Meeks & Frost: Brothers in arms

Think dynamic directorial duos and perhaps the Coen Brothers or The Matrix-making Wachowskis come to mind, or in advertising, Michel & Nico or Zhang & Knight. 

But reserve a new double berth, please, for Meeks & Frost, two twenty-something brothers of Jamaican-British heritage with a slew of music videos and TikTok-topping spots under their belts. 

Ranging from the street rap of Pa Salieu’s single Frontline, shot on the streets of Coventry just prior to lockdown, through to their dynamic – virtually athletic – account of the Chineke! Orchestra performing Max Richter’s take Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and their recent IKEA TikTok spot, Show off Your Savvy, which has become the brand’s most viewed TikTok spot ever, Meeks & Frost have come a long way since their first shoots in early 2020. 

We’re very honest with each other. We don’t give each other BS. A lot of people are yes men, but we don’t do that. If it’s dead it’s dead, if it’s good it’s good. That is how it goes.”

Major labels such as Universal, EMI, Black Butter, Atlantic and Warner Records have hired them to make videos, while their spots include the longer-form character study Offbeat Summer for Dr Martens, and the Make Big Moves campaign for French Vodka brand Ciroc, featuring model and vitiligo spokesperson Winnie Harlow, hip-hop duo Krept & Konan, and drag queen Bimini.  

The brothers’ working philosophy as directors could be captured in those three words, make big moves. “We started off doing music videos, but even with our very first, we were looking at building narratives, at story-building,” says younger brother Frost. “That’s the way me and my bro work,” he adds. “We always have concepts, something creative that we’re trying to make or put out.”

When we look at something, we may have the same ideas, we have ways of doing it and we just combine it, it’s a telepathic kind of thing.

“Our interests complement each other well when it comes to putting ideas together,” agrees Meeks. “We’re very different but in ways similar. We have the same blood running through us.” So did the Gallagher Brothers, but that didn’t stop them fighting. But with these brothers, it’s different.  

“When we look at something, we may have the same ideas, we have ways of doing it and we just combine it, it’s a telepathic kind of thing,” says Frost. “It’s weird like that. We don’t really disagree, and we’re very honest with each other. We don’t give each other BS. A lot of people are yes men, but we don’t do that. If it’s dead it’s dead, if it’s good it’s good. That is how it goes.”

The South London-based duo’s childhood encompassed some striking cultural contrasts - originally born in South London, to later living in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, then moving to Warsaw, Poland, as well as spending a lot of time in their homeland Jamaica. “There’s a real juxtaposition between Warsaw and Abuja,” observes Frost. “When you’re there, you gain their perspective, culturally, and then you come to London and it’s such a mixture of cultures, viewpoints and perspectives and the way people run their lives. 

With us being from Jamaica as well, we see different things and we take on inspiration and take their viewpoints and how they would see things and apply it.

And with us being from Jamaica as well, we see different things and we take on inspiration and take their viewpoints and how they would see things and apply it. All that expands our directorial and creative knowledge, about how we approach things, and what we can talk about, and where we’re getting our inspirations and influences from.” 

“And the stories we want to tell, just from small things we might have seen,” adds Meeks. “It also allows us to integrate into different spaces, being around a lot of diversity.”

When it comes to seeing a diversity of talents behind the camera, the brothers are equivocal. “I’d definitely say so in the urban scene,” says Frost. 

 It’s not really what you make but how you make it. Art is copying, isn’t it, but it’s copying in your own handwriting, so you’re doing it your own way.

“There’s definitely been a rise in diversity among the crew members and production office. We can’t say about advertising, as we’ve only been working in it for a short while but it’s a very silent industry – if you know, you know. There is not too much noise on the block. But we’re in an age now where people are speaking, putting out information. On social media you can see directors post behind the scenes and stuff like that.”

“It wasn’t so easy to get insight on how to get into certain spaces,” adds Meeks. “But there’s definitely been an increase of the pathways and an exposure of what the industry might offer.”

Since signing with Untold Studios last year, their directorial star has been rising steadily. 

“You grow as you go along in your career,” says Frost, “so we’re learning more about the logistics of being a creative. It’s not really what you make but how you make it. Art is copying, isn’t it, but it’s copying in your own handwriting, so you’re doing it your own way.” 

Me and my brother are on that thing where we transcend and reach new levels after a certain amount of time, and that is how we want to approach our careers.

“We’re more than directors,” observes Meeks. “As creatives we have to wear multiple hats. There’s thinking about the creative direction of it, the marketing; we need to bridge that gap between what the brand is trying to put out, and connect to their consumers, rather than making something that’s cool. It all needs to make sense. The characters, the casting, the styling, the script, all these things, we have our hands in those pies.”

While their work with Max Richter, the Chineke! Orchestra and Vivaldi saw them experimenting with flash cuts and weird angles rather than the cross-fades and slow camera movements of more conventional classical films, their documentary-style Dr Martens short, Offbeat Summer, is one of their favourites.