Nick Kelly joins The Sweet Shop with debut spot for Open Training Institute via DDB Melbourne

Nick Kelly has joined The Sweet Shop’s roster of comedy directors debuting with the new ‘The Y Factor’ spot created for Open Training Institute via DDB Melbourne.

Previously a copywriter with Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, Kelly is best known for writing TV campaigns for clients such as Tetley Tea, White Pages, Libra, NAB and most notably, the Melbourne International Film Festival campaign starring Geoffrey Rush.

Says Wilf Sweetland, managing director of The Sweet Shop Australia: “Anyone who’s worked with Nick, as we have for many years, will tell you how rigorously he treats his craft. He has a writer’s love of dialogue and a director’s love of nuanced performance. From day one here, he’s been developing his own methods with an obsessive approach to casting, working with actors and non-actors alike. Thanks to his agency experience, Nick has a great understanding of collaboration and non-traditional production. Taking on a campaign as big as the Y-Factor for his first major job is a testament to how comfortably Nick has slipped into this new role.”

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For Kelly, it was the inevitable next step.

Says Kelly: “As a writer, I was privileged to work with some of the world’s best comedy directors, so I couldn’t have asked for a better mentorship. The Sweet Shop have been on my radar for a long time so when I decided to make the move over to directing, I was thrilled to learn that they were just as keen.”

Says Paul Prince, CEO of The Sweet Shop: “The best commercial directors globally have an agency background, they can talk the language of ideas. Nick is a very talented fella and when Wilf mentioned having Nick join our team, I thought it was genius. I’m honored that Nick has chosen The Sweet Shop and expect he’ll play a big part in our future.”

The campaign for Open Training Institute via DDB Melbourne – about a fictional talent show called ‘The Y Factor’ – questions why people spend their lives working on pointless skills. To achieve the scale of a real show, a fully functional set was designed and built in ABC studios. Through an intense casting process, talent were briefed to learn their scripted skills and once on set, were asked to remain in character at all times.

Says Kelly: “I like to keep things feeling spontaneous. I wanted to be able to tell one contestant to run backstage and start a fight with another contestant, and capture the unscripted rawness of this. We had a lot of fun messing around with everyone. At times, we all found ourselves forgetting that this was not actually a real show.”