Going Native: London

Don’t bother asking Ryan Goodwin-Smith the best place to eat in London, it’s his local caff and he won’t tell you where it is. Luckily the Passion Pictures EP is more forthcoming about the city’s other joys, including its wondrous age, inflexibility and banter

What is the best thing about working in advertising in the UK?

The scripts.

What is the worst thing about working in advertising in the UK?

Being in the middle of all the time zones. Your evening is always somebody else’s work day and vice versa.

The work of illustrator and director Robert Valley

Who do you/would you love to work with in the industry?

I love working with Sam Ashwell, sound designer at 750mph, illustrator and director Kevin Dart and fashion illustrator and director Jo Ratcliffe. Two talented people I haven’t worked with yet are illustrator and director Robert Valley and animator Jonathan Djob Nkondo.

What’s the best place to eat in London?

My local caff – but I’m not telling you where it is. I like my quiet corner table.

And the best place to have a drink?

Reverend JW Simpson on Goodge Street.

If London were a product, what would it be?

It would be old. And you would inherit it from a distant uncle or something. Its novelty would wear off soon after acquiring it, and you’d secretly hate it and lock it away in a drawer. But your friends would covet it terribly, and you’d eventually come to understand it despite its age and inflexibility.

And understanding is a kind of love. You’d have it appraised and it would be, of course, priceless. You’d quickly feel the burden of provenance. A responsibility. It is, in fact, a beautiful thing. Whatever it is.

If you’re booking a hotel in London, where would you choose to stay?

Americans love Hazlitt’s. Embrace the impossibility of a romanticised past, I say! Another local favourite, just round the corner from Passion’s studio, is Charlotte Street Hotel. It’s ideally located within the hustle and bustle of Fitzrovia.

What do you miss when you are out of the city?

Specifically, it’s Regent’s Park. More generally, the uniquely London rus in urbe [the illusion of countryside within a town].

What’s the best UK ad you saw last year?

Loteria Night Shift by Againstallodds – a Christmas advert for the Spanish lottery that we saw popping up all over the internet. I also liked Freeview Set Yourself Free from the guys at The Line – an innovative and bold commercial, with beautiful character and environment design.