Taken from her debut album Before I Sleep, Bo Bruce teams up with James Lawes for this stirring promo to Alive.

The video sees Bo and her lover check into a hotel as she tells her story in retrospect of a car crash – powered by some inspired and dramatic FX.

“I was approached by Mercury after directing The Fall for Bo last year,” explains James. “In the brief they outlined their desire to include some form of car accident. This got me thinking about the actual experience of being a passenger in a crash.

“In Bo’s lyrics she challenges the clichés of what are apparently experienced in near-death accidents – bright light, life flashing before ones eyes… As the video progresses I wanted to play with the idea of Bo teetering on the edge, between life and death, so we introduced various elements to this dream world that come from her reality.

“We then up the ante by introducing more abstract connections, smouldering fabric, bruises developing that go unnoticed and finally the broken glass in Bo’s mouth symbolising her realisation that she must return to the real world.”

Bo Bruce
Alive (Mercury Records)
Director: James Lawes
Production Company: Pretzel Films
Producer: Sammi Roberts
Exec Producer: Ciara Mcgowan
DP: Ben Fordesman
Focus Puller: Tom Mcfarling
Steadi Cam: Andrew Fletcher
Dit: Chris Belcher
Gaffer: Nathan Porter
Art Director: Tim Belcher
Assistant Art Director: Hannah Rowan
1st Ad: Andrew Richards
2nd Ad: Mark Mcpadden
Hair Stylist: Neale Piri
Make Up Artist: Anita Brulee
Wardrobe: Katie Clark
Editor: Jonny Lee Mills
Colourist: Dan Moran

With two videos for the Oh-Sees under his belt, for Toe Cutter-Thumb Buster and Lupine Dominus, John has demonstrated a distinctive narrative style that caught the attention of Forever MD Sasha Nixon who describes him as “one of the most exciting young talents I’ve come across.”

John Strong joins the likes of Austin Peters, Charlie & Joe, Jamie-James Medina, Peter Strickland, Pen$acola and Wim Reygaert on the Forever Pictures roster.

John Strong showreel here

James Copeman translates the sunny pop of Eliza Doolittle’s Big When I Was Little with this breezy, colourful promo which sees the UK singer dress up in an assortment of 90s-inspired garb whilst performing the track with friends.

Eliza Doolittle
Big When I Was Little (Parlophone)
Director: James Copeman
Production Company: Black Dog Films
Producer: Gareth Thomas
DP: Niels Thastum
Production Designer : Ruth Crawford
Stylist : Kimi O ’Neill
Make -Up Artist : Laura Dominique
Hair Stylist : Liz Taw
Choreographer : Natricia Bernard
Commissioner: Sam Seager

Nadine Shah’s very atmospheric, almost Jeff Buckleyesque vocal on To Be A Young Man prompts quite an unlikely visual treatment by Matt Cummins – but it works.

Nadine plays a barmaid in a pub where a woozy form of reality establishes itself, when a decidedly old man (played by Peter Thomas) enters the premises, and his old lady unveils a jar filled with locusts, and then one becomes human. In other words, just the stuff that can happen when the whiskey starts flowing (in this case, at the Queen’s Head in Brixton).

And apparently Matt didn’t need to create a party atmosphere – it was already in full swing when he and DP Ben Scott (who does excellent work here) turned up at the pub on the morning of the shoot.

Matt says: “Me and my DP pitched up at the location at 6am with all our kit and props to find the party still going from the night before and it continued thus throughout the day as we shot amidst the chaos.

“Nadine’s track inspired thoughts on the voracious appetites of youth and so we unleashed a plague of locusts on Brixton as the slow creep of gentrification continues, wreaking yuppie havoc. The old man, Peter, was in a favourite film of mine from the 1960s called Witchfinder General, and put in a sterling performance as his character is confronted with the devastating truth that such urges are no longer so easily quenched.”

Nadine Shah
To Be A Young Man
Director/Producer: Matt Cummins
DP/Editor: Ben Scott
Art Director: Jessica Martin
Lights/Camera: Andy Hui
Lights/Camera: Chris Hill
Make-up: Emily Bilverstone
Locust Head: Jess Linares
Cast: Nadine Shah, Peter Thomas, Fluffy Smiff, Ricky Shah & Patrick Lyons
Special Thanks: Simon Tickner at the Queen’s Head in Brixton

Chateau Marmont
Wind Blows
Director: Jamie Delaney
DP: Drew Bienemann
Producer: Sarah Boardman
Production Company: Soixante Quinze
Line Producer: Steven Farnsworth
Editor: Jamie Delaney
Colour: Drew Bienemann
Cast: Allie Teliz, Jordan Lawlor
Sound Recordist: James Ersted
Post Production House: Coyote Post

A really marvellous video by Nabil Elderkin for Foals’ Bad Habit, taking a classic notion and making it thoroughly his own. Foals lead singer Yannis finds himself marooned in a vast desert, but it soon appears he’s not alone: he’s trailing a girl (entirely naked) who makes plants grow in the sand where she walks. But the audience realisation that she is obviously a form of mirage is just the start.

A great idea executed with stunning imagery, and where the excellent visual effects work – by Ukranian post production house Gloria FX – creates a spectacular shifting desert which is also a psychological landscape.

Foals
Bad Habit
Director: Nabil
Prod co: A+
Producer: Kathleen Heffernan
Editor: Isaac Hagy
DoP: Matyas Erdely
VFX: Gloria FX
Colorist: Brandon Chavez
Label: Warner Brothers

Sammy shoots the band and their friends partying in an empty swimming pool, and with some lovely work from DP Pau Castejon, the end result is one of style and grace…

AlunaGeorge
You Know You Like It (Island Records)
Director: Sammy Rawal
Production Company: Believe
Producer: Scott Clark
Exec Producer: Jannie McInnes
DP: Pau Castejon
Camera Assistant: Joanna Burrows
1st AD: Billy Payn
2nd AD: Casper Grimaldi
Focus Puller: Tim Allen
Grip: Alex Hudson
Gaffer: Bernie Prentice
Choreographer: Royston
Art Director: Michael Mulligan
Stylist: Kim Howells
Make up: Zoe Taylor
Hair: Bianca Tuovi
Editor: Izzy Ehrlich @ Rooster
Directors Rep: OBManagement
Commissioner: Ailsa Robertson

Taken from their second album Love Triangles Hate Squares, Exeter pop punks The Computers join forces with Carl Shanahan for the promo to Mr Saturday Night.

The promo’s protagonist, played by Rhys Denton, exacts his revenge on his fellow party-goers following a ruck with girl’s fella.

“We shot the video at the beautiful Exmouth Pavilions” explains Carl, “although the bathrooms were far too plush for the final scene so we hijacked the toilets at the local college for that part.

“The song has a real toe-tapping, feel good vibe but lyrically it’s quite dark. We wanted the video to reflect that first impression of fun but also convey the song’s sinister undertone.”

The Computers
Mr Saturday Night (One Little Indian)
Director/DP/Editor: Carl Shanahan
Producer: Nick Magee
Art Director: Tarin Kerry
Cast: Rhys Denton, Lou Hancock, Kane Aspey
Special Thanks: Exmouth Pavilions, Exmouth Community College

A suitably no-holds-barred effort by Robin Fuller for the full-on metal of The Defiled’s Unspoken – featuring bandmembers tied up and hung up, blood, butchery and a sexy lady who moves like an insect…

Robin says: “Rather than telling a strictly structured story, I wanted to offer a glimpse into another world, with snatches of fractured actions and events that piece together to create a larger whole, almost like the way we remember dreams, in scraps and fragments.

