Everything’s better with a dash of HP Sauce Harriett Maire and Perry Bradley recently joined forces to shoot for Honda NZ via the good folk at Rainger & Rolfe. Director Duo Debut. Playfully dubbed “HP Sauce”, their directing duo reflects their easy working relationship, genuine camaraderie and complementary strengths. Harriett and Perry created a tag team approach to directing performance and driving machines. Without running each over - bonus! We sat down with them to chat about what it was like to share the director's chair, wear the same T'shirt and vie for the creative director's attention. And no prizes for guessing who the DOP favoured. THE PROCESSPerry: Double the directing power, double the fun, right? Harriett and I wanted to avoid overwhelming Kelly Putter, the ECD at Rainger & Rolfe, during preproduction. We aimed to speak as one cohesive voice. Harriett: Perry and I practically finished each other's sentences, making it a dynamic collaboration. I mean, co-directing my first car commercial with Perry Bradley? Talk about luck! Through this project, I gained valuable insights into car commercials. Our plan was clear: Perry focused on the car, while I honed in on the actors, unleashing our unique strengths. PRE PRODPerry: Brainstorming together felt like a friendly game of catch. We kept that hotline open from the treatment all the way through. Harriett: Directing can be a bit lonely, so having a partner to bounce ideas off was a delight. "What do you think?" became our mantra. CASTINGPerry: Harriett rocked the Casting Director role, handling auditions and agent talks. Harriett: Casting is a blast, building trust before the shoot. When Evelyn waltzed into the audition room, owning the stage and tossing her prop microphone, we knew we hit the jackpot. She's a gem, and working with her was pure joy. PRE VISPerry: I went all in with shoot boards and pre-visualization. Mashing up audio snippets from the casting informed a lot of our approach to the pacing. Harriett: Perry's storyboards are works of art, while mine resemble a child's doodles. The pre-vis let us finesse timing and rhythm, unlocking the spot's full potential. The magic was real! ON SETPerry: Ah, the classic question: "Who does what on set?" Well, for us, it was all about splitting duties smartly. While Harriett worked her magic from the backseat—like a contortionist—guiding actors while discreetly hiding from the camera. I manned the drone unit and captured those vehicle-to-vehicle shots at the same. It was super efficient from a time point of view. Having Harriett work with the actors at the same time was a real superpower. Harriett: Our double-trouble plan was a hit on set, helping us double our output. Kudos to 1st AD Luke Wheeler and DOP Renaud Maire for crafting an efficient schedule. I slipped into all sorts of positions in the Honda's backseat, giving actors tips without being seen. And that day of head-banging with Evelyn Towersey? Hilariously sore neck the next day, but totally worth it! The crew rallied behind Evelyn, creating such a vibrant energy. Shooting alongside my Dad, Renaud Maire, was a dream come true. And Post?Harriett: The proof is in the pudding or maybe the empty sauce bottle. Honda - The Power of Dreams - Director Duo - Harriett Maire & Perry Bradleyhttps://vimeo.com/824623712?share=copy Production Stills - Belinda Bradley Honda New ZealandManaging Director - Nobuya Sonoda Chief Operations Officer - Peter Ashley National Sales and Branch Operations Manager - Frances Fan Marketing Executive - Lulu Ran Rainger & RolfeCreative Director - Kelly Putter Snr Account Director - Aaron Jacobsen Snr Account Manager - Sophie Ly Account Director - Jen Connolly Film ConstructionDirector - Harriett Maire Director - Perry Bradley Producer - Ivan Barge Executive Producer - Belinda Bradley Production Manager - Leah Burson Crew DOP - Renaud Maire 1st AC - Ryan Spearman 1st AD - Luke Wheeler Casting Director - Harriett Maire Camera Operator - Chris Watkins Gaffer/Grip Combo - Pablo Stevenson Best Boy - Craig McDonald LX Assist - Jesse Rawiri Wardrobe / MU Combo - Camille Masterantonio Art Director - Tane Jarrett Art Assist - Danielle Brown Precision Driver/Drone - Luey Lau Video/DIT - Johnathan Guest Sound Operator - Mark Williams Unit Assistant - Manu Walters Location Manager - Bo Wheeler-Bowden Location Assistant - Katie Burson Safety Officer - Eva Fulcro Hero Vehicle Wrangler - Johann Howard Hero Vehicle Driver - Sean Runner - Mitch Clothier Post Production Offline Editor - Gary Simms Online Editor - James Hutchinson Colourist - Pete Ritchie Sound Design - Radiate Studios">
Harriett Maire and Perry Bradley recently joined forces to shoot for Honda NZ via the good folk at Rainger & Rolfe. Director Duo Debut.
