Best of 2023:
Promonews' 12 Favourite Features of 2023

From our Q&As with executive producers at the start of the year, various BTS articles, and in-depth interviews with a range of creatives working in music videos, 2023 was a huge year for features on Promonews - our biggest ever.

So as part of our review of the year, here are 12 features from 2023, our most popular and most-read long-read articles. Great ones to check out over the rest of the holiday.

We've included the intro text from the features - plus links to the profiles for the interviewees/subjects of the feature and the site sponsors who represent those interviewees, where applicable.

Promonews' 12 Favourite Features of 2023

Aube Perrie is doing his best to keep things slimy and gross

He's had a big year so far, with standout videos for Harry Styles and The Hives. Pulse Films director Aube Perrie tells us how he favours the classic craft skills of special effects over digital to make his wildly entertaining work - and savours the nailbiting moments.

Featuring

Director
Aube Perrie
Prod company
Pulse Films

Promonews' 12 Favourite Features of 2023

Femi Ladi on Stormzy's Toxic Trait video: “We could be playful while still saying something real.”

After a run of critically acclaimed projects, Femi Ladi (above right) has teamed with Stormzy (left) to make his most ambitious video yet. We talked to him about mastering motion control and talk-therapy with the UK's biggest grime stars.

Featuring

Director
Femi Ladi
Prod company
Somesuch

Promonews' 12 Favourite Features of 2023

UnderWonder's Frank and Ivanna Borin: "We had to roll up our sleeves and hustle."

As the company celebrates its latest haul of nominations at the upcoming UK Music Video Awards, we talk to Frank and Ivanna Borin about how they built UnderWonder Content into a heavyweight in music video production, behind some of the biggest, boldest and most viewed videos today - even while being deeply affected by the war in Ukraine.

Featuring

Director
Frank Borin
Director
Ivanna Borin
Prod company
UnderWonder
Director's rep
Free Agent UK

Promonews' 12 Favourite Features of 2023

Douglas Bernardt on 'Inside The Blind Iris' and finding fresh inspiration in London

This summer, Stink Films' director Douglas Bernardt has relocated from São Paulo to the place that has inspired some of his most creatively rewarding projects - including the recently-released Inside The Blind Iris (above). So we grabbed the chance to talk to him about this remarkable film and other memorable work.

Featuring

Director
Douglas Bernardt
Production Company
Stink Films

Promonews' 12 Favourite Features of 2023

CANADA's Laura Serra Estorch on making Travis Scott's Sirens video with a cast of thousands. "Travis had a very clear idea of what he wanted."

Part of the Circus Maximus film that accompanies the new Travis Scott album, it's also one of the most spectacular music videos of the year. Laura Serra Estorch, executive producer at CANADA in Barcelona, explains why recreating the Catalonian tradition of the Castellers for Sirens was "four weeks inside a production hurricane."

Featuring

Producer
Laura Serra Estorch
Prod company
CANADA

Promonews' 12 Favourite Features of 2023

From McFly to Black Midi - Vid Price on editing music videos, UKMVA nominations and losing old friends

Don’t call it a comeback - the Trim editor says he never gave up on music videos. But a new burst of activity in 2022 led to his first Best Editing nomination at the UKMVAs in nine years.

Featuring

Editor
Vid Price
Editing company
Trim Editing

Promonews' 12 Favourite Features of 2023

Raman Djafari on making Ashnikko's Worms: “I really wasn’t sure if it would work.”

There really could only be one outcome when Raman Djafari got together with Ashton Nicole Casey - aka Ashnikko. Sheer creative mayhem.

Featuring

Director
Raman Djafari
Prod company
Blink

Promonews' 12 Favourite Features of 2023

Claudia Wass (1962 - 2023) “A unique and remarkable person.”

Claudia Wass, one of the great British music video editors, sadly passed away in January. We spoke to her husband Pete Cornish, and friends from the music video world, about their memories of Claudia.

Featuring

Director
Claudia Wass

Promonews' 12 Favourite Features of 2023

Myles Bevan at Studio RM: "A premium, beauty-focussed approach has been applicable to a lot of music videos I work on.”

Since joining Studio RM earlier this year, Myles Bevan has gone from strength to strength. Ahead of the UKMVAs, where Studio RM will be sponsoring Best Colour Grading, we talk to Bevan about his influences, inspirations and recent work that has included grading the latest Troye Sivan video.

Featuring

Colourist
Myles Bevan
Colour grade company
Studio RM

Promonews' 12 Favourite Features of 2023

"The band approached me about doing an absurd TV trial" - Aidan Zamiri on making Jockstrap's Greatest Hits video

A legal drama involving feuding rock legends? We all want to watch that. Well, Aidan Zamiri got in there first, before the streaming giants or anyone else. We asked him how he did it.