Production Company

Blink

<h3>London-based production company Blink's association with Sad Night Dynamite began before any of the Somerset alt-pop duo's&nbsp;music was released. Blink director Will Hooper was sent tracks from what would become the pair's first mixtape - and that was the start of a beautiful friendship.&nbsp;</h3>With its eclectic mix of musical styles - hiphop, dub, electronica, alt-pop and more - the wittily subversive and unsettling character of Sad Night Dynamite's music has certainly provided inspiration for a number of directors. But the relationship between the band's Archie Blagden and Josh Greacen and Blink - with directors Will Hooper and Lucas Hrubizna in particular - has been especially influential, spanning their career to date.After two SND collections - Sad Night Dynamite and Volume II - where Hooper and&nbsp;Hrubizna made vital visual contributions - the latter winning a UKMVA last year in the process - Hooper has been providing creative direction and direction on the first releases from the band's third collection of songs&nbsp;- including directing the video for first single Sick Of Your Sound (above), featuring a cartoonishly brutal street fight between Blagden and Greacen.Ahead of the release of an ambitious animated video for the next SND single - directed by Balázs Simon at Blink's sister company Blinkink - we talked to Hooper and Hrubizna, looking back at the work which has done the hard yards in establishing Sad Night Dynamite's imaginative&nbsp;visual world.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;SAD NIGHT DYNAMITE&nbsp;(SND 001) - Director: Will Hooper[vidtoken data:0]<blockquote>Visually at this stage they had nothing. I was tasked with making that nothing, something.</blockquote>How did you come up with the idea for the video for (Sad Night Dynamite: Album)?WH: This project was the first time I was introduced to SND. I was given a handful of demos, a few WIP future singles and some instrumental works that would ultimately make up the mixtape that we made a movie for. It painted a pretty exciting picture of what they wanted to do and it was an instant 'woah' from me.The music was raw and intelligent and unusual. I remembered being floored by an early demo of Icy Violence and Smoke Hole (which used to be called Choke Hold, fyi).Visually at this stage they had nothing - and I was tasked with making that nothing, something. The process started by me putting together lots and lots of scratchy ideas and visual prompts that are essentially a reflex to things sonically - I usually try to do this for most things I write. A lot of these ideas were L’s, which is to be expected. But a few really resonated with the guys and they became quite attached to the idea of having a range of visuals that on paper shouldn’t really work together, but finding strange threads and atmospheric links between them.[imgtoken data:1]Ear we go: Will Hooper (above) and friends. "I was given a handful of SND demos... and it was an instant 'woah' from me."&nbsp;What was your process of making the video, And the most memorable aspect of the production?WH: There’s nothing better than making a movie abroad with your mates, and that is exactly what we were lucky enough to do for this. Somehow mega-angel producer Rosie Brear and mega-angel EP Laura Northover managed to wrangle the budget in a way so that we could go out to Prague to shoot it. The rural backdrop of the Czech Republic brought so much to the film. Likewise&nbsp;the crazy talented local crew that we worked with, particularly DOP sorceress Igor Smitka - he’s honestly the best.There’s something to be said about working in a completely foreign setting. The way you look at it is different to when you have a sense of familiarity present - I find that anyway. I get complacent here in the UK and definitely don’t always notice the potential of some things. So yes, being in Prague shooting, which was the first time I’d been abroad to work unlocked another rung on the ladder. A rung of power.My most memorable part of that shoot was getting a local farmer to literally dig us a six foot grave to shoot the funeral scene because it was cheaper to do that than build a piece of set and faking it. MOUNTAIN JACK - Dir: Will Hooper[vidtoken data:1]<blockquote>My terms were that 'we must build a giant mouth'.</blockquote>How did you come up with the idea for the video for Mountain Jack?&nbsp;I’ve always wanted to shoot a music video in a mouth and have attempted (and failed) to pitch it on other things in the past. So when Josh and Archie messaged me asking if I’d do another music video for them I replied “yes” but my terms were that “we must build a giant mouth”. Which was met with an “ok”.And whilst we didn’t have the budget to make the giant mouth set of my dreams, we enlisted production designer legend Laura Little, who ended up designing such a cool deconstructed, abstract version of a mouth. “The Chaos Mouth” we called it.[imgtoken data:2]Above: On set of Mountain Jack. "Laura Little&nbsp;ended up designing such a cool deconstructed, abstract version of a mouth."What was your process of making the video, And the most memorable aspect of the production?The main intention of this vid was to do some more “traditional” performance stuff with SND, which was fun because I’d not done that with them yet. So that set and the performance within it became the central pillar for the rest of visuals in that vid - which was deep dive of all things mouth. Lots of lo-fi silliness, more weird camera rigs, lots of Josh gagging on endoscopes that I put down his throat.VOLUME II - Dir:&nbsp;Lucas Hrubizna[vidtoken data:2]<blockquote>We had to develop a way to shoot all seven locations in London without me being physically present.</blockquote>How did you come up with the idea for the project for Volume II?LH: For Volume II, SND came to us with a challenge: rather than producing a traditional music video for an individual track, we were to create a series of distinct pieces for each song on the album that were visually unique, but strung together with a thread that would tie them into a common universe.The conceptual basis for the album was a near-death experience that one of the band members had faced, and visually representing the idea of being stuck in a purgatorial environment - somewhere between life and death - was something that really resonated with them.I started to consider the seven levels of Danté's Purgatorio, and used them as a loose structure to imagine an equal number of unnerving abandoned spaces from present-day. Disused petrol stations, dead malls and empty waiting rooms became analogues for the terraces in Danté's myth.