“Visually, we worked to create an aesthetic of decay and grime, something that was, at times a little uncomfortable to look at, but then to find moments of beauty within the ugliness and chaos.

“The cast and crew were a real pleasure to work with. The location was freezing and haunted by armies of feral pigeons, but when it came to it, everyone gave it their all and threw themselves (sometimes literally) into it.”

The Defiled
Unspoken
Director & Editor: Robin Fuller
Production Company: Ascension Productions
Producer: Criag Touhy
Co-Producer: Leila Mousavi
DOP: Stuart Nicholas White
1st AC: Silvio Bersani
Grip: Reece Hearnshaw
1st AD: Kerry Green
RED MX supplied by Mackenzie Smith
Lighting by Panalux
Camera support by VMI
Model: Nina Hearne
Art Director: Mönk Stevens
Production Assistants: Lucie Marks & Simon Rolfe
Makeup: Sophie Cottam
Wardrobe supplied by Yuzefi
Colourist: Prime Focus
Label: Nuclear Blast

Following the video for Panic Cord, Kinga Burza continues her collaboration with Gabrielle Aplin on Home by really taking the singer-songwriter to new territory.

From those first videos on YouTube that got her noticed, everything featuring Gabrielle up to now has stressed her Englishness. In a way this does the same, but the setting is very different – the Nevada desert. And Kinga has used her own recent experiences to evoke that far from home feeling – which also required Gabrielle to engage in some roleplaying.

Says Kinga: “Having spent almost three years living out of sublets and suitcases, the lyrics in this track really spoke to me. When pitching, I was based between NY and LA and I had this fantasy about shooting a travelling road short that’s beautiful and yet so disorientating that it’s depressing, maybe because after 3 years without a home base I can somewhat relate to that feeling!” I also got notes from the label that were asking ‘let’s see Gabrielle in a way we’ve not yet seen a female artist of her kind before, let’s surprise our audiences…’, so I hope I achieved that. I’m pretty sure, I’ve never seen a female artist wash the dishes!

“After making Gabrielle’s last video, I knew she was great in front of the camera. A dream to work with in fact, so I had no qualms for asking her to participate in a little acting. I also envisioned a landscape that felt remote and bare so that you really understood her struggle of feeling like a fish out of water.

“The big city lights of Reno were also important to the climax of the story as she finally reaches the nearest city and interacts with some locals. She comes to realise that it’s not necessarily her home she’s needing, but human interaction. ie. ‘As long as we’re together, does it matter where we go?’.”

Gabrielle Aplin
Home
Director: Kinga Burza
Production Company: Partizan
Exec Producer: Claire Stubbs
US Producer: Tova Dann
UK Producer: Brett Webb
1st AD: Matthew Mehl
2nd AD: Tim Harrington
DOP: Mattias Rudh
1st AC: Blair Neighbors
Make Up: Karina Moore
Editor: Darren Baldwin @ Final Cut
Grade: Julien Biard @ Finish
Flame: Andy Copping @ Finish
Commissioner: Sam Seager
Label: EMI
Watch: Quicktime movie

Anthony Furlong has pulled together a mass of different techniques to produce this dramatic sci-fi video for Stacey Delooze. Digital art, green-screening and meticulous roto-scoping have been pulled together to create imploding planets, galloping horses and some lovely looking galactic vistas. Strong work for the director’s second ever music video.

“I wanted to create a story to match that epic scale, yet follow a character that we could connect with. Underneath the flashy images, this is a story about love, war and pain; but also about taking charge of your destiny and becoming a leader,” says director Anthony.

“To add a certain level of authenticity to this video, I filled it full of symbology and references to mythology. Everything you see is there for a reason. The horse, for example, is a symbol of land and of travel in the ancient druid tradition.”

DeLooze
Lost Army
Director: Anthony Furlong
DoP: Derek McKane
Assistant Director: Kyle Davis
Stylist: Omar Campbell
Hair & Makeup: Demetrios Stavracos
Motorcyclist: Heidi Hackemer
Editor: Jonathan Edwards
Colorist: Stuart Wheeler
Design & Animation: Anthony Furlong
Additional 3D: Young Park, Kirt Critoph
Additional Roto: Andrew Malvasio, Perina Bustamante
Actors: Melanie French and Shabaya Clark
Commissioner: commissioned via Radar

Interpretative dance takes centre stage in Daniel Cloud Campos and Tamara Levinson-Campos beautiful promo for Laura Welsh’s Cold Front.

Commissioned by Dilly Gent, the video focuses on director Tamara Levinson-Campos’ own brilliant performance acting out the song’s theme of losing control of one’s emotions – as we see her being toyed with by shadowy hands. Tamara is then placed in black sheets, having sand and paint thrown at her, and finally immersed in a pool of cleansing water…

Laura Welsh
Cold Front (Outsiders)
Directors: Daniel Cloud Campos & Tamara Levinson-Campos
Production Company: Doomsday Entertainment
Producers: Zach Wechter & Ian Blair
Concept: Tamara Levinson-Campos & Daniel Cloud Campos
Director of Photography: Morgan Susser
Editors: Daniel Cloud Campos & Tamara Levinson Campos
Color: Trevor Durtschi
Choreography: Tamara Levinson-Campos & Daniel Cloud Campos
Dancer: Tamara Levinson-Campos
Music Video Commissioner: Dilly Gent

Angel Haze
No Bueno (Universal/Republic)
Director: Frank Borin
Producer: Jenn Mickelson
Prod Co: London Alley
Editor: Frank Borin
DP: Corey Jennings
Director’s Rep – FreeAgent UK

Filip Sterckx’s brilliant 3D projection-mapping video for Belgian band Willow’s Sweater – an action-adventure created with three projectors and a white-walled studio – has been scooping up awards, screenings at festivals (and BUG) and been described as “one of the coolest music videos ever” by New York Magazine. And now Filip is back together with Willow for the new single Remedy, and have come up with another gem of ingenuity that expands on the projection-mapping idea.

This time Filip visualises the intensity of an everyday romantic relationship through projections on singer Pieter-Jan Van Den Troost, and also on sculptures, leading to an intriguing set of images that act as transitions between scenes.

Willow
Remedy
Director: Filip Sterckx
DoP: Pierre Schreuder
Art direction: Bart de Melker + Filip Sterckx
Cast: Pieter-Jan Van Den Troost and Birgit Sterckx
Editing: Filip Sterckx
Grading: Xavier Dockx
Production company: CZAR
UK representation: HSI London
Thanks to: Het Depot, Nozon, Antoon Verbeeck, Ann Dieltjens, B&B Inblauw, Lites, Cools multimedia, Cafe De Kroeg
Watch: here

After getting together with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis to co-direct the video for Thrift Shop – and then watch it become a YouTube phenomenon over the past nine months – Jon Jon Augustivo then worked with Ryan on the ambitious and unabashed film for Same Love, their song fighting for the cause of gay marriage.

And now Jon Jon’s third Macklemore & Ryan Lewis video, for Can’t Hold Us, this time co-directing with Jason Koenig (another regular collaborator with Macklemore) is his third massive YouTube hit – as well as the band’s second Billboard #1 single with just their second single.

