We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andy Kelemen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andy below.

Andy, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

I was working as a commercial director, which entails collaborating with agencies, clients, and production companies. But you come onto a commercial video pretty late into the creative process. And for a long time I loved that! I was able to collaborate with wonderful crews, and great people. And I still do that! But so many times I was being asked to help rework ideas. And a lot of times, I was still doing more than a traditional commercial director. So I formed Dessert Before Dinner, a production company based in Pittsburgh, but working all over the country, to bring together the best of the local film market in Pittsburgh in creating absurdist comedic spots and branded content.

But it was a tough leap if I’m being honest. I was nervous I’d ruffle feathers with some of my previous contacts I had directed for, because meow we were the competition in a sense. But the one lovely thing about Pittsburgh is that we’re still a hard-working, blue collar city, where there’s plenty of work to go around! So a lot of my friends were incredibly supportive. To actually launch, I needed encouragement, but thankfully I have a strong group of support by way of others working in the industry, who encouraged me to take the leap and form a company. So my main piece of advice here is to use the people around you, both inside and outside of your industry, as a fantastic springboard of advice. A lot of unexpected people in your life probably have a good outlook on helping you with taking the next step.

Andy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

In a nutshell, I freelance direct comedy commercials, and run an East-coast based boutique production company called Dessert Before Dinner. We provide full-service production, with a large base of freelance directors, we complete help with ideation, execution, and post-production on a variety of commercials, social media videos, and branded content. On occasion we’ll take on some serious story telling as well.

I got into the industry through editing. Right out of film school I worked as a promotions editor for our PBS and CBS stations, and then began producing long-form stories and creating documentaries for PBS. I then worked in political ads for many years actually, and then finally quit my job and became a full-time freelance director. I formed the company in 2019 as a leap of faith and have never looked back.

I think what sets us apart as a company and as people is our amazing ability to see the commercial industry as a collaborative one. We’re all incredibly positive and upbeat people who bring that to every job we create. Clients remember both the work you create, and the experiences they have when working with you as a person, and I’m proud of our ability to just be good humans! Also, our main work is weird! Because life is weird. We need more humor in our lives at every turn.

On an internal note, I as a person am proud of my ability to have worked / are working while on dialysis. A lot of people associate dialysis with the elderly + diabetes. But some of us 30-somethings just have shit luck with kidney disease. But work, let alone working in the humorous space, has allowed me to focus on other things while this is going on. And I’m happy I’ve been able to keep creating great work while being kept alive by a machine. Like a robot. I guess I’m saying I’m part robot. Bleep blop boop.

Any advice for managing a team?

In our industry, keeping morale high both in pre-production and on set is incredibly important. You want your crews to feel inspired, and like they have ownership in the content you are creating. I work mainly with freelancers, which is typical in the commercial industry. I think paying industry standard rates is the first way to raise morale. Ever when budgets are tight, making sure you don’t ‘cheap out’ on your crew is imperative.

When on set, I like to have a morning team meeting with everyone, to get us all on the same page for the day. Commercials are traditionally only 1-2 day shoots, so you work quickly within this large group of people. And you typically don’t have the same crew job to job. That morning meeting sets the tone of the day. If I’m excited, it’s infectious. And it gives context to what we’re doing!

When some people direct I know there can be a palpable anxiety. That sometimes comes from clients, agency people, and the director. I really try to make sure everyone feels confident in their roles, and that we’re all collaborating towards one goal – make a great spot! I’m also someone who takes safety very seriously on set and I think people tend to notice that from a positive perspective.

When I was a PA (which means production assistant) I was abused horribly in the workplace – being forced to work dangerous hours and being yelled at constantly over nothing. So I always swore to never carry that on to others if I was ever in a higher position and I’ve stood by that all these years.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

When I see a spot, still, or branded piece of content out in the wild. A banner on a website. A pre-roll video on youtube. It’s pretty wild to think that 15 second blip that you can skip after 6 seconds may have taken 3 months, and dozens of people to create.

I’ve learned over the years that when you see anything – a new building, a television show, a remodel on a public space, it takes so many people to create, and so many hurdles to complete. I think about how many layers of approvals we have in the commercial world, so I appreciate seeing new things get out there in the world. And you should too.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dessertbeforedinnercreative.com/, https://www.andykelemen.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dessertbeforedinnercreative/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andykelemen/
• Other: https://vimeo.com/dessertbeforedinner

Image Credits
Matthew Shuck