A Day in the Life as Trey Creative Director at BearJam

I’m up around 6am and heading out early. I don’t live in London, so my commute depends on the weather—and my mood. It’s either motorcycle or car.

If I time it right on the bike, it feels like it’s just me on the road.
If I get it wrong in the car, it's like I’m on Fury Road.

Get to London.. do a work out…

And then hit the office. 

Oh, full disclosure - one or more images MAY have been augmented by AI. Though just a little bit.

Office Days

Office days usually start with checking what’s new in AI (there’s always something). Then it’s meetings, looking through client briefs, and coming up with ideas—while eating gummy bears or whatever snacks Rabia or Catie have brought in.

From there, it’s about shaping the best way to communicate a client’s message: developing concepts, building pitch decks, and deciding on the right approach—live action, animation, AI, or some hybrid of the three.

That might mean writing a narrative or script, directing or shooting elements, and then working closely with editors, GFX artists and AI artists to bring those ideas to life.

All of this happens while having a hell of a good time—and, obviously, continuing to eat gummy bears or whatever snacks Rabia or Catie have brought in.

Shoot Days

Shoot days are very different. And they vary a lot.

Take a recent shoot in Dallas, Texas for The Wall Street Journal. We had an office location, but we didn’t know exactly where we’d be shooting within it. (It’s tricky to recce Dallas from Wandsworth.)

First thing I do is have a proper nose around the space—especially since this was an interview. I’m taking in how it looks, how it sounds, whether the subject will feel comfortable, and whether it’ll cut seamlessly with scenes we’ve already shot. Things like that...

So I look at spaces.. And also look at a lot of chairs!  Will one be too high? Too low? Does it spin too much? That kind of thing. It’s very Goldilocks—until you find one that’s just right. Honestly, assessing “appropriate” chairs seems to be a surprisingly large part of the job.

Snacks (Vital Section)

During the recce, I also discovered a “help yourself” treat bowl at reception—Red Vines, chocolate kisses, the works. Plus a full snack area where you could help yourself to everything.

Clearly, snacking is a core component of Creative Director-ing.

On Set

Once the space is locked, I’ll block out camera positions, lock framing, and help set up cameras, lighting and sound.

From Dallas, we flew to LA and did much the same there. Auditioned about three chairs. Found a very healthy snack bowl—which feels very LA.

After 

After we wrapped, I stayed on in LA for a few extra days. I lived there for a few years, so it was a chance to see friends and escape a bit.

I headed out to the desert and stayed near Joshua Tree—middle of nowhere, incredible place to switch off and not think about chairs for a while.

Not many snacks, though.

Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed a bit of the behind-the-scenes from Trey. See you next time!