Shot in six countries including Australia and New Zealand, the video replicates the sheer exuberance and frivolity of Thrift Shop and adds a whole lot of spectacle. The video follows a giant flag as the duo’s fanbase metaphorically travels the world and ends up back home in the US and hometown Seattle Washington – atop the Space Needle. And yes, they’re on a proper boat.

The video was actually shot over a period of a couple of months, while the duo were on an increasingly large-scale tour, as the Thrift Shop phenomenon took off at the start of the year. Jon Jon was grabbing shoot days with band on their occasional rest days from performing.

Jon Jon is now signed up with Alexa Haywood to be repped in the UK, and has just shot his first UK-commissioned video for new Sony UK artist Little Nikki.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Can’t Hold Us (feat. Ray Dalton)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Independent)
Director: Jon Jon Augustavo, Jason Koenig
Written by: Tricia Davis, Ben Haggerty & Ryan Lewis
Producer: Tricia Davis, Honna Kimmerer & Jenny Koenig
Exec Producer: Ben Haggerty & Ryan Lewis
Director of Photography: MEGO Lin
Editor: Ryan Lewis
Colourist: Jason Koenig
Director Rep (Jon Jon Augustavo) UK: Alexa Haywood @ FreeAgent UK | US Tommy Labuda @TommyLabuda
Commissioner: Zach Quillen

Exploring the idea that maybe money isn’t the answer to everything, Banks documents the joy, madness and boredom of young love. With Danny and company making the briefest of appearances right at the end…

The Script
Millionaires (Sony Music)
Director: Paul Banks
Production Company: Nice&Polite
Producers: Gail Mosley and James Youngs
DOP: Sara Deane
Editor: Vid Price
Steadicam: Simon Baker
1st Assistant Director: Grant Freeman
2nd Assistant Director: Nick Marles
Grip: Pete Muncey
Focus Puller: Adam Conlon
Gaffer: Stefan Mitchell
Electrician: Richard Harrowing
Cast Hair & Make-Up: Jo Jo Williams
Wardrobe Stylist: Rose Forde
Lighting: Adam Slater
Make-up: Holly Silius and Wakana Yoshihara
Art Director: Marisa Mendez
Art Dept Asst: Aubrey Pascal
Label: Sony Music
Watch: here

Dan Henshaw delivers this carefree and charming promo for Nina Nesbitt’s Way In The World – shot in Worthing on the English south coast.

Dan, who manages to capture a rare sunny day in Blighty, follows Nina and her friends as they lark about under Worthing’s decaying iconic pier, on the beach at twilight and around a campfire…

Nina Nesbitt
Way In The World
Director: Dan Henshaw
Producer: Chris Massey
Production Company: Skin Flicks
DoP: Ben Todd
1st AD: George Nelson
Casting Director: Dan Emmerson
Cast Styling: Emma Savill
Offline Editor: Julian Fletcher
TK: Jason Wallis @ The Look
Label: Universal
Commissioner: Tamara Brooks

Premiered on ever-expanding Vice channel and lifestyle blog Noisey, James Partridge delivers this very interesting video for rapper G-Frsh. It features some pretty brilliant costume and set design and a sterling performance from the man himself. We see G-Frsh in a variety of high-fashion inspired and slightly bizzare scenes. There’s even a Clockwork Orange nod to the milkbar.

James also took charge of the polished and effective edit. “I wanted to have fun with pacing in the edit, juxtaposing long tracking shots and slow motion with the intense beat and then plunging into more rapid cuts,” says James. “I wanted to create a striking performance video placing a gangster rapper into a set of bizarre scenarios in a closed off world, whilst keeping a sinister and uneasy mood throughout. We kept the scenes symmetrical, making G Frsh the centre point at all times, but surrounding him with elaborate and off-beat back drops (massive shout to the production designers) to create interest across the whole frame.”

G-Frsh
Never Can I
Director: James Partridge
DOP: Matthew Emvin Taylor
Producer: Khuram Murza
Production Design: Jacques Pienaar & Sidsel Dall
Costume Design: Loranique Pienaar & Robyn Egan
1st AD: Guillaume Borkhataria
Make Up: Holly Rowley
1st AC: Felix Schmilinsky
2nd AC: Inaki Viladomat
Production Assistant: Hendrik Faller
Editor: James Partridge
Colourist: Toby Tomkins
Cast: Sophie Barnes, Eleanor Baillieu, Alexandra Toth, Vicky Butterfly

We’ve been working on this new version of Promo News for the past few months, and we hope that it offers the same daily feed of music video creativity and production news, but adds some big new features to the site. These include:

• Profile pages: every production credit on every video is now linked to a profile page, and all credited individuals and companies have their own pages.

• New weekly round-up newsletter

If that’s not all, we are planning to introduce new elements of user engagement and interactivity in the next few weeks, where music video professionals who have profiles on Promo will be able to control and enhance those profiles.

And at the moment the new site is still very much a work in progress. It contains a lot of credit data that has been migrated from the existing system where it has been simply entered as text – a very difficult task, and where variations in the way names and companies have been listed or spelled in Promo up to now, they has been faithfully replicated in the new profile pages.

We are now engaged in the huge job of cleaning up the profiles. And obviously you can help. If you are a music video professional that has more than one profile in the new site, and want us to consolidate into one profile, please let us know via the new site’s Feedback button, by letting us know your preferred profile page. This should ideally be the one containing the lion’s share of video credits, and then we will move all your other credits into that profile.

Check on the new Promo News website here!

Luke says: “The song’s chorus line ‘In a world where nothing feels real’ was the main inspiration to create a surreal, lucid dream world for the video. I really wanted to portray the feeling and emotions of being stuck in a strange dream where you’re in one place one minute and then somewhere completely different the next.

“With careful planning and capturing the location transitions in camera, I was able to take the viewer on an atmospheric, Alice in Wonderland-esque journey. I thoroughly enjoyed making this video with the band and crew and think we’ve created a music video that we’re all proud of.”

Fenech-Soler
Magnetic
Director & Editor: Luke Bellis
Production Company: Clever Pig
Executive Producer: Mikey Levelle
Producer: Curro Rodriguez
Production Coordinator: Maria Carrillo
Director of Photography: Ben Fordesman
1st AC: Daniel Walwork
Gaffer: Eric Mikhaelides
Art Director: Richard Gommersmall
Stylist: Hannah Elwell
Make-up: Rocio Bonilla
Location Manager: Daniel Ojeda
Colourist: Toby Tomkins
Commissioner: Jen Herrera
Label: Warner Brothers

Zak joins Pulse from global advertising agency BBH where he spent the last five years in the TV production department. Marisa Clifford stated: “We are very excited to welcome Zak here at Pulse. He brings with him both invaluable experience as a producer, a genuine passion for music videos and uniquely a refreshing understanding of the commercial world at a time where there has never been greater convergence between videos, brand and advertising.”

Zak added: “I am really happy to start at Pulse and to be working with some of the most innovative and creative directors in the world right now. For me the music video platform allows us as filmmakers to create and capture visually compelling stories and performances that the audience will be excited by and want to share with others.”