Playfully dubbed “HP Sauce”, their directing duo reflects their easy working relationship, genuine camaraderie and complementary strengths. Harriett and Perry created a tag team approach to directing performance and driving machines. Without running each over - bonus!
We sat down with them to chat about what it was like to share the director's chair, wear the same T'shirt and vie for the creative director's attention. And no prizes for guessing who the DOP favoured.
THE PROCESSPerry: Double the directing power, double the fun, right? Harriett and I wanted to avoid overwhelming Kelly Putter, the ECD at Rainger & Rolfe, during preproduction. We aimed to speak as one cohesive voice.
Harriett: Perry and I practically finished each other's sentences, making it a dynamic collaboration. I mean, co-directing my first car commercial with Perry Bradley? Talk about luck! Through this project, I gained valuable insights into car commercials. Our plan was clear: Perry focused on the car, while I honed in on the actors, unleashing our unique strengths.
PRE PRODPerry: Brainstorming together felt like a friendly game of catch. We kept that hotline open from the treatment all the way through.
Harriett: Directing can be a bit lonely, so having a partner to bounce ideas off was a delight. "What do you think?" became our mantra.
CASTINGPerry: Harriett rocked the Casting Director role, handling auditions and agent talks.
Harriett: Casting is a blast, building trust before the shoot. When Evelyn waltzed into the audition room, owning the stage and tossing her prop microphone, we knew we hit the jackpot. She's a gem, and working with her was pure joy.
PRE VISPerry: I went all in with shoot boards and pre-visualization. Mashing up audio snippets from the casting informed a lot of our approach to the pacing.
Harriett: Perry's storyboards are works of art, while mine resemble a child's doodles. The pre-vis let us finesse timing and rhythm, unlocking the spot's full potential. The magic was real!
ON SETPerry: Ah, the classic question: "Who does what on set?" Well, for us, it was all about splitting duties smartly. While Harriett worked her magic from the backseat—like a contortionist—guiding actors while discreetly hiding from the camera. I manned the drone unit and captured those vehicle-to-vehicle shots at the same. It was super efficient from a time point of view. Having Harriett work with the actors at the same time was a real superpower.
Harriett: Our double-trouble plan was a hit on set, helping us double our output. Kudos to 1st AD Luke Wheeler and DOP Renaud Maire for crafting an efficient schedule. I slipped into all sorts of positions in the Honda's backseat, giving actors tips without being seen. And that day of head-banging with Evelyn Towersey? Hilariously sore neck the next day, but totally worth it! The crew rallied behind Evelyn, creating such a vibrant energy. Shooting alongside my Dad, Renaud Maire, was a dream come true.
And Post?Harriett: The proof is in the pudding or maybe the empty sauce bottle.
Honda - The Power of Dreams - Director Duo - Harriett Maire & Perry Bradleyhttps://vimeo.com/824623712?share=copy Production Stills - Belinda Bradley Honda New ZealandManaging Director - Nobuya Sonoda
Chief Operations Officer - Peter Ashley
National Sales and Branch Operations Manager - Frances Fan
Marketing Executive - Lulu Ran
Rainger & RolfeCreative Director - Kelly Putter
Snr Account Director - Aaron Jacobsen
Snr Account Manager - Sophie Ly
Account Director - Jen Connolly
Film ConstructionDirector - Harriett Maire
Director - Perry Bradley
Producer - Ivan Barge
Executive Producer - Belinda Bradley
Production Manager - Leah Burson
CrewDOP - Renaud Maire
1st AC - Ryan Spearman
1st AD - Luke Wheeler
Casting Director - Harriett Maire
Camera Operator - Chris Watkins
Gaffer/Grip Combo - Pablo Stevenson
Best Boy - Craig McDonald
LX Assist - Jesse Rawiri
Wardrobe / MU Combo - Camille Masterantonio
Art Director - Tane Jarrett
Art Assist - Danielle Brown
Precision Driver/Drone - Luey Lau
Video/DIT - Johnathan Guest
Sound Operator - Mark Williams
Unit Assistant - Manu Walters
Location Manager - Bo Wheeler-Bowden
Location Assistant - Katie Burson
Safety Officer - Eva Fulcro Hero
Vehicle Wrangler - Johann Howard Hero Vehicle Driver - Sean
Runner - Mitch Clothier
Post ProductionOffline Editor - Gary Simms
Online Editor - James Hutchinson
Colourist - Pete Ritchie
Sound Design - Radiate Studios