Imaginate: the film that changed the game

Imagine This

You’re a young, hungry, driven filmmaker just learning your craft. You’ve made a few films with friends and picked up a few small clients. Then in a matter of months you’re asked to direct Red Bull’s biggest global project of the year. 

Exciting? Yes. Terrifying? Also yes. 

10 years ago this week I was probably in the hills of Scotland somewhere - both hiding and celebrating the culmination of 6 months graft inside a dark warehouse with Danny MacAskill and a small crew of good people.

I don’t think I’m over-stating it to say Imaginate broke creative boundaries. At the very least it set the bar for athlete content at the time; at most it redefined what branded content could be. Yet it also proved to be the catalyst for me personally, and ultimately Cut Media as a company too.

A youthful looking me and Danny mid-Imaginate shoot

A Blank Canvas

Before I go further, to clarify, Imaginate wasn’t a Cut Media project. It was a Christie HQ production, led by producer Mike Christie. I was chosen as director (more on that later).

Danny and I met Mike in 2011. He was creating a documentary named Concrete Circus, of which Danny and I were collaborating to shoot a section of: Industrial Revolutions (to this day the film that gives me the most warm feels!).

“I’m not sure quite how much Danny had to fight for me - probably bringing out some of the typical single-minded stubbornness he can have around these projects”

By that point Danny and I had worked together on a few smaller projects and it was proving to be a really fun partnership. We both piled the pressure on ourselves to deliver the best projects we could, yet also felt confident in our friendship/partnership to call each other out when we thought either the riding or filming could improve.

Shortly after the release of the Industrial Revolutions in 2011, Red Bull approached Danny about creating his ‘dream project’. No set brief or idea, they were giving him a literal blank canvas for something big.

Understandably with my experience, I probably wasn’t a natural choice to direct a project of that scale. But Danny wanted me on board to direct, shoot, and edit. To this day I’m not sure quite how much Danny had to fight for me - probably bringing out some of the typical single-minded stubbornness he can have around these projects - but within weeks I got the call from Red Bull and to this day I’m incredibly grateful to him for the trust and opportunity it gave me.

To their massive credit too, Red Bull greeted me with open arms (special shoutout to Paul Shephard and James Milnes), Imaginate began. And what a journey it was.

Danny MacAskill’s Imaginate Toy Box?

Initially, lots of ideas were thrown about. But the initial spark was Danny talking about being a child at the kitchen table and pretending his fork/spoon was a bike. From there, the conversation evolved and we soon had the setting of a bedroom floor and lots of toys.

It went through a lot of pre-production and I wrote up multiple decks as the idea evolved. Danny was constantly dreaming up riding lines and together with the early crew on the project we all threw around ideas for toys that we could bring in - a big dose of creative fun mixed with childhood nostalgia. It was something new for the audience and one that would connect with all ages. While Danny sketched his plans, I was working on the script and shot list with Mike bringing his input too. From my perspective it all felt slightly surreal, until the set finally began to take shape.

Watching that happen was nothing short of incredible. This enormous space - previously the Glasgow Transport Museum - became the world’s biggest child bedroom floor. Never in my life did I imagine I’d have so many conversations about skirting boards, creating a giant Twister board, or riding down a Dandy book! The vision began to take shape and it was incredible.

A good close-knit team formed to make it all happen. Friends Dave Mackison (prop builder/painter), Nash Mason (set build and cherry picker driver) and Dunc Shaw (project coordinator) came together as the core team. I’d also spotted some awesome steadicam work (pre-gimbals!) online from Welsh-based Robbie Meade and brought him in as 2nd cam for the shoot.

We had a team of local skatepark builders in George Eccleston and John Bailey, plus some TV industry crew to support with project/production management and art direction. Production was managed from London through Mike’s Christie HQ team with Mike becoming my consultant and mentor as he came up each week or so to visit over the 2 month long shoot.

For such a big production it was mostly a small, young crew.

Bringing a Vision to Life

To this day I remember rolling on the first shot, looking at it and thinking the whole thing was just insane! Once the build was finished and our wee team were left to it, it actually felt pretty intimate in our massive warehouse.

For someone who had spent all his life in the mountains filming outdoor sport, this studio environment was a big shock to the system. Initially we thought it would be the dream setting - no weather to worry about, we could build our own lines, endless shooting, and more.