The following directors are represented by Pulse for music videos in the UK: Anthony Dickenson, DARYL, David Lewandowski, Ben Newman, Sam Pilling, Young Replicant, Ninian Doff, Giorgio Testi, Emil Nava, Helen Downing, Ben Newman, Kahlil Joseph, Dave Ma, thirtytwo, and Fred and Nick. The music video department sits alongside Pulse’s acclaimed music documentary production outfit, which has produced exceptional docs for Blur and LCD Soundsystem and the forthcoming David Attenborough and Björk documentary for Channel 4 ‘Attenborough & Bjork: The Nature Of Music’, which will debut later this summer.

Since its inception in 2005, Pulse have worked with some of the world’s most successful, influential and creative artists including The Rolling Stones, Katy Perry, Coldplay, The XX, Jack White, LCD Soundsystem, Blur, Mumford & Sons, Jessie J, Flying Lotus, The Killers, Nick Cave, Take That, Adele, Calvin Harris and many more. And the announcement of Zak Razvi’s arrival at Pulse Films closely follows news of the company’s inclusion in the the Sunday Times’ annual FastTrack100 survey of the fastest growing UK companies – the only music & media related company in the UK to feature.

It’s another visually striking video and another maverick performance from Emika. Filmed within a simple, minimalist setting, the promo perfectly echoes the soundtrack – with beautiful, contrasting dark and light sections.

Emika
Centuries
Director: Matt Lambert
Produced by: STINK Berlin
Executive Producer: Nils Schwemer
Producer: Jannis Birsner
DOP: Cezary Zacharewicz
Edit: Andrea Pek
AC: Facundo Altube
Steadycam Operator: Johannes Holweg
Styling: Mandy Stadelmann
Choreographer: Kiani Del Valle
Make Up / Hair: SERVULLO @ NUDE Agency
Production Manager: Andrea Pek
Production Assistant: Richard Kranzin
Telecine: Houmam Abdallah at The Mill London
Sound Mastering: Richard Hughes
Special thanks to: Niamh McGregor and Tom Folwarkow

Enter Shikari make their extremely topical theme very plain right off the bat in their video for Radiate as the on-screen lyrics announce their political stance:”To take away our expression it to impoverish our existence.”

And also right from the start their identities are hidden by censorship blocks in what turns out to be an interesting performance video – one with very little actual performance. It’s mainly the lighting and the lyrics that do the work.

Enter Shikari
Radiate
Production Co: Kode Media
Producer: Nathan Killham
DoP: Joe Cook
1st AC: Chai Rolfe
Gaffer: Elliott Linehan-Cross
Lighting Operator: Martin Higgins
DIT: Rory Skeoch
Make-up: Fran Shillito
Production Assistants: Jamie Whysfam & Josh Halling
Editor: Nathan Killham
Motion GFX: Dan Ruiz
Colourist: Elliott Williams
Executive Producer: Frederick Lloyd
Directors rep: Alex Harman for Kode Media
Label: PIAS
Commisioner: Ben Bishop

Shot around his sold-out shows at the world-famous Troubadour club in West Hollywood, Tom Odell delivers a brilliant performance in Jamie Thraves’ excellent and thought-provoking new video for his song Another Love.

Working on two levels as a short film and music promo, Tom is frantically on the search for a missing lover (played by Sarah Navratil), posting notices at every opportunity and culminating in one almighty twist.

“Tom’s a very passionate, smart and talented young guy, he knows what he likes and he cares deeply about what’s being presented for his music” says Jamie. “I’d much rather that than a musician who doesn’t give a jot about their video.

“It might have made for some heavy discussions at times but I was pleasantly proved wrong about a few of my decisions because they were right for Tom and therefore right for the video.

“I had a super crew, Dawn Rose who produced the Beastie Boys ‘Sabotage’ video was a dream to work with and Danny Hiele is a genius of a DOP, it was a lot of fun to see him work. A massive thanks to everyone else who worked on it with us and made the video happen, it was a real fun job.”

Writing on his website, Tom says: “A few months back, a director called Jamie Thraves got in touch with an idea for a short film for Another Love. He’s made some of my favourite videos and films and I jumped at the chance to work with him.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the power of music in film and how they work together and Jamie’s idea kinda blew me away. We shot it in LA a few weeks back, and I co-star with this dog called Patch and a brilliant actress”.

Tom Odell
Another Love (Columbia)
Director: Jamie Thraves
Production Company: HSI London/Challenged Productions
Exec Producer: Beth Montague/Kim Dellara
Producer: Dawn Rose
DOP: Danny Hiele
Production Designer: Jason Fijal
Stylist: Aubery Binzer
Hair/Make-up: Abraham Esparza
Lead Girl: Sarah Navratil
Editor: Sally Cooper at Cut and Run
Colourist: Duncan Russell at Smoke and Mirrors
Online Post: Coffee & TV
Commissioner: Dan Millar
Watch: here

Shot over two days in California, We follow the heartbroken bear as he wanders the streets of Los Angeles on an epic journey of self discovery.

“What really drew me to this concept was the challenge of making the viewer emotionally connect with this ridiculous panda,” explains Adam. “I felt if I could make you feel for him, and even relate to him on some level, then it could be pretty special”.

“We tried to play everything as straight as possible, treating it like an honest relationship story. Only the dude happens to be a big panda.”

Michel Cleis
Hey Lady Luck (EMI Music)
Production Company: Good Company
Director: Adam Neustadter
Producer: Brian Welsh
Exec Producers: Jonathan Lia, Brian Welsh
Director Of Photography: Todd Banhazl
Cast: Ray Castro, Jillian Leigh, Alex Beh, Bridget Palardy
Art Director/Stylist: Alexis Johnson
Editor: Adam Neustadter
Colorist: Kevin Cannon @ Prehistoric Digital
Music Video Rep: Yi London
Commissioner: Caroline Clayton

The XX band member Oliver Sim takes the lead in this second promo for the band from Young Replicant, putting in a strong and mysterious performance in this noir film, set in a spectacular West Coast property.

Alex Takacs – aka Young Replicant – has previously been noted for his canny use of special effects or special scenery. And in his video for The XX’s Chained he had Oliver and Romy submerged in a lido in Cornwall. Here it’s about establishing a delicate, heightened dead-of-night atmosphere in this fine-looking video that perfectly suits the band’s love of monochrome.

And Alex explains the video, and how he intended it to be a “Borgesian dream quest – a blurring of what’s real and what’s imagined” in an interview on Noisey.

The XX
Fiction
Director: Young Replicant
Exec Producer: Laura Tunstall
Producer: Justin Benoliel
Production Coordinator: Alexis Celic
Production Company: Pulse Films
DP: Chayse Irvin
Steadycam: Ross Coscia
Production Designer: Jordan Hawkins
Edit + Post: Young Replicant
Commissioner: Phil Lee
Label: XL
Watch here

Harry Reavley – aided by technical director Cosmo Fielding Mellen – delivers this moody and intriguing video for Glass Animals’ sparse ballad Black Mambo.

