Filmmakers come from all walks of life, their journeys shaping the stories they tell. So what happens when someone from the advertising world steps into the world of filmmaking? Engaging content that leaves behind the epitome of commercialism is put out into the universe.
Little Moving Pictures is the perfect example of implementing this certain kind of integrity even within their ad campaigns. There’s a good reason for this, as co-founders Jeremy Summer and Nathan Petty began with years of agency and editing experience as their background. From the get-go, the studios specialized as a post-house operation, quickly moving onto creative shoots for music videos to TV shows. Their collaborator circle widened, bringing to the table actors, filmmakers and music houses to help score their video projects.
“When people ask me why we make the music videos and short films we do at Little Moving Pictures, my simplest answer is that we do those things because we said we would,” says Summer.
Actor Steve Talley and California Summer on set of How It’s Goin’
As a means of getting friends together to make something fun, Summer brought the inkling of an idea to fellow filmmakers Adam Callahan, Irene Chin and Kurt Vincent (of 26 Aires). It all started from some footage Summer had captured of a 420 event in San Francisco from two years prior, which led to the making of How It’s Goin’ — a bittersweet comedy about a young dad reeling from his recent divorce.
Featured throughout the film is background music composed by Anthony Ferraro (Toro y Moi’s keyboardist). Beyond the original score, the the film was in search of authentic reggae, landing on Running In and Out by Dwayne Ellis.
Check out Vimeo Staff Pick and short film How It’s Goin’ below and stay tuned for an in-depth interview with Jeremy Summer of Little Moving Pictures — we’ll dive into their approach for using music in videos while highlighting some of their other cool work you’ll want to pass around to your friends.
Little Moving Pictures is a San Francisio based production studio. Their work has been featured by Rolling Stone, Vimeo Staff Pics, Pitchfork, National Geographic and Radiolab among other partners like The Museum of Modern Art, Fox Sports and Sony Music have commissioned their work.