Five Questions with SCREEN: Writer-Director Tim Mason of Squirrel Soup

What do a minivan, some Reddi-Wip and The Amazing Race have in common? They’re all right here as writer-director Tim Mason of the newly-formed Squirrel Soup stops by for a thoroughly entertaining round of Five Questions with SCREEN. Let’s get to it!

SCREEN: Thanks for stopping by, Tim! First things first, tell us about Squirrel Soup.

TIM: Squirrel Soup was born out of the idea that great creative and great production shouldn’t live in separate worlds. Lisa Masseur and I started the company because we saw more and more brands looking for a partner who could develop the concept, write it, direct it, and produce it without handing it off to multiple teams along the way.

Whether it’s the PSA we recently created for Smartphone Free Childhood US or GSK’s seven-minute film The Mening-Itinerary, we’re involved from the earliest strategic conversations through final delivery, developing production-friendly creative that can actually be executed without sacrificing ambition.

SCREEN: All right, let’s hop into some fun rapid-fire questions… If you could be a contestant on any game show or reality show in television history, what would it be?

TIM: It’s gotta be The Amazing Race. Traveling the world and possibly winning a carload of money? Yeah. Sign me up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dzvg1bg3d0

SCREEN: Summer is here so we have to ask… what was your best Summer Vacation Ever?

TIM: I once traveled across the country for 28 days from Miami to LA with nine other improvisors on a tour bus for Reddi-Wip. We wore jumpsuits and sprayed Reddi-Wip out of these giant Ghostbuster-like back packs on random people. It was the best gig. We only worked four hours in each city so the whole trip felt like a vacation traveling the country on the weirdest, craziest, whip-cream-themed road trip.

SCREEN: Worst job ever?

TIM: I emceed one of those contests where 20 people put their hands on a minivan and the last one to take it off wins the van. It got real sad, real quick. Went on for two and a half days and didn’t bring out the best in people… to say the least.

[Editor’s Note: There was a documentary called Hands on a Hardbody that will give you a feel for this type of contest, here’s the trailer…]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzj-vb7Lj0A

SCREEN: Your go-to karaoke song?

TIM: My Life. Billy Joel. One of those songs that everyone sings along with and brings the energy. Plus it’s in my range.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3JFEfdK_Ls

BONUS QUESTIONS!

SCREEN: Your greatest athletic achievement?

TIM: My kids. They have far surpassed my own athletic achievements so I’m going to claim theirs.

SCREEN: If you could be any superhero, who would it be?

TIM: I think I’d be the Super Twin who can turn into any form of water. It’s a highly specific skill but, man, when a situation calls for a ladder made of ice… I’d be the guy.

Hey Tim, how about an ice gondola! Here you go…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEQgqvT9PxA

SCREEN: Best advice you’ve ever been given?

TIM: Things aren’t always black and white. Find the gray.

Thanks for playing, Tim! For more from Tim and Lisa at Squirrel Soup, click right here.

Check back here at SCREEN for new rounds of Five Questions with SCREEN. You can also click right here to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter.