Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace are directing duo thirtytwo. Known for their authenticity, cinematic realism and a commitment to representing places and people not always seen in advertising, thirtytwo’s films are human, intimate, cinematic, and crafted to put character and story front and center. As storytellers, they are dedicated to finding recognisable, intimate moments that resonate in a big way with audiences. Their advertising career has seen them produce work for clients as diverse as Apple, Nike, Samsung, VW, BBC, The Department for Education, American Airlines, and most recently, a moving film for ITV’s “Britain Get Talking” mental health awareness campaign, currently shortlisted in three AICP categories; Tesco Mobile’s heroic trolley ad; and a vacation vibes campaign for VRBO. Originally from East Yorkshire and Cambridge respectively, the London based partnership met when studying film in Liverpool. The duo started a production company in the city upon graduation, after receiving a hefty grant from the European Union. Being 20 and terrible business people, they promptly spent most of the money on a ‘too big’ office, bought top of the range kit, and handed out full-time jobs to their friends rather than hiring freelancers. Before long, their grant money ran out and they had to figure out how to cover a huge wage bill and monstrous overheads. The result of this was they somehow turned that business into a moderately successful, but utterly soul-crushing corporate video company. Flash forward a couple of years and the existential agony of filming business consultants in beige government offices left them wondering what they had done with their lives. And so they sold up and moved to London with enough money to last a few months. This somehow worked out. Over the years, they’ve directed several long-form documentary projects, met some of their heroes (including Bjork, Mark E Smith of The Fall, Lemmy of Motorhead) whilst simultaneously building an impressive body of work in advertising. Their first music documentary No Distance Left To Run about the band Blur was nominated for a Grammy and a Grierson. Their second, Shut Up And Play The Hits, documented LCD Soundsystem’s “last ever show” and premiered at Sundance in 2012. The film regularly appears in lists of ‘The greatest music documentaries of all time’ (Rolling Stone, NME, The Guardian). Their latest film Meet Me In The Bathroom, based on Lizzy Goodman’s best selling book chronicling the early 00’s music scene in New York, premiered at this year’s Sundance and is now playing in theaters. Regularly featured in industry press’ end of year lists, thirtytwo’s work has garnered multiple awards at all the major industry awards shows including; Cannes Lions, British Arrows, Creative Circle, Shots, Kinsale Sharks. D&AD. Southern is also a writer and is currently working on a feature adaptation of Max Porter’s acclaimed novel Grief is the Thing with Feathers, set to star Benedict Cumberbatch. He is also developing a television series with Amazon Studios. thirtytwo