A mysterious hooded figure wanders through an expertly manicured garden breaking into an impromptu dance as the sun sets to beautiful effect, additionally focusing on worms and insects as they slime their way through the mud and dirt…

Glass Animals
Black Mambo (Wolf Tone)
Director: Harry Reavley
Technical Director: Cosmo Fielding Mellen
Producer: Hanna Peretz
Production Company: First Cousin Films
DP: Alain Cross
2nd Camera Op: Harry Reavley
Gaffer: Edward Riley
Editor: Harry Reavley
Colourist: Marty McMullan

An exuberant lo-fi performance video for the guitar/drums combo The Graveltones by Chris Turner, aka Favourite Colour: Black…

Chris/FC:B’s excellent and very sexy video for Hurts’ Miracle had to be pulled by the label shortly after its release. So this is a small yet refreshing recuperative exercise after that disappointment. But he has now been green lit for directing his first feature, so all is now well in his world…

The Graveltones
Catch Me On The Fly
Director & Producer: Favourite Colour: Black
Production Company: Stable London
Editor: Mark Whelan at The Quarry
Rep: Alexa Haywood at Free Agent

As aficianados of his videos for The Hickey Underworld will attest, Joe Vanhoutteghem’s work is unique. It’s a bleak, disturbing, violent, grubby, weirdly fathomless vision of the world. He brings the true irrationality of a nightmare to those videos to create a very striking horror – or very strange comedy.

Now he’s turned his attention to another Belgian band, Balthazar, and created a new nightmare for their song Sinking Ship – once again shot in a distinctively dingy half-light by his DoP Nicolas Karakatsanis, with the signature shabby art direction by Tanker.

It begins with a man belting himself around the head with a hammer, and creating a permanent shadow, or stain on the wall, of which he himself his also stained. And then he goes out into the world, to be chased by people running in herds. But eventually finds a girl, who’s got a few problems of her own…

Joe Vanhoutteghem says: “I would prefer to have the viewers explaining the meaning of the video; it’s always fun to read those theories on Youtube. Obviously the song is about disappointment, about a broken love. The girl lost herself into temptation. And there’s no hope, only darkness. I wanted to visualise her sad side by showing the darkness.

“This man finds himself alone and abandoned at night. The only way to find peace is to hit himself unconscious. He hits the light that falls and casts big shadows. In the morning light the shadows are still there, on the walls and on his body like dark stains from the night. The man escapes his house, this sad forsaken cave but he takes along the darkness wherever he goes.

“Nobody tolerates sad people in this world and they happily start chasing him. He runs into a hideout where people seem to understand him. He meets the girl and the stains are gone, there is a bit of hope again. The music starts supporting that hope and suddenly the people start dancing in the same happy and uniform way. Even the band is worried now and the man gets scared. He hurries out and saves the girl from the happy mob.

“The night is beautiful and he takes her back to his warm cave. They make love. In the morning he loses every hope cause she’s showing her sad side again. She got dark stains and the only way to get rid of them is to knock her out.

“(Any other meaning is fine for me too)”

Balthazar
Sinking Ship
Director: Joe Vanhoutteghem
Production Company: CZAR
Executive Producer: Eurydice Gysel
Producer: Nele Carlier
DOP: Nicolas Karakatsanis
DOP 2nd unit: Grimm Vandekerckhove
1st camera assistant: Kristof Meert
2nd camera assistant: Chloé Lemonne
Gaffer: Dries De Paepe
Trainee electrician: Bram Cartigny
Key grip: Annechien Tielens
Art Department: Tanker
Make Up: Sanne Schoofs
Styling: Ann Lauwerys
Location Manager: Jelle Robbeets
Trainee: Benjamin Cutore
Extras: Brigitte De Witte – XtraZ
Postproducer: Bieke De Keersmaecker
Editor: Manu Van Hove – Het Digitaal Geweld
Online: Moxy
Grading: Joost Vande Kerckhove – Moxy
Mix Clip: Cobra
Cast: Stefan Jakiela,Elise Crombez

Founded by Danielle Hinde, Doomsday was initially known as a director’s repping agency itself, but has become a major player in US music video production in its own right, with a roster that includes Hiro Murai, Carlos Lopez Estrada (director of Reptar’s Houseboat Babies, above), Isaac Ravishankara, Ace Norton, Dugan O’Neal, Daniel ‘Cloud’ Campos.

“I am very happy to announce that FreeAgent will be now representing Doomsday Entertainment for the UK,” confirms Alexa Haywood. “Danielle and I have been wanting to work together for ages and now that Doomsday is a force to be reckoned with we couldn’t think of a better time to work together. Looking forward to building the bridge between UK and LA even stronger!”

Tom Walsh swaps the sci-fi trappings and special effects of his last video for something a little more homespun for folk-rockers We Show Up On Radar – his third for the group.

The immortal and welcome influence of Jim Henson puppetry is apparent here as a group of forest dwelling oddities put in a grand performance, replacing the one-man band of producer Andy Wright. Tom Walsh and crew have aptly captured the naive and forlorn sadness found in so many iconic puppets.

Says Tom: “The initial reference was Kermit The Frog singing ‘Being Green’ on The Muppet Show. But in fact the main inspiration for the video came from Jim Henson’s puppet epic, The Dark Crystal. That film pushed so many boundaries at the time, and had such a big impact on me as a child that I wanted to make something that paid homage to it in some way. So our initial design reference was the Podling characters.”

Well, we’re always happy to see Kermit’s influence on the music video world.

We Show Up On Radar
Hands Up If You’re Lost
Director: Tom Walsh
Production Company: Polymath Pictures
Production Designer: Amy Nicholson
DoP: Neil Johnson
Gaffer/Lighting Designer: Cullum Ross
Editing & VFX: Nicolas Pylypiuk & Tom Walsh
1st AC: Chris Wetton
Studio Technician: Adam Davies
Set design and construction: Charlotte Ball and Sophie Wheat
Puppet design and construction: Inma Cook and Emma Terrell
Puppeteers: Amy Nicholson, Else Bua, Inma Cook, Emma Terrell, Sophie Wheat, Emily Croxford
Production Assistant: David Buckell
Runners: Adam Wiklo and Kathryn Smith

Documenting the end of a love affair, Daniel Gomes directs this emotional promo for Arizona five-piece The Maine, taken from their album Forever Halloween.

Shot in one take and graded in black and white, Daniel finds an ‘honest, unedited look for a single moment at the end of a relationship’ played out by Margaux Brooke and The Maine’s frontman John O’Callaghan.

The Maine
These Four Words (Rude Records)
Director: Daniel Gomes
Production Company: GOODCOMPANY
Director Of Photography: Alejandro Lalinde
Editor: Daniel Gomes
Exec Producers: Brian Welsh, Jonathan Lia
Art Director: Brandon Mendez
UK Rep: Yi London
US Rep: Alli Maxwell

And now here’s Leone’s sequel: the video for Less Is More takes up just where Midnight Sun ended, and sees our young lad enter a club to take part in a dance competition with some eccentric competition. A small-scale cinematic piece with superb casting showcasing the Italian director’s considerable talent – with a cameo by the band too.

Motel Connection
Less Is More
Production company: k48.it
Director: Leone
DoP: Mauro Chiarello Ciardo-Luca Esposito/ 2dop
Editor: Marta Mangiucca
Stylist: Valentina Mezzani
Make up: Diana De Vita
Set designer: Amos Caparrotta
Assistant director: Patrizia Gatto
UK prod co: HSI London
Label: lp & friends
Watch: here

In Greg Davenport’s thoroughly enjoyable video for former Beta Band frontman Steve Mason’s A Lot Of Love, we witness the familiar scenario of a British Cabinet minister in very hot water, with his world, and a lifetime’s work to rise up the greasy pole about to come crashing down, at the hands of a fearsome, Paxman-esque TV interviewer.

If this covers similar ground to British political dramas and comedies from Yes Minister to The Thick Of It, Greg Davenport definitely puts his own spin on things, as the minister takes a course of action that would even leave Malcolm Tucker speechless….

