Bradley Murray has always been able to manifest his vision through his lens.
The Columbia College Chicago graduate has merged his cinematic eye with commercial work to form a new side of filmmaking. His goal when creating is always to go for timeless art.
He recently spoke to rolling out about being one of the best of his generation.
You had the opportunity to work with Lexus on the next-level campaign. Elevating to the next level, what does elevating the hustle mean for you?
I think we all like we all grew up in a burnout culture, right? It’s not cool anymore to be burnt out, running behind, tired, working too hard for too little. I’m elevating is making sure that you have boundaries for how you work, and you implement them appropriately.
Elevating to me means you set an intention on how you want to feel when you work, and I think we’re moving towards that, for sure.
What does it take to level up in every aspect of your life
Preparation.
I think you have to prepare before you get to the next level. I think a lot of [people] feel and know what they need to do to get better.
In every step, it’s all about just taking those, writing those things down and going, ‘OK. In order for this to happen, this needs to happen. I prepare for this.’
So it’s a constant constant thing. New level, new preparation notes.
What was your vision for directing the Lexus video, and how did that come about?
I was extra excited about writing a Lexus commercial because I’m a Lexus head. Like, I love Lexus. I’ve only owned Lexus’s so this only makes sense.
Autumn hit me up through rolling out, through Munson [Steed] and we were talking about who would fit best in this role. Rachel (James) came up, and I thought immediately, “Yeah, for sure. This fits her aesthetic.”
When we were crafting it, we really wanted to put an emphasis on understanding this entrepreneurial spirit. Doing things a little bit differently, but also doing things in style and making it look good. That’s what I think Rachel lives for, she’s always polished — pun intended.
How did you get the idea for directing this commercial?
The idea is always about how entrepreneurs are multitasking. If you look at it, you know everyone’s multitasking, but if you know any type of person that is running their own business or running a business, it’s always folks for hands and for different pots.
So this idea came about when we were understanding that we can have her speaking about her story while she’s arriving to this actual setup of this real interview she was having. We want to recall and make it feel like a real journalistic moment where someone’s really trying to understand who she is, but she’s also doing something [else] first.
Click here to view the commercial featuring Rachel James and the Lexus NX.
