Dallas doesn’t try to impress you.
It just does.
You walk in and it’s already happening. A table mid-laugh, a bartender reading the room, a skyline sitting quietly in the background like it’s seen it all before.
We’re not showing Dallas. We’re dropping into it.
Approach
We don’t cover scenes. We chase energy.
The real moments aren’t planned. They happen in between. A glance. A reaction. A shift in the room. We build structure just to let something real break through it.
Working as a directing duo means we never have to split our focus. One of us stays with the talent, inside the moment, shaping the energy of a scene. The other works with the DP: framing, moving, reacting. Both of us are always looking for the same thing.
When something unexpected presents itself, we can pivot without losing momentum. That’s usually where the best images come from. Planning plus creative improvisation. That’s the formula.
Our visual language is built the same way we direct. Intentionally and from scratch. We don’t rely on pre made LUTs or plug ins to define the look. Each film is crafted shot by shot, developing a cinematic tone that is tailored to the energy in front of us. The goal is always the same. Imagery that feels as alive and specific as the moment itself.
Double Vision: Harnessing the Strength of a Director Duo
Working as a directing duo allows us to divide focus in a way that strengthens both performance and visual storytelling. One of us can focus entirely on the talent, shaping natural interactions and making sure every moment feels authentic. The other works closely with the DP to refine framing, camera movement, and lighting so the imagery lands exactly as intended.
This approach keeps performances present and relaxed while maintaining precision behind the camera. While ADs are always valuable collaborators, working this way allows us to keep the team lean and the vision unified. One of us can step into the role of the AD when needed, helping manage pacing and keep the day moving while maintaining the creative intent.
Because we are always aligned on the vision, we can also move quickly when something unexpected presents itself. If a new shot or spontaneous moment excites us, we can pivot without losing momentum. This flexibility often leads to the most memorable images and keeps the energy on set collaborative and focused.
We have been doing this long enough to know that the best thing that can happen on a shoot is something we didn’t plan for. The only way to catch it is to have someone watching for it at all times. With two of us, someone always is.
Handheld. Alive.
We collaborate closely with our DP, shooting on ARRI cameras for their best in class color science, paired with anamorphic lenses to create a deeper,
more cinematic image.
The camera moves because something pulls it. We stay close. Faces, hands, eye lines. The space between people.
Nothing feels lit. Everything feels found. Practical light, real spaces, real energy. If it feels staged, we have gone too far.
The city reveals itself the same way. Not through big statements, but in passing moments. A skyline in the distance. Light hitting glass. Movement in the streets.
Dallas becomes another character in each film.The people are the story. The city is the reason they’re here. Neither works without the other.
PRE-GAMERS
A steakhouse. Game night energy contained in a white-tablecloth room.
They’ve ordered too much. They’re deep in it. Arguing, laughing, fully locked together. Rival jerseys at another table. Trash talk, all smiles. This is the ritual. The right way to warm up.
A moment passes. Someone important, or someone who feels important. A nod. “Dallas.” It lands. Then the eruption: laughter, disbelief, energy breaking open.
And just as quickly, they’re back. Still the coolest table in the room.
How we shoot it: we open in the middle of it. No establishing wide. We’re already at the table: a close shot of someone tearing into a ribeye, green and white everywhere. Camera always rollimg so we catch the reactions as they happen. The celebrity encounter is the hinge of the spot, played carefully. Our group doesn’t lose their cool completely. There’s a beat of recognition, then delight. They just got confirmation.
The people are the story. The city is the reason they’re here. Neither works without the other.
FASHIONISTAS
This isn’t about shopping. It’s about movement, conversation, discovery.
They drift through the city: boutiques, streets, the DART rail. But the real story stays between them. Outfits are revealed. Opinions land instantly. Nothing is overthought.
The city moves around them, but they are the center of gravity. Not tourists, not locals. Something more interesting than either.
The bags are incidental. What we’re filming is the exchange in a dressing room, the collective verdict on something unexpected, the conversation that breaks out in the middle of the street. Every scene has an interior reason to be there.
How we shoot it: the DART rail gives us a moving, intimate setting that’s genuinely Dallas. Two of them showing each other what they just found. Someone spritzing a perfume. Quick detail shots of a rack of extraordinary color, a boutique owner showing them something special, serve as punctuation between the character moments. We are always asking: what is happening between these people right now?
MARGARITA MILERS
The bar is already alive. Packed. Loud. No space to move without intention.
Getting a drink means timing, eye contact, patience. One woman doesn’t fight for attention.
She signs.
Across the room, clean and direct. A beat. Did he see it? He signs back: “Salt or no salt?”
It lands quietly. A few people notice. A nod. A shared understanding. Drinks arrive. A glass lifts. The night keeps going.
