The hugely experienced directors' agent and executive producer tells us that her new agency is responding to the changing landscape, with a new generation of multi-skilled creatives on the roster and 'fluidity' on the agenda.There are few people as experienced and knowledgable about creating visuals for music as Marisa Garner. In the UK music video world, she been involved in that process for a long time.And whether as a video commissioner, executive producer or directors' agent, for more than two decades it was mainly about making music videos. She has been involved in making hundreds of them, usually following the tried-and-tested model of commissioning and production that has been in place in the UK and elsewhere for several decades.So when Marisa Garner says that things are changing, that the old way of doing things is being superceded by a fresh model, we have to pay attention.In fact, she has now taken a bold move that reflects how that traditional model is changing: her long-running directors' representation agency Marisa Garner Associates was recently relaunched as Other Kind, which she describes as a necessary response to the new reality.Other Kind is built to represent directors who are multi-skilled and adaptable. In terms of the talent on the Other Kind roster, there are directors in the traditional sense - including heavyweights like KC Locke and Troy Roscoe and legends like Vaughan Arnell; and there are also multi-hyphenate creatives, such as Roisino, Liam Pethick and Oscar & Ewan who can do more than one thing in addition to directing. It could be photography, creative direction, cinematography, choreography, production design, VFX... Garner is representing these individuals for their full range of skills.We spoke to Marisa to ask about her new venture and her views on the current state of play in music video and music visual content production. She explains how the Other Kind roster is attuned to the new reality of creating a suite of content around an artists' campaign - and being able to respond to a new type of client, as brands become increasingly involved.Above: Marisa Garner on the set at KC Locke's recent video shoot for Jorja Smith's just-released What’s Done is Done. How is Other Kind different from MGA, your previous representation agency?MARISA GARNER: MGA operated successfully for 15 years within the traditional director/agent model. However, over the past two to three years, both the nature of the work and the needs of clients have significantly evolved. Hence the pivot.Other Kind represents a natural progression of the director, agent, client relationship, shaped by these changing industry demands. It moves beyond a single track model and reflects the way work is now commissioned and delivered across music, social and short form content, branded content, and live spaces.Production approaches are no longer uniform. Each project requires a different structure, scale, and level of collaboration. With that in mind, Other Kind is built to represent directors who are multi-skilled and adaptable, and who want to work fluidly whether in production companies, in-house agency teams, direct to brand relationships, artists, creative directors, and management companies.At its core, it’s a more flexible, modern framework designed to match how the industry actually operates today.Above: Oscar Ryan and Ewan McIntosh's video for XO 'Hotline', part of the creatives' 360 campaign for the Polydor-signed girlgroup's new single.What was the inspiration or motivation for pivoting to the new set-up?MG: It's a response to the changing landscape and the evolving needs of both clients and creatives. Over the past few years, there has been a clear shift in how work is commissioned. While labels remain an important source of projects, an increasing proportion now comes directly from artists, managers, and creative agencies.Alongside this, we’re also seeing a growing amount of work coming from brands and agencies producing in-house, who are actively seeking directors and often their core teams who are flexible and open to new ways of working. At the same time, directors are looking for greater freedom to move fluidly between different types of opportunities, wherever the work is happening.Our motivation with Other Kind is to reflect that reality: to keep directors active and evolving, to support their growth across a broader creative ecosystem, and to build a model that moves with the industry rather than behind it.The nature of the work and the needs of clients have significantly evolved.Who are the multi-disciplinary creatives that you’re now representing?MG: Other Kind represents a mix of established directors and a next generation of emerging talent. What they have in common is a multi-disciplinary approach to their craft.Increasingly, briefs are no longer focused on a single output or skill set. Directors are expected to think across formats and often contribute directly to multiple aspects of a project from direction through to cinematography, VFX, editing, production, and photography.As a result, we are representing creatives who are not only directors in the traditional sense, but also practitioners with hands-on capability across these adjacent disciplines. This reflects the way clients are now working, where there is a growing expectation for flexibility, efficiency, and integrated skill sets within a single project.Above: Multi-hyphenate creative Roisino on set of a recent Coca Cola shootAre you primarily repping these creatives for music videos or to work across artists’ whole campaigns?MG: Music is in my DNA, and I’ve always been passionate about the music video space. It remains a vital platform for directors to hone their craft and showcase their ideas, and that will absolutely continue.That said, the idea of a three-minute video being the sole focus of what we do has long gone. We’re very much working across 360 campaigns with artists, where shortform content is often delivering greater reach and, in many cases, more value than a traditional music video.The idea of a three-minute video being the sole focus of what we do has long gone.What’s been particularly interesting is the growing appetite from brands and social agencies to collaborate with music video directors, specifically those with strong, distinctive ideas. They’re looking for that same creative thinking to translate across wider campaigns.So while music videos remain a key part of the ecosystem, our role is much broader, embedding directors across different kinds of opportunities and production journeys.Above: KC Locke's video for Spotify Wrapped 2025, featuring Central Cee, JADE, Lola Young, Olivia Dean, Ed Sheeran, Nemzzz, PinkPantheress and more. It has nearly 9 million views.Is it exciting to be starting out with something new, having so much previous experience in the industry? MG: Yes, it is. The move to Other Kind has been underway for the past year or so, reflecting a wider shift away from more traditional ways of working within the industry. It’s important to me to represent directors who understand this change and are able to operate within this new landscape.Coming from a background in production, with many years spent in house at major labels and in developing directing talent, this next chapter feels like a natural progression. It’s a privilege to be able to draw on that experience across different parts of the industry.Above: Video for Ed Sheeran's Symmetry, directed by Liam Pethick who created all video and social content for Sheeran's multi-platinum 2025 album Play.The role now goes far beyond simply securing a project for a director. It is much more embedded across the full production process, acting in a hybrid agent/EP capacity to support both client needs and director interests throughout.It has taken time to define the voice of the company, but we are now in a strong place and building momentum. Having experienced multiple shifts within the music and wider creative industries, that perspective has directly shaped how I approach this evolution.Ultimately, this change is exciting. It reflects how the industry is working today and opens up new opportunities for both directors and clients.• Watch directors’ showreels at Other Kind here

