We first filmed Jordan Howe’s story a year ago. Coming back with Movember gave us a chance to see what had changed, both in his life and in how he shares his experiences.

Movember had acquired footage from the original documentary, so we spent one additional production day in Yaletown, Vancouver. We reshot the interview in Jordan’s new space and filmed him cutting hair with an extra in the chair. We kept the crew small: we directed and shot, with a first AC alongside us.

There was plenty of natural light coming through the windows. We used a Zhiyun light for a little extra fill, but anything more felt like too much for the smaller space. A Sony FX3 and A7S III covered the interview. It was a simple setup, and knowing Jordan already helped the day run smoothly.

What stood out to us this time was how comfortable Jordan was sharing his story on camera. He sees it as something worth sharing because of what it might mean to someone else. Over the year, he’d become more open about telling it.

The edit took a bit more figuring out. We wanted the film to feel like an update, give Movember’s campaign a place in it, and still let Jordan tell his story in his own way. That meant finding a pace that held attention while leaving room for pauses, especially when he spoke about mental health and suicide. Those moments needed time to carry their weight.

When a colleague, Joon Rho, was sent a small Zhiyun light to review, he wanted a short intro to open the video. He asked if I had any ideas, and within about a day, we had a concept.

The thing that caught our attention was how much the light packed into such a small size. We started thinking about a Leatherman, a useful tool you can carry with you, and somehow that led us to a chef unveiling a dish under a cloche.

We put Joon in the role of the chef, presenting the light on a stainless steel table. The goal was to give the review a bit of comedy while also showing just how small the light is.

We kept the set simple, lighting Joon, the table and the cloche from above and letting everything else fall into the background. We also shot close details of the light to bring it back to what started the idea in the first place.

I first came across Seb Elimbi on social media. I liked his energy, so I sent him an email asking if he would be up for a quick chat about making a spec piece together.

When we met, the idea was still wide open. I knew I wanted to tell part of his story as a commercial, but that meant getting to know him first, so we sat down and talked about his background, his time playing soccer, and how he moved into personal training and fitness content.

What stuck with me was how he approaches showing up every day. His work is about getting other people to put in the effort. I was just as interested in the commitment he asks of himself, and that became what I wanted to explore in the Garmin spec.

Those conversations turned into brainstorming. The more I understood Seb, the more the concept took shape, and before long I had a director’s treatment in hand. Producer Joon Rho and gaffer Berkeley Reyes came on after that, and we brought it together in Vancouver.

That’s a big part of why I wanted to share this one. The direction came from spending time with Seb and learning what mattered to him. We’ve since started on other specs together, all from that first email.