Matthew Gamlen on Craft, Collaboration, and Authenticity

Matthew Gamlen is an award-winning filmmaker known for his distinctive blend of naturalistic storytelling, arresting visuals, and innovative technique.

With a deep background in editorial, motion design, and VFX, and years spent at agencies like Wieden+Kennedy and Cinco, he brings a versatile, collaborative mindset to projects for brands including adidas, Google, Levi’s, Oakley, and Nike.

His approach is equal parts precise and intuitive, shaped by both technical expertise and a sharp creative eye. Outside of filmmaking, Matthew is a photographer, musician, beekeeper, woodworker, and avid outdoorsman. His years in the Pacific Northwest have profoundly influenced his creativity and deep connection to nature.

Below, Matthew chats with LBB about the common links between great commercial scripts, and looks back on his earliest influences.

Name: Matthew Gamlen

Location: Oregon, US

Repped by/in: Yonder

Awards: Gold Pencil, Muse, Webby, Shorty

LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?

Matthew> For me, a great commercial script usually contains a few key things.

First, it needs to evoke some type of relatable emotion beyond just the product experience. I look for something more universally human that resonates above even the brand itself. I believe that when we ask for the viewer’s time, we should give them some kind of emotional currency in return, be it a dose of nostalgia, a moment of inspiration, a sense of pride, or a good laugh.

Second, I think the best scripts have a clear point of view. This has become particularly important for me in the age of AI-generated or assisted scripts that feel overly-generalised, as they could be for any brand. The writing needs to embody the brand’s values, which gives the audience something to align with.

Having spent time earlier in my career in-house at agencies like Wieden+Kennedy, I was fortunate enough to see how some of the greatest writers and creatives in advertising crafted iconic campaigns by defining a strong POV and defending it through the whole process.

Third, and what I think gets me most excited about a script, is whether I personally connect with the subject matter. This isn’t a novel idea in filmmaking, but I strongly believe we should make what we know.

We all have a unique understanding of the world, shaped by our upbringing and the experiences we were exposed to or had throughout our lives. I find this to be especially true when it comes to the work I do with outdoor brands. Having spent most of my life adventuring outside, I have learned countless things that translate to a more authentic experience, and would be extremely difficult to learn through a crash course if you had never been backpacking, climbing, hunting, fishing, etc.

LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?

Matthew> I’m very hands-on with the treatment process. It’s rare for me to pass it off completely to a designer and writer. I always write everything myself, although I’ll usually get help gathering visual references, because fresh perspectives can spark new ideas.

I’ll usually bring in some help with layout and design so the treatment is visually strong and easy to follow. Staying involved in the entire process helps me become extremely clear about how I want to bring a project to life, and it also makes me more prepared and comfortable when it’s time to present.

My time working agency-side as an art director and creative director – where I collaborated with outside production companies – also gave me a deeper sense of what creatives are looking for in a treatment, and how to get aligned moving into production.

LBB> If the script is for a brand that you're not familiar with / don’t have a big affinity with or a market you're new to, how important is it for you to do research and understand that strategic and contextual side of the ad? If it’s important to you, how do you do it?

Matthew> This is an interesting question, because it makes me realise how fortunate I’ve been to do such a high percentage of projects that resonate on a personal level. When jobs do come up where I don’t know much about the brand or product, I push for exploratory calls to educate myself, and I do a tonne of research, not only on them, but also on their competitors.

I had a cybersecurity project a while back where I felt way out of my depth with the technology and terminology, and I poured over a tremendous amount of material to get better versed. Ultimately, what I saw as the real opportunity was understanding the culture of the cybersecurity community, and what personally drove the leaders in that space to work in that field. Even though I didn’t have the technical expertise in that category, I was able to influence the direction of the work by focusing on core storytelling principles, such as the driving desire of the main characters.

That work ended up winning five awards, in part because it was so different from the typical content in that world, which was focused on features and benefits. We told the human story, and it really resonated.

LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?

Matthew> This is a tough one, but I’ve got to say the art director or creative director who owns the work at the brand or agency. They are putting so much faith and trust in the director to be an extension of their vision, and it’s not unusual for them to have spent several months or longer getting the idea to the point where you even see boards.