Olivia De Camps directs a pulsating promo for vivacious US singer Becky G. The video for EPA is set in a Chicano community market where the track spreads like a contagion, bursting into a frenzy of dance, performance and connection - and it's all sparked by one shy teenage girl's first perreo. That unleashes an ancient pulse, a frequency buried inside the landscape that moves through bodies, spaces, and everyday life alike. Butchers, fishermen, market workers, quinceañera girls, abuelas, one by one, the fever finds them. Mechanical labour becomes choreography. Reluctance becomes surrender. Strangers become one organism, moving to a single beat.At the centre of it all is Becky G. And the film's central image is Becky with sledgehammer in hand, shattering a monolithic, symbolic block of ice - cold giving way to heat.De Camps' video for EPA is indeed hot stuff. It's a feat and absolutely captivating from start to end - in the manner we now expect from this talented director. Not only a slick pop vehicle for Becky B, but with plenty of heart, love, tradition and ambition behind it all.

Pulse Films have announced the arrival of French-born director Antoine Zago-Honnorat to their roster. Zago-Honnorat works across music videos, commercials and film, bringing a singular creative vision to all of his projects. He has realised his very distinctive and confident style in films for the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, OLI, Visionnaire, Adele Castillon and rappers Begin House."When we first came across Antoine's work, we were instantly blown away," says Pulse FIlms MD Jamie Walker. "The originality, craft and vision felt completely fresh, every film packed with striking characters, sharp storytelling and a distinct style."It's rare to discover such an exciting new talent with a body of work that already feels this confident and fully realised. We could not be more excited to welcome Antoine to the Pulse roster and can't wait to share what's next.”Antoine Zago-Honnorat adds: "I can't wait to push my projects even further by joining a team of such passionate people. What has fascinated me about Pulse for years is the range of work across music videos, commercials and fiction. So excited to start this new chapter."• Watch Antoine Zago-Honnorat's reel at Pulse Films here

