Direct to Client, Indirect to Sanity: How Tech Has Changed Commercial Advertising

There’s a moment on every shoot — usually right before magic hour, when the sky turns into a Renaissance painting and the actor finally nails the line after 14 takes — where I take a breath, look around, and think: This is why I do it.

And then someone says, “Can we do one more, but... make it feel younger?” and I remember: Right. We’re selling granola bars on Snapchat.

I work now as a freelance commercial director. But I’ve also been inside the beast— I’ve worked on staff as an agency creative producer and been a freelance copywriter asked to give a personality to a Bluetooth speaker. I’ve seen it all: the client decks, the 3am exports, the moment someone earnestly says, “What if the almond milk bottle is the narrator?”

Technology hasn’t just disrupted things — it’s completely reprogrammed the industry. What used to require a crew the size of a small village can now technically be done on a MacBook Air at your cousin’s coffee shop.

But faster isn’t always better. It’s often worse.

Somewhere along the way, in our rush to make things faster, cheaper, and algorithm-ready, we forgot that great creative needs time, thought, and space to breathe. Now everything's an ASAP, and your once-proud idea becomes an amuse-bouche for the content machine — consumed, swiped past, and forgotten before the logo even fades out.

Agencies Matter

There's been a lot of op-eds written that declare the death of agencies. This is NOT one of them. I love working with agencies. They've certainly shifted with innovation, but they're a hive of creative talent and wellspring of client knowledge I'm rarely privy to as a contractor.

I’ve worked at agencies. I know the dance. There's cumbersome in-office politics that have nothing to do with the job. There are rounds of feedback because it still doesn’t “pop.” There’s the mercurial comment: “Can Sam Elliott’s VO sound more like tired Zendaya, but hopeful?” But for all the chaos, that process — when it’s working — sharpens the creative. 

Agencies bring structure. They bring strategy. They bring decks with fonts that cost more than AirPods. And they protect the creative from death-by-a-thousand-Slack messages when no one’s steering the ship.

Some of my favorite work came from agency collabs where everyone was rowing in the same direction — strategists, creatives, production, post. Even when it got bumpy, the work came out smarter for it. 

Also, they handle things I don’t want to think about as a director: legal, brand guidelines, six layers of client sign-off. It’s like having someone clean the kitchen while you’re still cooking.

Direct-to-Client Is Great… Until It Isn’t

Now let’s talk direct-to-client. The cool, rebellious cousin who brings mezcal to the family reunion.

When it works, it’s electric. I’ve had direct-to-brand jobs where I was brought in early, helped shape the concept, and shot something fresh with a tiny crew that felt more like a band than a production team. No overthinking. No twelve-person feedback chains. Just make the thing, and make it sing.

But when it doesn’t work? It’s like trying to direct a Super Bowl spot using IKEA instructions and a Ring light.

No briefs. No guardrails. Everyone’s got an opinion thanks to their cousin with a drone. Suddenly I’m the director, the editor, the casting director, the voiceover coordinator, and in charge of ordering lunch while I play therapist. You can do it — but only if you want to age like a banana in fast-forward.

Technology gave us the tools. But it also gave clients the illusion that those tools are the job. They’re not.

Filmmaker? Videographer? Just Don’t Forget to Hit Record

Tech has also blurred the line between filmmaker and videographer. And I say this with nothing but respect — because I’ve worked with some wildly talented people in both camps.

A videographer is usually a one-person crew. They shoot, light, record, edit, deliver. They’re the Swiss Army knives of production — perfect for fast, scrappy, efficient content.

A filmmaker, especially in the commercial space, operates more like a conductor. Their job is to guide performance, tone, pacing, and vision — while collaborating with experts across departments to pull it all off. It’s less about juggling, more about orchestration.

Can someone be both? Yep. But they’re the exception — not the industry standard. I’m not a videographer, and I know that about myself.

That doesn’t mean I can’t run lean. Some of my favorite commercials were shot with a crew of 5–10 people. I love that size — small enough to move fast, big enough to breathe. But if you need someone to shoot an event, grab interviews, and turn around a tight edit with two people and a backpack full of batteries—there’s someone better at that than me who won’t have a mid-take panic attack wondering whether they hit record. Hire them.

Know thyself.

I can cut. I worked full-time as an editor before I became a director and I often love shaping the early edit myself. But I’m not a colorist, or a sound mixer, or a VFX artist. And when I try to be all of those things at once, the part I’m best at— honing jokes and pacing — inevitably takes the hit.

Technology makes it possible to do everything. But possible doesn’t mean better. It’s the difference between being handed a chef’s knife and thinking you’re ready for The Bear.

Let’s Talk Story Before Money

If I had a nickel for every time someone asked,
“What can we do with $40K... $100K... $500K?”
I’d have enough money to not shoot your commercial.

Real talk: it’s the wrong place to start.

That question — no matter the number — turns creative into a math problem. And the second you start bidding against a number instead of for an idea, the work suffers. Every. Single. Time.

I get it — budgets matter. But too often, the number gets promised to a client before any creative team is brought in. Now everyone’s playing catch-up, trying to retrofit a concept into a box it was never meant to fit in. That yellow Lamborghini in the client deck just became a tan Ford Focus.

Want better work? Loop in the creatives earlier. Before the number’s baked in. Let us help shape the idea, scale it smartly, and avoid that awkward meeting where everyone realizes halfway through they’ve scoped a champagne concept on a LaCroix budget.

We’re not just vendors. We’re problem solvers. And we can help you put the right idea in front of your client — with a budget that won’t make anyone look bad.

Let’s do more of that.

Where This Is All Headed

Here’s where I think we’re going — or at least where we should be heading. In a world where tech has made everything faster, cheaper, and more accessible, the real advantage isn’t in doing more with less. It’s in knowing what you’re good at, who you need around you, and how to build something intentional from the start.

It’s not about being a one-person production army. It’s about assembling the right team. It’s about knowing when you need a crane — and when you can get away with a dolly and a prayer.

We need to stop letting budget lead the creative. That’s backwards. It’s like planning a wedding based on what the cake costs. Story first. Idea first. Then let the budget back it up.

Here’s the good news: technology should make that easier. Not harder. It should free us to scale smart, experiment more, and move faster when it makes sense. Not to race toward the cheapest version of an idea — but to deliver the best version of it, with the right expectations set from the start.

This new landscape isn’t just about speed. It’s about alignment.
Knowing the story. Knowing your lane. Knowing your crew.
And building the kind of trust — between client, agency, and creative — that lets the work actually work.

So yeah, the tools changed. The timelines changed. But the real flex in this next chapter? Taste. Clarity. And knowing how to use both before you even roll camera.