This might drive some directors crazy, but I love having the creatives right alongside me on a shoot, because they bring such a wealth of hard-earned insight that ultimately leads to a better campaign. I really don’t like the 'us/them' approach where the creatives sit in the video village and feel they can’t give notes, as though I’m some auteur who can’t be bothered. I prefer to collaborate, even if it means working through differing perspectives at times. I want the creatives to walk away feeling like they have gold to work with in the edit.

LBB> What type of work are you most passionate about - is there a particular genre or subject matter or style you are most drawn to?

Matthew> I will forever be enamored by conceptual music videos. One of my earliest childhood memories is watching Peter Gabriel’s ‘Sledgehammer’ video on MTV, which seamlessly integrated live action, stop-motion, claymation, microscopy, and more. That inspiration is probably why I spent a large portion of my early career in post, including animation and visual effects.

Overall, I think music videos are an incredible sandbox for experimentation and cultural expression that nothing else can really compare to. I truly believe it is one of the greatest art forms humanity has ever devised. It’s rare that I work on them anymore, but it’s something I want to return to.

Beyond that, I’m currently developing two projects that blur the line between cinema vérité and episodic reality TV, which may sound unusual. I’ve always loved doing documentary work, but I get a little weary of the passive voice that comes from combining sit-down interviews with b-roll. I want to explore more active and energised documentary work while maintaining a cinematic aesthetic that feels like a narrative feature.

LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?

Matthew> I’m not sure if it’s a misconception or not, but I have never been terribly keen on the standard of directors walking away from a project once photography wraps and the editing starts. Perhaps it’s a misconception that people think directors don’t have time or interest to stay involved through post, but I really enjoy staying connected to a project until it delivers. There’s so much going on in a director’s head on set about how things will work in the edit, and there’s so much nuance in finishing where a director can bring a lot of value.

LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?

Matthew> A few years back, I was shooting a documentary about a group of ranchers on a massive bison conservation ranch. They had stopped using horses for their annual roundup for safety and efficiency reasons, so they used a variety of vehicles like dirt bikes, dune buggies, old trucks, and even a helicopter. One day I was riding in the bed of a truck while filming, and the driver accidentally ran over a big hay feeder. The truck popped up and I flew into the air and straight back down into the truck bed, later finding out that I had broken my tailbone and three ribs. I was in crazy pain, but the images we were capturing were so compelling and we were having so much fun that I didn’t realise how badly I was hurt until I got home and had X-rays.

So, I’m not sure how I solved it other than adrenaline and inspiration, but I guess sometimes that’s all you need to get the job done!

LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?

Matthew> This is the eternal question, right? Not to philosophise too much, but the first thing to remember is that commercial work is not my personal art, and does not define my identity or value as a human being. I always have projects going that are ‘mine’, even if they’re unrelated to film, so if a spot doesn’t end up exactly the way I envisioned after client revisions, it’s not going to break my spirit.

At its core, a commercial serves to solve a business problem, so I prefer to frame myself as a creative worker in service to that goal. If that business problem is solved, then everyone wins.

At the same time, I’ve found that the more effort we put into the treatment, pre-vis, production design, casting, scouting, and all the other details up front, making sure there’s an abundance of clarity and alignment prior to a shoot, the greater the chances that the deliverables will reflect the original intent. Putting in extra work and maintaining visibility during pre-production always seems to naturally help protect the idea.

LBB> What are your thoughts on opening up the production world to a more diverse pool of talent? Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?

Matthew> It’s a non-negotiable. For me, this means truly passing the mic to other creatives so they can share their unique voices and cultural perspectives in the storytelling itself. Sometimes that means passing on a job because I know I’m not the best person to tell that story, and sometimes that’s hard to do.

At other times, it means being more of a mentor or steward in terms of technique and structure, without imposing my voice on the work. The low-effort version of this that we see so often is mainly around casting, sometimes resulting in overly-contrived situations. Everyone can feel the lack of authenticity in that.

As far as crews are concerned, on both sides of the line, I push for diversity and for having a strong mix of industry veterans and new talent. I believe we should cultivate an atmosphere of personal and professional growth in every job.