Martyn Thomas directs a riveting performance promo for Manchester alt-rock band Martial Arts, relfecting different ways live music has been captured on TV down the decades. At first, the video for Too Much Fun harks back to CRT television and old broadcast vibes, before jumping into high-definition in the final third. It's a fun, fresh vision, and works extremely well with the track. Thomas says the idea was inspired by the three distinct sections of the song. He wanted to directly reflect those sections, creating three different types of live TV coverage for the video, that was filmed at live music venue The Dome in North London. "Section one is bright, indy, with a sprinkle of grunge. We leaned heavily into tungsten lighting, smooth dolly moves, slow zooms and a retro VHS finish," he explains."Section two is airy, surreal, slightly psychedelic. This was mirrored by a stratigic lighting change, washes of colour and retro cross dissolves, also dubbed to VHS."[And then] Section three is tempo shifting, frantic, energetic. Here we drastically switched aesthetic to a hybrid mix of 25fps and 6fps via a custom camera rig, punctuating it with hard and fast strobe lighting."

The first single from The Rolling Stones' new album Foreign Tongues sees the band reunite with François Rousselet for the spectacular video starring American actress Odessa A’Zion, where over a hundred real musicians join The Stones - de-aged to their early-70s prime - in the ultimate recording session.First and foremost, this is a brilliant achievement by Rousselet who has directed two previous videos for The Stones - Ride 'Em On Down and Angry - and has arguably outdone both of them here for In The Stars, by going to the place where the legendary band are at their very best, in performance - and then taking it to the next level. The result is a euphoric experience, as the video helps make the case that this is one of The Stones' best new songs in years. That 'next level' has clearly involved AI, as an extraordinary array of musicians surround young versions of Mick, Keith, and Ronnie, while Odessa A’Zion provides the viewer's perspective, moving through the crowd, guiding through the fever-pitch atmosphere. And the fact is, if you did not happen to know that the actual Stones are rather older - okay, a lot older - you would be entirely forgiven for thinking their avatars are the real thing. The deep-fakery on the Stones is the work of Deep Voodoo, the AI company with a very Stones-adjacent name, who must be close to being best in class for this type of thing. The young 'Mick', in particular, is very successfully achieved - and their work is all the more effective with its sparing use, integrated into a much bigger canvas.As François Rousselet explains, he was entirely focussed on the proper live action - including having stand-ins for the band on the shoot with physical similarities to the band members. "One of the challenges for this production was not simply casting the sheer volume of talent required - over 100 musicians and dancers in the space of a week - but ensuring every performer could convincingly inhabit the world of the band. Each musician had to quickly learn and perform the track in a way that felt authentic on camera," he says."The key was finding leads for the band who could truly sell the physicality of the performance. That human element was critical. Without it, the de-aging wouldn’t feel believable or emotionally real. I didn’t want the shoot to feel constrained by the post/VFX requirements. It was important to me that the performers and camera could move naturally, the same way you would when filming a real band performance. That freedom and unpredictability is what gives the video its energy and authenticity."To direct a third video for The Rolling Stones as someone who grew up as a true fan is an incredible privilege. Their music has shaped generations, including mine, and being trusted again to help bring their vision to the screen is something I’ll never take for granted.”

Maxim Kelly once again demonstrates that making AI work in the creative space requires real intelligence. Kelly's video for Purple Disco Machine is a love letter to Pacha, the legendary Ibiza nightclub, by revisiting its humble beginnings as a holiday hangout for an eclectic variety of likeminded souls, back in the 1970s.His raw materials for the video for Disco Cherry was original archive footage, mostly photographs, of those days, supplied by the good folks at Pacha. In a similar way to Andrew Dominik's video last year for Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' Tupelo, Kelly brings these images to life with a sensitive eye. It's illuminating - and also witty. Like in his recent AI-gen videos for Archive, he creates a narrative that is full of mordant, absurd humour.And if you're not looking for that stuff, you can also dig the vintage vibe, the sense of fun in the original Pacha bar, full of warm textures, groovy dancing and somewhat startling portraiture. And what's more, it's a suitably funky visual for the feelgood track.