From funny to fulfilling stories with Amazon.

Director Tim Wheeler got silly, sporty, and emotional across the Amazon family.

Amazon Ring, Eero, and Autos all represent strong brand identities with unique creative teams bringing them to life. But while the tone and worlds vary greatly, the production realities and insights of working within the Amazon family helped us anticipate and problem-solve early on in the process. 

Hear more from Wheels about that process...

Q> Your work with Amazon ranges from emotional narrative storytelling, to Sportscenter parody, to comedy performance. How do you adapt your approach for different genres? And what do you keep the same?

Tim Wheeler > Story, character and brand identity always inform tone. So you ebb and flow with what feels right for the story you are trying to tell. One consistent element of my work is an effort to always keep things relatable and honest. Whether it’s an emotional narrative, comedy, satire or just a story with a bit of a wink, there has to be something familiar and real for the audience to latch onto. It’s usually funnier or tugs at the heart strings more because you’ve experienced it in some form. 

"Farm League was a fantastic partner from beginning to end. The producers kept us on time and budget, and Tim was incredibly collaborative throughout the entire process. Our shoot was truly the most enjoyable and least stressful shoot I've ever been on, all thanks to their hard work, prep, and communication." 

- Claire, Creative Director at Amazon Autos

Q> Tell us about the process of working for the same brand across a variety of teams. What has been the most important factor in success across these partnerships?

TW> I approach every project as its own individual opportunity to tell a specific story. My particular style, personality, and process are always there in some fashion, but I really try to let my conversations with the agency and/or client, and what I take away from the brief, be what drives my overall approach to the story from a tonal and visual standpoint. 

So even though there was a consistency from an overarching “brand” standpoint, each project and creative team brought their own individual story and identity to the table, which means that true collaboration is the key to success. It’s an extension of the filmmaking process. 

The more I can get inside the heads of the creatives and understand the problem we are solving for the brand or the story we are trying to tell, the more I get inspired and find a place to inject my own creative vision. Working with multiple teams within the same organization provides a sense of confidence that people are liking the collaboration. 

Q> Each project required a totally different approach for casting and performance. Tell us about your process to identifying talent and getting the best from them.

TW> I’m always drawn to people and faces that stick with you. People that have a familiarity and imperfect beauty to them. Then of course it’s the performance itself that is the ultimate determining factor. For multi-vignette projects, it’s sometimes a person who can give you a quick funny glance or deliver a single line a certain way, which is a much different approach to casting than a family of three in a short form narrative piece or a sportscaster doing a parody. 

I’m initially drawn to something in the actor’s performance. The first time they deliver it is the one time you’ll see it unfiltered. It’s completely their own thing, and I’ve learned to really use that as a great gut check. Then I use callbacks as a way to work through the script as a form of rehearsals - which I love because you normally don’t get that kind of time of a commercial set with the actors - and through that process I find that it’s the actors who elevate and bring something to that “rehearsal”session that standout and start to embody the role. 

And then sometimes, my favorite thing is seeing a casting tape and immediately going, that’s the character. That's the benchmark that every person has to match or beat. It doesn’t happen that immediate often but it happened about four times across these projects. Which was amazing and really informed the scenes those characters were in. 

"The team at Farm League was thoughtful and committed to meeting a high bar for creative quality. Tim was a strong collaborator who took the time to understand our vision and then build upon it in ways that elevated the work." 

- Micah, Head of Creative at Amazon Eero