How we shoot it: we cast a genuine ASL user in the central role. The fluency is the swagger. The key is the pause: we milk the dramatic tension without forcing it. We cut away to others in the group, unaware. Close on her face: composed, waiting. Then the bartender’s response. Then the reactions. The people nearby who witness it matter as much as the group itself. This is Dallas seeing someone. That’s the moment made literal and earned.
Casting
We cast for chemistry, not just appearance. We are always looking for real dynamics that already exist between people.
For example, with the Converse spot, casting a real band with their girlfriends brought a natural connection into the frame. You are not asking people to
act like they know each other. They already do.
We also ask talent to bring a friend or significant other to casting, even if they are not actors. It shifts the energy immediately and reveals something honest.
You cannot fake that. And you do not have to.
Locations
Scout-led, authentic Dallas. The steakhouse should feel like it was here before you were born. The retail should feel curated, not chain. The Margarita Mile bar should feel earned by the neighborhood it’s in.
Music
Warm, confident, contemporary without being trendy. Something that feels like Dallas: a little Southern, a little cosmopolitan, entirely itself. Music that lets the moments breathe.
Post
Grade toward warmth and richness. Skin tones protected. Practical lights glowing. The city at its most beautiful-but-real.
The Director's Craft
We'll be honest. We can't give you a neat formula for how we pull performance out of people. What makes it work isn't something that lives on a page. It lives in the room. It's instinct built on years of reading people in real time and knowing how to create the conditions where something genuine surfaces.
That said, confidence comes from clarity. So here's how we set the table.
We Cast With Intention We cast for energy, not just look. We look for people who already carry something close to what the role needs. In auditions, we're watching what happens between the reads. The way someone holds themselves when they think no one's paying attention. That's where you find swagger.
We Build the World Before the Shoot Every person on screen gets context. Not a script, but a point of view. Who they are, what energy they're bringing, what their relationship is to the people around them. We talk with talent ahead of the shoot to build familiarity and trust so that when we're on set, the behavior feels natural rather than directed. By the time we roll, there's a shared shorthand between us. That matters.
We Create Space for Real Moments On set, we work with a loose framework. A situation, a dynamic, an energy. We let talent move within it. The moments that make this kind of work sing are almost never the ones you plan for. The half-glance, the laugh that catches someone off guard, the quiet confidence of someone fully in the moment. Our job is to create the environment where those things happen and to know when we're seeing it.
The Honest Truth What separates good talent direction from great talent direction isn't a longer shot list or a more detailed plan. It's feel. The ability to walk onto a set, read the room, and know exactly what someone needs to hear to unlock the moment. Sometimes it's a specific direction. Sometimes it's a joke. Sometimes it's just getting out of the way.
We can't always explain the how. But look at the work. The faces, the body language, the energy between people. That didn't happen by accident. It happened because we know how to bring it out of people, and we've been doing it consistently, project after project.
Why This Matters for "Dallas Swagger"
This kind of swagger is quiet. It's felt, not performed. It shows up in posture, in pacing, in the way someone moves through a space like it belongs to them. You don't get that by giving talent more direction. You get it by giving them the right foundation and trusting the director who built the room.
That's what we do. The work speaks for itself.
All of the images and video references included in this treatment come from our own body of work.
In early treatments it is common for directors to pull inspiration from other filmmakers or campaigns to communicate tone and style. While that can be helpful visually, it does not always reflect how a director actually works on set. For us, it was important that every reference shown here is something we have personally created.
These moments are not theoretical inspiration. They are examples of the kinds of performances, reactions, and visual energy we know how to capture because that’s how we work. The authenticity, spontaneity, and emotion that this Dallas campaign calls for are exactly the kinds of moments we focus on in our work.
Pulling inspiration is easy. Demonstrating that you already know how to achieve these kinds of images and performances is what gives us confidence in executing a project like this.
Here’s a new short Jeremy made with our DP Justin Donais.
It’s part of a bigger project about The Makers, an ongoing exploration of the people behind the things we’re drawn to.
Right now, we’re focused on bicycle builders and watchmakers, documenting the craft, process, and personalities that don’t always get seen.
Thank You
Thank you for taking the time to review our approach to the “We See You – Just the Right Amount of Swagger” campaign. We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate and help bring these stories to life.
Projects like this are the kind we are most passionate about. Capturing real energy, authentic interactions, and the small moments that make a place feel alive is at the heart of how we work. Dallas offers an incredible backdrop for that kind of storytelling, and we would love the chance to showcase the city through these vibrant and personal experiences.
We truly appreciate your consideration and look forward to the possibility of creating something memorable together.
Claire & Jeremy Weiss
Day19