Greg says: “It’s one of my favourite ideas this – the story is of a much-maligned, unloved and aging politican under intense media pressure in the midst of a scandal… how will he react?”

Shot by Ben Fordesman, and with choreography from Holly Blakey – who also choreographed the recent Russ Chimes video – the video hugely benefits from a great performance from Tim Heath as the doomed politician, and Jeremy Drakes as his fearsome interrogator, drawing on the poignancy of Mason’s soundtrack to brilliant effect.

Steve Mason
A Lot Of Love (Domino)
Director: Greg Davenport
Producer: Claire Adcock
Executive Producer: Oliver Hammerton
Production Company: Epoch London
Cast: Tim Heath & Jeremy Drakes
Director Of Photography: Ben Fordesman
1st AD: Ben Quirk
Production Design: Charles Whiteway
Wardrobe: Georgie Buxton
Make-up: Dominique Heslop, Annie Tage, Hannah Maestranzi
Gaffer: Yurandi Poots
1st AC: Matthew Robinson, Marcus Autelli
2nd AC: Nick Thursby
DIT: Nazmul Hoque
Spark: Joe Gainsborough, James Canavan
Choreographer: Holly Blakey
Editor: Chris Roebuck @ Cut + Run
Colourist: Edwin Metternich @ Framestore
Sound: Jon Clarke @ Factory studios
With Special Thanks to: Gwenneth Whitby and Lee Weller @ Millbank studios, Chris Anthony @ Framestore, Annabelle Dunbar-Whittaker @ Cut + Run, Graham Angus @ Panalux Nicola Robinson @ Aliashire, Daisy @ Epoch London, Elliot Dollie @ Callbox
Director’s rep: Alexa Haywood at Free Agent UK
Commissioner: John Moule

Okay this is not just a video for The Chicharones and their catchy summery track Hi Hey Hello, directed with typical verve by Joseph Kahn. It’s really a way for megacorp Samsung to promote the numerous features in their Galaxy S4 smartphone, via an innovative music video-centric digital ad campaign, out of Leo Burnett and A52.

Set on the campus of UCLA, it’s all about the likeable college boy who uses the S4′s various features (including Air View, Dual Shot, Group Play, Drama Shot and Sound & Shot) in pursuit of his dream girl.

In other words, the evolution of the branded music video…

Artist: The Chicharones
Client: Samsung
Hi Hey Hello
Director: Joseph Kahn
Prod co: HSI
DoP: Christopher Probst
Producer: Richard Weager
Producer: Keith Jamerson
Executive Producer: Jennifer Dennis
Post Production: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Chancier Haynes
Agency: Leo Burnett USA
Digital Agency: A52
Creative Director: Shannon McGlothin
Creative Director: Brandon Rochon
Creative Director: Adam Kennedy
Copywriter: Jaysn Kim
Watch: here

Taken from the perspective of a young cyclist, Alex’s inventive ‘fly on the wall’ one-shot promo centres around a motel and the narrative of a missing girl – traveling through different scenarios featuring a host of contrasting characters as the plot unravels bit by bit…

Chase & Status
Lost & Not Found
Director: Alex Southam
Producer: Amber Millington
Production Company: Agile Films
Line Producer for Boulevard Industries: David Cho
Exec. Producer for Boulevard Industries: Jason Valen
1st AD: Allen Scudder
Director of Photography: Pat Scola
Art Director: Chase Bryant
Hair/Make-Up: Tami Shirey
Stylist: Gabriela Perez
Cast: Emmanuel Odaibo, Officer Hunter, Officer Elliot, Officer Sanchez, Garrick Dixon, Don Lancaster, Lynn James, Alex Hughes, Mimi Frank, Darnell James, Buddy Friedman, Brent King, Chris Roche, Darcell Hoover, Virginia Collins, Terry Palmer, Andrew Kailon, Michael Klokow, Rose Guess.
Post Producer at The Mill: Luis Martin
Flame Artist: Chris Scott
Flame Assistants: Brad Wood and Alex Candish
Colourist: Houmam Abdallah
Directors Representation: Obmanagement
Commissioner: Julia Frost
Label: Mercury Records
Watch: here

After his work for Death Grips, Galen Pehrson brings his distinctive retro-animation style to the hip-hop-meets-sweet soul of Talib Kweli and Miguel’s Come Here.

A story of a lonely Egyptian princess about to find her Anubis – in the ‘hood…

Talib Kweli ft. Miguel
Come Here
Director: Galen Pehrson
Animator: Galen Pehrson

A judging panel comprised of members of the Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Creative Board, the BUG Music Videos team, and OK Go’s lead singer Damian Kulash, came up with a set of finalists from different parts of the globe for the the Grand Prize, in which the winner will be offered an all-expenses paid trip to Cannes for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where the winning video will be screened at the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase on Thursday 20th June.

The finalists, who all created videos for the brand new as-yet unreleased OK Go song I’m Not Through, are: Eran Amir (Germany), Carolina Aguirre Barrandeguy (UK), Sara Brink (USA), Nelson de Castro (USA), Roberto Espinosa (USA), BJ Golnick (USA), Alice Lam (USA), Benjamin Minot & Jacqueline Bulnes (Italy), Shan Palmer (USA), Riccardo Salvi & Alberto Falcone (UK), Lavado Stubbs (Bahamas) and Jonah Sugden (UK).

And Fort Lauderdale-based BJ Golnick has been declared the recipient of the People’s Choice award in the competition – collecting more public votes than any other entrant in the competition for his interpretation of I’m Not Through as a fastmoving romantic thriller involving time travel.

It’s the third successive year that Saatchi & Saatchi have invited the international filmmaking community to enter the Music Video Challenge, with the help of BUG, and the objective at unearthing new directing talent. This year Saatchi & Saatchi have also teamed up with Talenthouse, a global platform for creative collaboration, and GRAMMY award-winning band OK Go, renowned for their cutting edge music videos.

The Grand Prize finalists feature an eclectic range of themes and styles – including contemporary dance, lost virginity, a Bahamian marching band, and outstanding animation. Amos Pizzey, founder/President of Talenthouse has commented: “Talenthouse was thrilled with the creative response to the Saatchi & Saatchi OK Go Music Video Challenge on our platform. The submissions came from around the world and showed the depth of new untapped talent that can be liberated online in our brave new world.”

Check out all the finalists here

A man and a woman enter a room to attend to Mara, and as she begins to sing about regrettable recent events, her predicament is soon clear: she’s dead. Injected with embalming fluid by the morticians, different parts of her body briefly spring to life.

Filmed over a day in a flat in Peckham in London for what executive producer Russell McLean calls “definitely a passion project where everyone was onboard because they wanted to be.” Produced by Kim Strobl (also 1st AD), and photographed by Olivier Cariou, the grade was by Julien Biard at Finish – and this was also a rare outing in music videos for editor Paul Hardcastle.

Sophie and Jean-Christophe previously worked with Mara on her video for I Blame You Not, and were pleased to get the chance to work with her again. “We were asked to come up for an idea to fit the track. We liked the idea of there being frozen moments throughout, that although she is dead there are bits of her that are still alive. As she gets embalmed more of her comes to life on the screen.”

Jean Christophe adds: “We’re really pleased with the ambience that the promo creates. We put a lot of thought into how best to symbolise the world of death in a way that complimented the track and remained visually interesting. This was done with the help of our brilliant cast of Tom and Janet and of course the talented team of production and post crew we had on board.”

