Meet the Artist: Doug Pray Finds the Humanity Behind Big Money in Art & Copy
Documentary filmmaker Doug Pray wades into the penthoused world of advertising expecting to find suits and cynics, and instead unearths art-minded agents of change, coated in pixie dust.
“I was as cynical about advertising as anyone else when I entered the project.” - Art & Copy director Doug Pray
Doug Pray has forged a career documenting characters that live on the fringes of the establishment: the truckers in Big Rig, the graffiti artists in Infamy, the DJs in Scratch. So when he turned his camera on the executives behind some of the most successful advertising campaigns of the past half-century — from “got milk?” to the Budweiser frogs — he was surprised to learn that they also consider themselves underdogs. “The thing is, from their perspective, they’re working from so far within the system that it’s like all odds are against them,” says Pray. “They have the same mindset as your average Sundance independent filmmaker.”
The idea for Art & Copy was brought to Pray’s attention by One Club, a non-profit that celebrates excellence in advertising. But as Pray met some of the giants of the industry, the project quickly evolved from a simple organizational tribute into something far more nuanced. Prayescorts his audience into the offices of the best and brightest of a muchmaligned field, intercutting their stories with images of the far-reaching effects of their creativity — billboards being erected, satellites being launched, and clips from some of the most enduring ad campaigns of our time. “I was as cynical about advertising as anyone else when I entered the project,” says Pray. “But as soon as it was humanized, and it was a film about creative people, it got really interesting to me.”
Entering the glamorous and moneyed homes and offices of the advertising elite was a new experience for Pray. “The thing that amazed me most was the architecture,” he says. “It was just funny for me, because I’ve done other movies that are much more street and underground and crazy. I’m always in basements and cellars and alleys. So when I made this movie, the biggest thing that changed was I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m in huge penthouses.’ It seemed like the West Coast offices were just these massive, amazing, open, creative atmospheres, and very expensive, too.”
Within these walls, Pray didn’t find a bunch of cynical suits driven solely by the almighty dollar. “I met Mary Wells Lawrence,” says Pray about the founding president of the ground-breaking agency Wells Rich Greene. “She has these little napkins, and the napkins say, ‘Have a big life.’ And it’s not like I immediately put that into practice after I walked out of the elevator, but it actually is a pretty inspiring thought.”
Many of those at the top of the advertising game share Lawrence’s optimism and believe that they are elevating products and people through their work. “It’s like they’re putting little pixie dust on everything,” says Pray with a laugh. The effect isn’t always a mere illusion. Nike’s “JustDo It” campaign did motivate Americans to exercise more, and the ads that launched Tommy Hilfiger to prominence terrified him into living up to his reputation by working twice as hard to design great clothes.
Whether or not ads are doing a public service, they will continue to be a fixture in our culture for a long time to come. “It’s the cave painting of our era,” says Pray. “The point of the film is not to judge, but to show and get into it and just go, ‘This is what we do, and this is what we say, and here’s where it comes from.’”
