The Language of Production with Jan Švejkar

The Spark & Riot director on the mistake of relying on trends, the key to healthy collaborative relationships on set, as well as his proudest work as part of LBB’s The Directors series.

Jan Švejkar’s filmmaking journey began with a love for cinema’s structure and theory. He studied film science at Charles University before honing his craft at FAMU, the renowned film school in Prague, where he earned a BA in editing. There, his technical precision met creative instinct – building the foundation for a dynamic directing career.

Today, Jan is one of the Czech Republic’s most respected commercial directors, with an international portfolio that includes work for Budweiser, PlayStation, Citroën, Erste Bank, and Pilsner Urquell. His style pairs emotional subtlety with visual elegance, whether crafting intimate character moments or bold, high-energy campaigns.

What sets Jan apart is his ability to bridge art and impact. Every frame serves a deeper feeling or idea, making his work both cinematic and resonant. With a quiet confidence and refined eye, Jan continues to collaborate across borders and formats, bringing intention and artistry to every project.

Name: Jan Švejkar

Location: Prague

Repped by/in: Spark & Riot

Awards: Cannes Lions, Bronze, The Entertainment Lions for Gaming

Jan sat down with LBB to discuss his upcoming 1930’s thriller feature debut, fascination with AI, and why he is hopeful of the return to classic filmmaking.

LBB> What are some upcoming projects that you're excited about? Tell us a bit about them?
Jan> Right now I’m most excited about my feature debut – it’s also the project taking up most of my headspace. It’s a 1930s-set thriller inspired by a real event, and we’re roughly seven months out from the first day of shooting.

The whole process feels completely different from commercial work. You’re not just chasing moments – you’re building a world from the ground up and slowly breathing life into it. In advertising, I sometimes feel more like a fashion photographer, hunting for expressions and capturing a look – which I genuinely love – but this film is exciting in a different way: shaping individual characters, digging into their psychology, and letting them evolve over time.

LBB> What excites you in the advertising industry right now, as a director? Any trends or changes that open new opportunities?
Jan> AI fascinates me – but probably not in the way people expect. I’m less interested in it as a shortcut to bigger, flashier imagery, but I’m interested more in the side effect I hope it creates: that ‘spectacle’ stops feeling automatically impressive. We’re already saturated with grand, hyper-polished visuals, and once anything can be generated, the wow factor disappears fast.

That’s why I’m hopeful we’ll see a return to classic filmmaking – craft-led work that isn’t chasing whatever’s fashionable this month. I keep thinking about directors like Ivan Zachariáš. So much of what he made still holds up, because it’s built on fundamentals rather than trends. Trend-driven work can age overnight.

LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?
Jan> For me, it always starts with the idea. Not style, not effects, not the brand itself – the core concept has to be strong enough to carry everything else.

I’m most drawn to scripts that reflect something real: a lived experience I recognise, or a universal human truth a lot of people share. When a story taps into that kind of emotional reality, I can connect to it immediately – and that’s usually when the work has the best chance of becoming something special.

LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?
Jan> I don’t start by writing. I start by building a visual layout – and I’m always trying to create a piece of typography that feels specific to the story. Ideally the title page and type choices already carry the tone in a playful way. Think ‘A24 from Wish.’

My brain works best when I’m making something. If I’m designing those type pages, putting together mood spreads, or even doing something totally unrelated but hands-on, like carving little wooden figures for my daughter, the ideas start clicking into place. The actual writing comes last, once the world and the feeling are already there.

LBB> If the script is for a brand that you're not familiar with/ don’t have a big affinity with or a market you're new to, how important is it for you to do research and understand that strategic and contextual side of the ad? If it’s important to you, how do you do it?
Jan> There isn’t one universal approach, but I always start by mapping the brand’s existing work – their past campaigns, their tone of voice, and what they’ve already said visually. Then I look at the wider category: what the competitors are doing, what feels overused, and where there’s room to do something sharper or more human.

I’m definitely not the kind of director who just turns up to ‘tell a story’ and doesn’t care what the ad is trying to achieve. Understanding the strategy and context doesn’t limit creativity; it gives it a target. Once I know what the work needs to accomplish, I can make stronger choices about performance, pacing, and the visual language, and hopefully land something that feels both distinctive and effective.

LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?
Jan> The key is speaking the same language: building trust, stacking ideas, and using each other’s strengths instead of pulling in different directions.

I’ve been through the phase of trying to micromanage everything, and it’s the worst version of the process. It’s much more liberating – and the work gets better – when you surround yourself with people who are great at what they do and give them real space to contribute.