The reality was completely different. Huge heavy props, massive lighting setups, limiting angles to film, and the strict schedules/film industry union guidelines (very alien at the time) of some crew only added to the challenge.

But these challenges turned into massive learning opportunities for me. I quickly had to work out how to shoot lines, light them, and build the film narrative around it. Even 10 years on I can watch the film and tell you what was shot when just by seeing the quality, and my abilities, improve over the shoot.

My favourite line to shoot was the tank scene, simply because we all got to dress up as toy soldiers and it was a right good laugh. They looked great in the film and my brief moment stealing Danny’s bike was one of two cameos in the film (the other being the radio DJ at the start).

However, while we had the best time filming this line, it ended on a low point when Danny crashed on the final shot and gave himself a pretty severe concussion. Of all his crashes, this is one of those that’s tough for me to watch back.

Danny recovered after the crash for recovery before we moved on but we gradually ticked through the lines. Props were mostly built in-house pre-shoot to keep schedules flexible, except for showpieces like the tank and F1 car.

The F1 car was definitely memorable. Not because of anything to do with the filming but simply the guy who delivered it spent a good 30 minutes telling us how expensive every part was, only to cover the rear wing with silver spray paint that he ‘mistook’ for polish in his truck! We laughed, he didn’t.

The pressure felt high for Danny and I. This was a new level of production to both of us and while Red Bull were massively supportive, we couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated by it all. Nonetheless, we had the privilege of enjoying almost free rein creatively on the project.

Funnily enough though, while we had the joy of creative freedom, in the end the film structure in the edit ended up almost exactly as the script at the start.

Then came the music. It’s always a love/hate part of these projects. We all know how key it is to bringing personality to the film. And after featuring the unsigned artist-turned global phenomenon Ben Howard in Industrial Revolutions, we had a high standard to maintain.

We started by exploring something with a childish or playful vibe to match the setting, but nothing really stuck. It was when going through options with a friend from Universal Records that the band Houston appeared. The song Runaway struck a chord (pun intended) and while we always felt there was another track out there, the energy and nostalgia element worked. And the rest is history.

I don’t actually remember much about the release, other than it went crazy with over 10 million views in a weekend. It stayed as Red Bull’s biggest ever YouTube film for several years after.

Personally, Imaginate taught me a lot about my craft as a director - so much so that by the end I was really frustrated with some of the early footage. No one ever questioned it and the public response was amazing, yet it took me a long time to watch the film comfortably.

The Response

I’m so proud of what our little crew created, and what they’ve gone on to do. Dunc and Danny are both smashing their riding careers, Dave is an incredible photographer, Robbie’s grown his own company at home in Wales, George and John have built props for James Bond and Cirque du Solieu, Nash runs the Ride Scotland shop and Mike remains a mentor to me alongside being one of the best documentary directors in the UK.

“More than anything, I credit Imaginate for helping to form Cut Media and bring a vision to life”

Imaginate also unlocked opportunities for me to work on some big projects for London-based production companies. But the truth is I didn’t enjoy it. At one point I remember being on an incredible mountainside with 2 helicopters and a crew of 30 people for a production. Yet I barely knew any of them. It only made me think that, given the same resources, my small team in Scotland could do it better.

So Cut Media was formed.

I’d actually started using the Cut Media brand just before we began the project, hoping there was something bigger to build beyond being a director. While focused on Imaginate, and also learning lots about running a large production, my friend Scott Marshall took on responsibility for my other projects for 6 months. 10 years later, he’s Cut Media’s Chief Creative Officer, business partner, and (thankfully) still my friend.

That small collective of filmmakers and creatives has become a team of over 20 creating some of the best content out there for brands like Nike, Continental, Discovery, and of course, Red Bull. More than anything, I credit Imaginate for helping to form Cut Media and bring a vision to life.

The industry, the landscape, the brand, and athletes have all evolved over the 10 years, but one thing still remains. A small collaborative team of creative people can make the world stop and smile just through making a fun piece of content.

Big love to everyone involved in the project all those years ago. It’s a beautiful thing to see where everyone is 10 years on and the role the film played in that.

Now, go get some nostalgia and watch it again.