Doug Pray On The Spot

Pray, a documentarian, began his career in 1996 with Hype!, a film chronicling the Seattle music scene of the '90s. Next up, in 2001, was Scratch, a documentary about hip-hop DJs. Reluctant at first to get into commercials, Pray now says it's the smartest business decision he's made. In March he directed ads by Publicis in Seattle for the Gill Foundation that document gay employees who come out to their bosses at work. Last month the 44-year-old father of two developed short profiles of eclectic workers in London for Dr. Martens. He directs commercials out of Oil Factory in Hollywood. Q: What attracted you to Dr. Martens? A: The project sounded really cool. In the beginning, I sort of imagined being like this photographer, [Sebastião] Salgado, who goes into the coal mines. And I was like, wow, I'm going to do this really heavy, proletariat thing. They wanted it more urban than that, and hip. And I had a lot of creative freedom. Is there a danger in having sponsors on documentary projects? They were clear that the films were sponsored. [You can ask,] did their sponsorship harm the content? You can argue that for weeks, back and forth. But you could also argue that paintings in 1570 were sponsored by a really rich family who wanted their daughter to look really good in oil. What was the time frame? I was only allowed to spend one day per character. It made it more interesting: "Hey, we're only with you for this brief moment. Can we capture your essence?" Like that woman Ndidi. She's just sitting there hammering silver. How do you make her interesting? For her, it was a rhythm. Are you always involved in editing? The majority of my work I've either edited or had a huge hand in or co-edited. You don't have a script, and you don't have boards, [so editing] is the most creative part of the process. You're writing the script, doing the boards, coming up with the structure, making it fast or fun and interesting and cool and dark. You're sculpting it. How do you choose your subjects? For these jobs, they were chosen for me. For a lot of my films, they were chosen for me. If other people approach me with an idea, and they are persistent enough to get me to do it, then I'll start doing it, and I'll start loving it. What inspired you to become a director? I was really into media in general, into newspapers and graphic arts, really into music. I was into so many things that combine to make film. I actually like post better than production. I like the creative process of sitting and writing. And I love the limits, the fact that you can only work with material you have. That's freedom to me. Who has influenced you the most, creatively? Errol Morris. I've never met him, but he seems to have the same joy in the same kind of people [as I do]. Like his film Fast, Cheap & Out of Control—it's a feature film about four older men who never would have a feature made of them. I referred to that film when I was doing these pieces for Dr. Martens. [It's] the idea that you can make an interesting story out of anybody. What work are you the most proud of? My first film, [Hype!], because it took five years to make. And it was just such a labor of love. I think that for all directors there has to be some sort of major paying-your-dues experience, where you just are risking everything. Then you stick it out, and persistence pays off. There's nothing else like it. Do you keep in touch with your subjects? Yes, I always do. From the first phone call, you're already directing. If that first phone call goes bad, or if they just don't trust you —it's such a relationship. They're trusting their lives and their portrayal to me. Have you ever gotten any complaints from people about how they've been portrayed? It's so arrogant to say no, but no, I haven't. It's because of the investment. The unseen work that goes into documentary-style content that nobody sees is the relationship you've built with the person you're spending time with.What was the last ad or film you saw that made you think, "I wish I had done that"? I attended [digital film festival] Resfest, and watching [Sexy Beast director] Jonathan Glazer's work, it gives me that aching feeling in my heart. I want to be so bold someday. What's the smartest business decision you ever made? To have an open mind about doing commercially related content. For years I was one of those people who would say, "Never. No. Ain't gonna happen." [I changed my mind] partly from just having a family and realizing documentaries actually don't pay anything. And it's been really rewarding, these four or five different jobs I've done in the past year. [Commercials are] a really collaborative process, and I think there's a lot of moments where people actually push you to do much better things. Nobody likes to admit that, because directors are supposed to be all-powerful and all-knowing and all-seeing, but they aren't. They're actually really arrogant and stupid. What's your biggest fear? Doing something that has been done before. That's why I like documentaries, because it's always original footage. What words would people choose to describe you?Loves enchiladas. Has a dog named Jeff. A lot of people talk about that. They think it's funny that my dog's name is Jeff.

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Doug Pray On The Spot

Mae Anderson

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Mae Anderson