I see a shoot as a shared process: our film, not my film. When everyone feels ownership and the collaboration is honest, the result becomes sharper, calmer, and more alive.

LBB> What type of work are you most passionate about – is there a particular genre or subject matter or style you are most drawn to?
Jan> I’m especially passionate about working with kids. In commercials, you don’t often get the chance to work with truly top-tier adult actors – it’s usually out of budget – but with children it can be different. You can have a genuinely brilliant performer in front of the camera, and if you guide them the right way and turn the set into a game, you get something completely unrepeatable. That kind of raw, honest performance is what I love most.

I’m also a huge ice hockey fan, so whenever a hockey script comes in, I’m instantly on high alert.

LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?
Jan> It’s hard to pin it to one thing, but I think the most common misconception is the assumption that you can only direct what you’ve already directed. It’s a real Catch-22: you don’t get considered for a script you’d genuinely love – and could do really well – simply because you haven’t done that exact thing before.

LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?
Jan> The first thing that comes to mind is actually my very first big commercial. It was a funny spot with a Shaolin kung-fu vibe – lots of physical action, plus a fair amount of CGI planned on top. The day before the shoot, our lead actor was at his daughter’s wedding. He showed up on set the next morning with a brutal hangover. We had medics come in and put him on an IV drip, and only after that was he able to perform. We still made the day, finished the spot, and it ended up being well-liked – but I’m definitely hoping I never have to solve that particular problem again.

LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?
Jan> It can be tricky, but I try to stay grounded in the fact that different things work for different people – what feels right to me doesn’t always align with what the client needs, and that’s part of the process. I’ll always give a clear recommendation and explain why I think it serves the idea, but I don’t push past a reasonable edge just to ‘win’ a point. I also remind myself that commercial work isn’t purely my film. It’s a collaboration with shared goals.

I’d much rather make a strong director’s cut for myself than spend the whole process trying to convince people of my truth. That mindset keeps the relationship healthy and the work moving forward.

LBB> What are your thoughts on opening up the production world to a more diverse pool of talent? Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?
Jan> 100%. I’m fully behind opening the industry up to a broader, more diverse pool of talent. It makes the work better, the perspectives richer, and the whole environment healthier.

I would’ve genuinely appreciated that kind of access and support when I was starting out, so I’m more than open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set. If I can help someone find their footing or build confidence in the process, I’m really happy to do it.

LBB> Your work is now presented in so many different formats – to what extent do you keep each in mind while you're working (and, equally, to what degree is it possible to do so)?
Jan> In my case it’s usually less about reinventing the content for each platform and more about making sure the main film can travel well. Most of the time, we’re talking about format crops and deliverables, while truly platform-specific content is handled by someone else.

So my focus is on knowing the specs early and finding a clear visual ‘key’ – framing, blocking, and staging that won’t collapse when the spot is seen in different shapes and sizes. That can be surprisingly tricky.

Sometimes we’ll shoot an extra shot or alternative framing, but it’s mainly for technical reasons – not to change the tone or the story, just to make sure none of the versions suffer when it lands in a different format.

LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work (e.g. virtual production, interactive storytelling, AI/data-driven visuals etc)?
Jan> I’m genuinely excited by it, but I’m not interested in using it to create a ‘look what we can do’ spectacle. What I enjoy most is bringing these tools into the process in a way that serves the story, ideally so subtly that the audience doesn’t even notice the technology at all.

I’ve shot a commercial using virtual production, and it was honestly one of the most fun shoots I’ve ever been on. The possibilities are incredible, but my goal is always the same: the viewer should be thinking about the story and the feeling, not the tech behind it.

So I’m fully behind AI and virtual production, but only as tools in the toolkit – not as an effect for the sake of an effect.

LBB> Which pieces of your work do you feel show what you do best – and why?
Jan> CARNIVAL ROW – It was a rare chance to step into an established fantasy universe and expand it through the language of advertising. I loved building a spot that felt fully connected to the show’s world – in tone, atmosphere, and detail.

ERSTE BANK – This was my first time working with children that young, and it completely changed the energy on set. It felt less like traditional directing and more like being a BBC documentarian – staying alert and capturing real, unpredictable moments.

TIPOS – We shot the entire spot in a studio, and it was fascinating to build the world from scratch. I loved how much control that gave us over atmosphere, detail, and the overall visual language.

AD COUNCIL – My first shoot in the US, made in a single day with an incredible team. It was intense in the best way – and meaningful to be working on something that actually mattered.