On My Radar: Kate Taylor

What’s the best ad campaign you’ve seen recently?

McDonald’s McCafé Madness. The casting and performances were sublime, and the dialogue in one of the Artisan Coffee Shops:

“Hi, can I have the Wifi Password please?”

“Yeah sure, it’s Fly high with your dreams”

That has to be the best line of copy written for TV in ages...

Best music video would be False Alarm from The Weeknd. Spectacular.

What website(s) do you use most regularly and why?

Brainpickings blog by Maria Popova, who is one of those brilliant people that makes a living out of just being interesting. It's a collection of essays, excerpts from literature and learnings, philosophy, art and mind-blowingly intelligent stuff. I read it to remind myself that there’s a world out there.

And Vimeo Staff Picks, because I’m always on the hunt for new directorial brilliance, Nowness for the zeitgeist, and Magnum for photos.

What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought and why?

The Apple iPhone 7 Plus a while ago (does that even count?) but I’m about to invest in Sonos. I think…

What’s your favoured social media platform?

Tricky one. We all know that social media is bad for us – the research is well-documented.

And yet I spend some time (less and less) on Facebook, but only to lament the state of our politics.

So then, narcissism and perpetuating unattainable goals aside, it has to be Instagram. I love photography and collect photography books. Instagram feeds the obsession and keeps me connected with what my mates and those I follow are up to. Moreover, it’s much easier to post a picture than a witticism, and I do like a nice filter. Although I’m told by my millennials that filters and frames are duff. Shame.

What’s your favourite app on your phone?

I really want to say Runkeeper, but I’d be lying. It’s Vivino.

What’s your favourite TV show and why?

Gah. Such a tough question.

The Sopranos was arguably the best written, long-running TV show of all time. Then The Wire, which was as amazing in a different way. Breaking Bad was a huge favourite, and more recently Gomorrah (the series not the film), was spectacular on every level. Now I’m just getting to the end of West World which is blowing my mind.

But I think it has to be a toss up between House of Cards, because Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright just put in the best performances, and the Antiques Roadshow [below] because, you know, one day someone will find that missing Fabergé egg that’s worth a squillion quid, and that will be spectacular telly.

What film do you think everyone should have seen and why?

Steven Spielberg's Duel . Visual storytelling at its most impressive by a 24 year old director. A TV movie, shot in 12 days, on one limited stretch of road, sparse dialogue, forensic lensing, and three weeks to finish before it went to the network. Directed by a first timer given a break.  

It’s a masterclass in delivering a gripping narrative on a shoestring. And, given the above, so inspiring.

Where were you when inspiration last struck?

At a gong bath [a form of yogic meditation].

What’s the most significant change you’ve witnessed in the industry since you started working in it?

The advent of the internet and subsequent digital platforms. Schedules are now impossibly tight. I remember when location pictures had to be developed and then mounted on boards in order just to be presented to the director, let alone the agency.

Every process like that gave you thinking time on all other aspects of a production. Now, everything has to be done at a million miles an hour, and the contemplation time that great craft requires is compromised.

If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?

I would address the gender balance in all creative areas of the industry. Agency creative departments should be 50/50 male, female. Directorial rosters should be 50/50 male, female. Film crews should be 50/50 male, female. And within that mix there should be a decent representation of diversity so that the work that we all graft over has a better chance of resonating with those consuming it. It’s 2017 FFS.

What or who has most influenced your career and why?

Graham Rose [who died earlier this month].

I was lucky enough to work with Graham at the very beginning of my career. We shot a ton of ads together, and an award winning short film. But it’s only really in retrospect that I have a full understanding of how brilliant he was at his craft.

He wrote cracking treatments, drew fabulous storyboards and operated the camera whilst directing performances at the same time. He would shoot and edit in his head as he went, which meant one or two takes per scene.

He wasn’t afraid to call it after the first take - he wouldn’t even need a safety, he was that confident of his cut. He understood comedy better than anyone I’ve ever met, and lit up a room with his laughter. He was an absolute don, and will be sorely missed. I’m just so glad to have known him at all. 

Tell us one thing about yourself that most people won’t know.

When I was 23, I tried to join the RCP. (Revolutionary Communist Party). I got my words wrong and called it the The Royal Communist Party – they wouldn’t let me in, surprisingly.