"One Direction: This Is Us" Gets An Oscar-Nominated Director At The Helm
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When Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock was approached to make “One Direction: This Is Us”, or also known as "1D3D", he jumped at the chance. “One of the things I’ve always tried to do from the very beginning of my career is create very popular documentaries. And I think that this film, coming off the work I’ve done in the past is the next step. Making something that’s successful to a large audience that tells a great story, that is really intimate and gets you into their lives, but at the same time, is also really entertaining and engaging, with great music.” says the "Supersize Me" director.
Naturally, meeting band members Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson was important. Spurlock found the boys completely charming but also level-headed about the phenomenon they were in the middle of experiencing. Notes Spurlock, “They’re very fun. I think they’re incredibly grounded considering the amount of crazy that’s surrounding their lives on a daily basis. And I think that was one of the things that I really liked about them...five good looking guys that get put together in a band. That happens all the time. But the fact that, you know, they actually had the talent and the ability and the drive to kind of push it as far as they have, and continue to do, is remarkable.”
Spurlock filmed in various locales for almost six months, including the band’s performance in Mexico City in early June, 2013. The crew number ranged anywhere from Spurlock alone holding a camera without even an audio person, to fully coordinated concert set-ups involving an army of people. Filming the band’s O2 performances alone were massive undertakings for someone used to the run-and-gun nature of most documentaries. As for the behind-the-scenes footage, which runs the gamut from backstage mischief before the show to touching hometown scenes, like Harry working at the family bakery, those moments alone amounted to 500 hours of material. Editing it down was challenging, but the band were instrumental in helping Spurlock and the editors pick the most choice moments.
In the end, says the director, the boys in One Direction understood that this was an opportunity to document a special time in their lives. “They realize this movie is a time capsule...They already know how special it is, and to be able to have something like this where you can really show – whether it be your family down the road, your kids down the road, something you just want to keep for yourself – that really does capture the essence of this moment in its purest form.” Adds Spurlock, “I think they’ll treasure this whole experience.”
Opening across the Philippines on Friday, August 30, “One Direction: This Is Us” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.
Naturally, meeting band members Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson was important. Spurlock found the boys completely charming but also level-headed about the phenomenon they were in the middle of experiencing. Notes Spurlock, “They’re very fun. I think they’re incredibly grounded considering the amount of crazy that’s surrounding their lives on a daily basis. And I think that was one of the things that I really liked about them...five good looking guys that get put together in a band. That happens all the time. But the fact that, you know, they actually had the talent and the ability and the drive to kind of push it as far as they have, and continue to do, is remarkable.”
Spurlock filmed in various locales for almost six months, including the band’s performance in Mexico City in early June, 2013. The crew number ranged anywhere from Spurlock alone holding a camera without even an audio person, to fully coordinated concert set-ups involving an army of people. Filming the band’s O2 performances alone were massive undertakings for someone used to the run-and-gun nature of most documentaries. As for the behind-the-scenes footage, which runs the gamut from backstage mischief before the show to touching hometown scenes, like Harry working at the family bakery, those moments alone amounted to 500 hours of material. Editing it down was challenging, but the band were instrumental in helping Spurlock and the editors pick the most choice moments.
In the end, says the director, the boys in One Direction understood that this was an opportunity to document a special time in their lives. “They realize this movie is a time capsule...They already know how special it is, and to be able to have something like this where you can really show – whether it be your family down the road, your kids down the road, something you just want to keep for yourself – that really does capture the essence of this moment in its purest form.” Adds Spurlock, “I think they’ll treasure this whole experience.”
Opening across the Philippines on Friday, August 30, “One Direction: This Is Us” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.
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