Oren Kaplan is a prolific commercial and genre director. Whether it's a comedy, drama, thriller or horror, he seems to always nail the tone just right. With a formal education in computer science and engineering, he seems to apply a highly technical and "problem solver" mindset to every facet of his work: while preparing, while shooting on-set and, of course, during post-production.
He also uses the same analytical and constructive approach to other aspects of his work, from the way he edited his directing reel (above), to the way he brands himself and increases his recognizability by releasing process breakdowns on Instagram and sharing them via Twitter (blow).
He also co-hosts the Just shoot it podcast, and during the recent covid-19 lockdowns he's been flexing his visual-effects muscles by making short VFX tests, some featuring a 3D scan of his own head, and all usually starring his daughter:
In this episode we talk about his life-long interest in filmmaking, and his path to become one after leaving his engineering days in Silicon Valley behind. We talked about the viral success of the "House of Thrones" mashup parody video he directed as a Quiznos commercial, and its followup, "Startourage", on which we worked together.
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In their brilliant social-media ad campaign, Artlist inspires curiosity not only from the ads themselves but also from behind-the-scenes videos it shares on social media:
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Episode Links:
Show notes:
Unreal Engine 5 preview (embedded below)
Opening and closing song: "14 Days" by Akın Sevgör.