getting somewhere.’ And when the phone's pinging every two seconds with notifications from everywhere it just brings you out of that cycle.
It's so important to create an environment for yourself where the ideas do flow, where you can do your best stuff or your best thinking.
COVID thing has really opened up people's eyes into how people work best. And for me, it's never been in about a nine to five because I don't like the idea of it. If you can't think in the afternoons, don't think, don't try and force it. Read, absorb stuff, and then pick it up again at six or later.
Yeah, we can sometimes feel a bit dumb and it’s can be a function of finding the right time and environment for yourself because surroundings DO affect creative flow.
Absolutely. More and more people are experiencing burnout because of work and it's not just the actual work you're doing. I think it's got more to do with these things than anything. Your phone or the way that you're always connected. There's no kind of switching off. Even if it's going on Instagram or looking at your phone for an update or looking at your computer for something that's not your work. I think it's the fact that you're not connected to that but you're not connected to your surroundings and what you're doing and the people around you.
It’s crazy how much time we’re actually spending time on screens. Do you have any method to stay more present?
Sometimes I'll stick to a 10-minute meditation thing. Well, I'm very lucky that I get to walk for an hour every day at least with Winnie. And that is a form of meditation, in itself, you don't have to be breathing and eyes closed and sitting still to get in that place. I think leaving the phone at home, just being with my own thoughts for an hour every day can be a meditation. The brain compartmentalizes everything, puts stuff in. If I allow myself to daydream or think about stuff or just go with it, and if anything good comes out of that. Then, I'll just write it down but I don't have a very structured practice, other than I've got to take Winnie for a shit twice a day.
We should all have Winnie to daydream!
Indeed, but not talking about the work itself but talking about a reference and stuff, you know, weird things that are happening, talking about my ideas, and just making stuff up helps creativity for sure.
Ben, finally the last question to you. What movie would you recommend to us as homework?
A movie that I always go back to watch a thousand times is...
Big Fish.
Oh yeah, I was gonna say as well after I saw John came in, I thought ‘All right, how am I going to get a job at the monastery?’ So, I paid an old man on Fiverr to say nice things about me, and I made it into a film and sent it to Wesley, and then two weeks later, I'm getting interviewed by Jeroen and Christy.