LBB> Your work is now presented in so many different formats - to what extent do you keep each in mind while you're working (and, equally, to what degree is it possible to do so)?

Matthew> I actually think about this constantly, to the point where I will sometimes drive a DP half-crazy by saying ‘a little wider for the vertical crop, please’ all day on set. The way people watch stories now is so fragmented. A hero film might end up on broadcast in the living room, but most people will first see it on a phone.

Like many filmmakers, I was initially resistant to vertical formats, but I’ve come to see them as an interesting creative challenge. It forces you to think about composition, pacing, and even story structure in a new way. I try to shoot with flexibility so the work holds up in every format without losing its impact. I’ve even noticed that it’s influenced my personal photography, and now I shoot almost all my stills in portrait orientation, and I love it.

LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work (e.g. virtual production, interactive storytelling, AI/data-driven visuals etc)?

Matthew> Well, I’m sort of a covert nerd, so I’m always interested in how technology can help us tell more amazing stories.

Over the years, I’ve incorporated a lot of new technology into my work, both with in-camera techniques and post/VFX. One of my favorite projects some years ago was when I was asked to design the entire UX/UI for a motion control software application for a robotics company called Motorized Precision. Up until that point, motion control for camera movement was very complex and antiquated, so it was incredible to work on something that helped the industry take a major leap forward. I’ve done several spots with their robots since, and it’s always such a blast.

As far as AI is concerned, I don’t really use it except for occasionally asking an LLM how to fix something or for a recipe. I’m reluctant to depend on it because I don’t want my conceptual and critical thinking skills to atrophy. I’m still reeling from how AI firms have vacuumed up a legacy of copyrighted human creative work to build their models, and how willing people are to use it without any real guardrails.

That said, I do think there are many applications where AI makes sense and can deliver on the early promise of computers to make our lives easier by automating certain tasks and solving highly complex problems.I think AI could potentially be helpful with ideation and pre-vis, but so far, I haven’t seen that happen. As of now, I’m not interested in the final AI output. I get sort of a visceral ick from it. The ineffable dimension of art is missing from everything I’ve seen created by AI. Knowing there was no practice, effort, sacrifice, heartbreak, risk, or commitment behind a piece makes it lose all value to me.

I also find it deeply disturbing to cause people to question the authenticity of everything they see, hear, and read. I often think about a line from Charles Eames that feels especially relevant now, “Innovate as a last resort. More horrors are done in the name of innovation than any other.”

Ultimately, none of us knows how AI will reshape the world we live in. Who knows, maybe it will help us cure all diseases and teach us how to create a sustainable utopia!

LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why?

Matthew> REI Co-op:’Rewind the Hike’

I love working with outdoor brands, and I particularly enjoyed this one because it’s a human story first, focusing on everyday people rather than the typical aspirational angle. We developed this campaign in close partnership with REI’s internal creative team, and they came up with this wild idea of rewinding the whole spot back to the moment the gift was purchased. It was truly refreshing to explore a totally different way to tell a story in this category.

Oakley x Team Rubicon: ‘Path of Purpose’

This project was amazing to work on, and I think it highlights what’s possible when a brand steps into a space that already has a lot of substance and chooses to support the cause instead of trying to take it over. The Team Rubicon crew was super inspiring, and throughout the whole process, I was reminded of why I became a filmmaker, and how much of an honour it is to be entrusted with these types of projects.

Trek x Wavecel: ‘Chasing Safest’

This one was memorable, because the agency tapped me early in the writing process to help shape the idea. It had only a seed of an idea and hadn’t written or storyboarded anything yet. We really leaned into the fact that safety isn’t just about fancy gear; it’s a much deeper responsibility to ourselves and our families. The team gave me a tonne of freedom with storytelling, instead of just showcasing products, and that’s the lane I like being in most.

Ranchlands: ‘Bisonworks’

The work we’ve done with Ranchlands hits on so many things I care about, particularly around conservation and the people who steward these places with so much grit and determination. What I love most is how real it all is. This is the world I feel at home in, and I tried to capture it without sensationalising anything, while still sharing the raw, cinematic beauty of it. I also appreciate how it breaks some of the stereotypes associated with this type of work and the individuals who do it.