Sophie says: “Working with Mara is an absolute pleasure. We have the upmost respect and admiration for her and her input throughout the shoot was always very positive. She is a great talent and brings with it great sensitivity.”

Joe Goddard ft Mara Carlyle
She Burns
Director: Soandsau
Producer/1st AD: Kim Strobl
Exec Producer: Russell McLean
Production Co.: Passion Pictures
DoP: Olivier Cariou
Editor: Paul Hardcastle
Editing company: Trim Editing
Colourist: Julien Biard @ Finish
Finish Producer: Justine White
Make-up & Hair: Niki Henry
Label: Greco-Roman
Commissioner: Mara Carlyle + Alexander Waldron
Watch: here

Ninian Doff could have been forgiven for thinking that New York rapper and poet Mykki Blanco would want a video to show off her feminine side. Mykki is, after all, the female incarnation of the multi-faceted artist Michael David Quattlebaum Jr. But instead, the video for The Initiation goes in a completely different direction, with Mykki revealing a completely new side of him/herself thanks to Ninian’s amazing visual effects work: Mykki gets a second face.

If these spine-chilling, brilliantly achieved FX weren’t enough, Ninian wraps them into a gritty, urban sci-fi storyline of mutation and state repression, with a violent Fight Club climax. And all for a highly unusual hip-hop track where the artist raps in Latin.

Says Ninian: “I’ve got to give huge credit to Mykki as a performer right away. She showed so much trust in me and the idea and fully committed to the performance on the day. Not many artists would happily crawl through streets covered in dust and still manage to look insanely cool at the same time! The track and video also work together really well – the visuals are already really creepy but it’s the fact that beat with Latin incantations being rapped over it that makes it really unsettling!

“We shot the majority of it in one long, exhausting day in London when Mykki was on tour. It was my usual balance of meticulously storyboarding and planning, but then also trying to allow as much freedom as possible. So for instance with the fight I just let the camera and the cast go wherever they wanted and then cut it fast and loose so I could pick out the right moments from the takes for the second face to line up well in post. That’s how I love approaching post production – in a way that doesn’t hinder or restrict the creative side during the shoot.

“The crew and cast on this were incredible at every stage: pre-production, the shoot itself and right up to the final grade. So many people worked really hard and lent their talents to make this very strange idea a reality!”

Mykki Blanco
Director: Ninian Doff
Producer: Tamara Harel-Cohen
Prod Company: Pulse Films
Exec Producer: Laura Tunstall
DOP: Patrick Meller
Steadicam: Jonathan Iles
Additional Photography: Adam Vardy
Production Manager: Tarquin Glass
Art Director: Anna Rhodes
Set Dresser: Helen Mearns
Stylist: Alex Day
Make Up: Krystle Gohel
Director’s Rep: Joceline Gabriel
Watch: here

Celebrated Manchester 4-piece PINS team up with Sing J. Lee in this cool, deliciously retro promo for new single Stay True, released ahead of their debut album, due this autumn.

“The band were very much in love with the idea of creating something akin to Warhol’s notorious screen tests” explains Sing. “They are some of the coolest girls I know, already having such great natural charisma and style, I felt there was an opportunity to take it a step further.

“We wanted to imagine these screen tests were for some dark, fictitious ’60s film that got shelved and forgotten about, that it was comprised of shots from the cutting room floor”.

PINS
Stay True (Bella Union)
Director: Sing J. Lee
Producer: Loran Dunn
Director of Photography: Davey Gilder
Art Director: Sing J. Lee
1st AC: Paul Daly
Gaffer: Chris Sarginson
Make-up: Brooke Wylie, Stefan Jemeel
Runner: Wayne Walsh
Lettering for boards: Tom O’Meara & Nye Best
Editor: Ian McLaughlin
Colourist: Ian McLaughlin
Director’s Rep: Alexa Heywood @ FreeAgent UK

Dear Darlin’
Olly Murs (Sony Music)
Director: Carly Cussen
Producer: Amalia Rosen-Rawlings
US Producer: Jamee Ranta
Exec Producer: Luti Fagbenle
Production Company: Luti Media
Director of Photography: Rob Witt
Editor: Sam Neal @ Portobello Post
Colourist: John Holloway @ Portobello Post
Director Rep: Alexa Haywood @ FreeAgent UK
Commissioner: Mike O’Keefe

Ross Noble, Neil Morrissey, Stewart Lee, Kevin Eldon, Ricky Grover, Samuel West, Phill Jupitus, and of course Vegas himself, all feature in this – as DIY-phobic blokes taking part in some kind of public therapy session in their least favourite place: a DIY superstore. Where they proceed to share lipsync duties on Billy’s “I’m a poet, not Bob The Builder”-style lyric. And where you get to witness the bizarre sight of Men Behaving Badly’s Morrissey handing over singing duties to the relentlessly austere Stewart Lee.

You have to say that’s a lot of love for Billy Bragg, for a song that is a long, long way from being New England, or Between The Wars.

And no sign at all, unfortunately, of the great Timothy Spall, dispensing proper DIY wisdom to this bunch, preferably via a nailgun, while uttering his immortal voice-over line: “Wiiiiickes – it’s got our name on it…”.

Billy Bragg
Handyman Blues
Director: Johnny Vegas
Producer: Beverley Dixon
Prod co: Woolyback Productions
Label: Cooking Vinyl

Taking their name from the two monkeys called Abel and Baker who were launched into space at the beginning of the ‘space race’ in the 1950s, Able&Baker has added Remy Cayuela, Cedric Blaisbois and Jim Demuth to the roster which also includes former Shameless directors Mattias Erik Johansson, Jack Driscoll & Franklyn Banks. The outfit is headed by executive producer Joe Walker, who has been head of videos at Shameless since the start of the year.

Remy Cayuela (who is repped in France by Frenzy) completed his first job with the company last month out in the LA deserts, a Tarantino-inflected morality tale for Dinosaur Pile Up’s Derail (below) with an unexpected lead acting turn from labelmate Diana Vickers.

Fellow Frenchman Cedric Blaisbois adds Able&Baker to growing list of international representatives alongside Doomsday in the US & Rods in France. His videos for Houratron and Ed Banger’s Mr Flash have established his penchant for macabre and stylish provocation, underlined with his recent promo for Raveyards’ Together We Play.

Formerly at Vice, Jim Demuth is a documentary-maker who, with producer partner Posy Dixon, was able to convert the doc format into compelling music video content with the promo for Django Django’s WOR, revealing the lives of stunt-drivers on the terrifyingly rickety wall of death in Allahabad, India.

The company’s inaugural music video directors’ roster includes former Shameless directors Mattias Erik Johansson, Jack Driscoll & Franklyn Banks. Meanwhile Franklyn Banks’s latest video – an immersive study into the lives of a group of Hackney-based UFO hunters – will go live next week and will be the first video to be released under the Able&Baker imprint.

Alexa Haywood at Free Agent UK continues to represent all directors on the roster, with the exception of Remy Cayuela who remains with Marisa Garner at MGA for music videos in the UK. And Able&Baker celebrated it’s opening last night (June 5th) with a launch party at Park Village’s iconic Camden Town-based studios – featuring a combination of ping-pong and burlesque.

“We’ve tried to put together a roster that reflects the diversity the music video format now enjoys and equips us to make stylish content across the broadest spread of commissions,” says Joe Walker. “I’m incredibly proud of the range of talents we have on the line up so far and we have a couple more exciting announcements in the pipeline.”

• Able & Baker website

In his video for Brighton band Maker’s Devotion, Laurence Dean peers into the private lives of an attractive young couple and analyses their very strained relationship – including some passion-free lovemaking. There’s great work from the two young actors (Flynn Horne and Lauren Sedger) and also some sterling work by the versatile Steve Glashier, here working as DoP, who captures the couple’s intimate moments with a freeze-frame-with-motion effect.

Laurence Dean: “The idea of this video was to tell the tale of a couple and their relationship gone wrong. Separate lives lived together in the same flat, awkward and resentful. Where even sex won’t make things better and becomes just another claustrophobic element of the doomed relationship.”

Maker
Devotion
Director: Laurence Dean
DOP: Steve Glashier
Editor & Grade: Joseph Rodrigues Marsh
Styling: Lana McDonagh
Hair & Make-up: Lana McDonagh
Actors: Flynn Horne & Lauren Sedger

Alexander Brown delivers this highly atmospheric, driving and tasteful video for Waylayers’ SOS that captures night-time London in a cool and original way.

Alexander harnesses the sweet electronic atmospherics within the soundtrack – powered by beautiful work from DP Sam Care. Alexander says: “When the band approached me to do a follow up video to Magnets I was immediately taken by SOS and its driving rhythm. I had the idea of trying to make something as epic and cinematic as films like Drive that manage to conjure up a retrospective vision of the present, creating a world of gearboxes and the city’s neon-lit underbelly.

“I knew from the beginning we were never going to be able to shoot in LA, but I always enjoy the challenge of trying to make the UK more epic. It’s always a challenge shooting London in a way that doesn’t look too provincial or something we’ve all seen before.

“With a customised truck, hand finished costumes, about a million locations and an incredible crew pulling together over a bank holiday weekend, we really threw everything at this one.

“I think it’s a real achievement of teamwork and willpower so its amazing it came out this well. So thank you to everyone involved!”

Waylayers
SOS
Director: Alexander Brown
Production Company: Nice&Polite
Producer: Gail Mosley
Director of Photography: Sam Care
Editor: Mark Whelan @ The Quarry
Art Director: Jayne o’Hanlon
Colourist: Steve Gatti @ MPC
Girl: Joanne Brady
Grip: Emmet Cahill
Focus: Karl Hui & Ralph Messer
DIT & 2nd AC: Pedro Ribeiro
2nd AC: Ben Foat
Gaffer: Mark Alveres
Electrician: Romaine Foster
Lighting Provided by Craig Davis

Shot in an impressive mansion just outside London with his regular DP Aaron Reid, Matthew Walker delivers this stylish promo for K Koke’s My Time with an exquisite performance from vocalist Bridget Kelly.

“I wanted to take K Koke away from the streets and focus on his elevation to the top of his game” explains Matthew. “But, being that authenticity is Koke’s main appeal, it was important for me to include elements of his struggle in a creative way.”

K Koke ft. Bridget Kelly
My Time (Sony Music)
Director: Matthew Walker
Production Company: HSI London
Producer: Amalia Rosen-Rawlings
Exec. Producer: Beth Montague
Production Manager: Chance Wilson
1st AD: Steph Zari
2nd AD: Afzal Robbani
PA: Tatyana Alexandra, Sarah Aranda-Garzon
Runners: Paul Cavanagh / Zik Udenze / Elliot Simpson
Driver: Ashley Ellis
DOP: Aaron Reid
Gaffer: Yan Murawski
Focus Puller: Tom O’Keefe
2nd AC: Alex Kirkwood
Steadicam: Rob Hart
Art Director: Chloe Brady
Art Assistant: Jim Simmons
Props Driver: Trevor Douglas
Stylist: Neesha Sharma
B. Kelly Stylist: Kim Cherebin
Hair/Make-up: Lisa Laudat
Cast: Wales, Alex, Sizzla, Con, Neil Anthony
Commissioner: Lisa Foo
Watch: here

It’s not hard to imagine the gist of the treatment, or even the brief, for the titillating view-magnet that is the video for Autoerotique’s Asphyxiation: Huse Monferadi’s legendary Eric Prydz video for Call On Me meets Ben Stiller’s Dodgeball.

But Canadian director Amos LeBlanc has executed this idea pretty much to perfection – just like one of those sexy/funny Ministry videos back in the day. Amos plays the underboob card for all its worth to avoid an outright YouTube ban. There’s even some guys in it…

Autoerotique
Asphyxiation
Director: Amos LeBlanc

Ivo Sousa & Stefano Ottaviano are two London-based directors that have teamed up to become “I double S I”. Their first work is this visually arresting, college and animation inflected promo for disco-poppers Octa Push. Ivo says the this work is based on the “mystical/Surreal world portraying the relationship between a man and woman through the symbolism used in Classic paintings.”

It’s a distinctive and engaging video and it certainly captures a young modern artist feel – there’s skeletons on the phone, neon paint splashes and the threat of shaving a rabbit.

Octa Push
Françoise Hardy
Directors: I double S I
Creative direction: Ivo Sousa, Stefano Ottaviano & Pavel Ivanov
Production Designer/ art director: Sara Polonghini
DoP: Rina Yang
AC: Marcell Kiss
Gaffer: Lasco Atkins
Models: Mark Fuller & Victoria Rowley
Assistants: Markus Nogueira Rosén & Toby Anthonisz
Post Production: ISSI, Markus Nogueira Rosén, Toby Anthonisz, Pavel Ivanov

Rising young British hiphop soul star Joel Compass’s tale of betrayal in Fucked Up is compellingly realised in this fine video by Ryan Patrick, via Doomsday Entertainment.

Joel’s mental body leaves his real one to satisfy his libidinous thoughts for an available female at a party who’s not his girlfriend. It’s delivered in cut-glass clarity, with a hyperreal quality influenced by the photography of Gregory Crewdson. And Ryan was also aware that, after the successful first video for Back To Me by Ian & Cooper, in which he was absent, this was Joel’s debut appearance in a music video.

“Joel is a brand new artist, but the tone of his music feels like he’s developed it over many years. We had to bring him into that world visually. So for his video debut, we wanted to put him in an environment where something supernatural could happen.

“I always thought how weird it would be to be able to watch yourself go about your day. It’s like hearing your voice played back on a recording – very unnerving. The narrative of the video brings that to life. Joel is forced to watch both his past and present play out before him until he realizes what he’s done.

“For the effects shots that open the video, we shot one take, doubled it up on a timeline and reversed one while superimposing it over the other. There was a lot of careful planning on set to make sure we were keeping our roto work at a manageable level. But in the end, I think doing it in a single take without a green screen makes it feel that much more in the moment.

“We wanted it to be very theatrical and used the photography of Gregory Crewdson as our source of inspiration. Tom Banks, the DP, used heavily colored gels on the windows and bounced a lot of our sources inside the house off white cards taped to the ceiling. We wanted it to be surreal.”

Joel Compass
Fucked Up
Director: Ryan Patrick
Prod co: Doomsday Entertainment
Producer: Zach Wechter/Ian Blair
Exec producer: Danielle Hinde
DoP: Tom Banks
Editor: Chris Amos
VFX: Hunter Schmidt
Commissioner: Dilly Gent
Label: Outsiders, Black Butter Records, Polydor