[imgtoken data:3]Above: Lucas Hrubizna. "Being stuck in a purgatorial environment - somewhere between life and death - was something that really resonated with them."What was your process of making the project? And the most memorable aspect of the production?LH: Because I was stuck in Canada under COVID restrictions at the time of production, we had to develop a way to shoot all seven locations in London without me being physically present, which would have been a challenge even if I was on the ground, given the tight budget and timeline involved.We found a solution in the volumetric capture stage at Dimension Studios, which allowed me to remotely direct performances by SND inside a huge array of cameras. The data from the cameras, all mounted at different angles, was fed into software that generated full three-dimensional animated models which I could then build environments around at home in Toronto.[imgtoken data:4]Above: Volume II's greenscreen shoot. "The sensation of becoming a disembodied voice on an actual working film set an entire ocean away was just plain bizarre."Lighting, camera movement and blocking were all developed virtually on my end, so most of the directing work actually ended up taking place in post-production where I took a sort of sculptural approach to building the project, picking away at the scenes and experimenting technically along the way to discover interesting images.This was my first major production with Blink, and I will always remember the strange feeling of sitting in the dark in my home office at 2 o’clock in the morning Toronto time, watching crew scurry around the set over Zoom as I issued directions to my surrogate AD. The sensation of becoming a disembodied voice on an actual working film set an entire ocean away was just plain bizarre.SICK OF YOUR SOUND - Dir: Will Hooper[vidtoken data:3]<blockquote>In a group chat riddled with their voice notes...&nbsp;I wrote about being so sick of listening to them that I wanted to kill them.</blockquote>How did you come up with the idea for the video for Sick of Your Sound?WH: I’ve been helping the guys with some general creative direction for the very very delicious new wave of tracks that they’ve been working on. We’d commissioned a vid for another of their tracks that’s being made by good friend and fellow Blink director Balázs Simon. The video in question is completely ridiculous. Live action, 3D environments, animation and a coked-up two-headed testosterone monster with tentacles made out of flesh and tech and amniotic fluid… Balázs has been 'no-lifing' it for ages to get it finished - and holyyyy heck wait till you see it! The guy is a genius.However! Issue!!!! The vid is so crazy crazy ambitious it had basically gobbled up nearly all the budget for their vids, and they wanted a couple to put out. Cue me ( •͡˘ _•͡˘)ノWhen the guys went on tour SOYS did&nbsp;super well and when they got back there was a bit of a flap to get something out for it ASAP. Which meant the lead up to making this movie was pretty go-go-gadget mode. We had no money and no time, which if you work in music videos, is the case 99.9% of the time.[imgtoken data:5]Above: On set of the Sick Of Your Sound shoot - Will Hooper (yellow hood), DoP Natasha Dursmaa (third left) and crew with Josh and Archie of Sad Night Dynamite&nbsp;&nbsp;So writing ideas for this track ended up being quite knee jerk and immediate. And there is something to be said when writing this way - not overthinking it (because you can’t) and trusting in your guttural response to something.In a group chat that is riddled with voice notes of ideas and thoughts for the video from Josh and Archie, I wrote about being so sick of listening to them that I wanted to kill them both. Which was the thing that prompted the idea.. That idea eventually evolved into the two of them killing each other on camera a la Homer and Bart Simpson until their heads exploded. Job done.What was your process of making the video?&nbsp; And the most memorable aspect of the production?&nbsp;As I already mentioned, we had lil money and lil time, so this was pulled together very quickly by producer/ ain character Jack Bingham and the lovelies at Blink. We pulled in a bunch of favours and luckily got crewed up with a pretty serious team of legends. The approach was lo-fi but ambitious. We had some stunt choreo, some SFX head explosions, lots of silly camera rigs, crowd scenes, multiple formats, etc.A few days before the main shoot day I ran around - just me and the band shooting a load of B-roll and teaser stuff on DV using this ShittyRig™ that I built that has two prosthetic hands fixed to the camera - a sort of Michael Powell’s&nbsp;Peeping Tom&nbsp;setup.[imgtoken data:6]Above: The result of the explosive finale of Sick Of Your Sound video shoot.<blockquote>The most lol part of the shoot was definitely the exploding heads that Machine Shop arranged for us.</blockquote>We used a bit of that day to rehearse some performance stuff too, blocking out some of the moments in the vid. It’s rare to be afforded the gift of rehearsing for a music, but it is such a luxury when it does happen, especially one that can occur on location and has the potential to yield footage that could end up in the movie (which is what happened). Very epic.We shot in a flyover just off Canary Wharf. There isn’t a crazy amount of footfall there which made it very helpful for us to control the space. As you can see from the vid there is some pretty physical and aggressive performance from the&nbsp;guys throughout, so being not in and amongst the great British public made it easier to carry out.[vidtoken data:4]The shoot was crazy fun, running around in quite a guerilla and spontaneous way. DOP &amp; Queen Natasha Duursma made not a lot look like a lot.The most lol part of the shoot was definitely the exploding heads that Machine Shop somehow arranged for us. Despite our efforts to make sure everyone was at a safe distance, the blast radius was so mega that my jeans looked like they belonged to Patrick Bateman. And still do :(• Will Hooper and Lucas Hrubizna are directors at Blink&nbsp;

Will Hooper

Lucas Hrubizna

Get a grip! How Blink push boundaries and push buttons with Sad Night Dynamite

Sad-Night-Dynamite--'Sad-Night-Dynamite-'-by-Will-Hooper

Sad Night Dynamite - Mountain Jack (Official Music Video)

SND003 - Volume II

Sad Night Dynamite - Sick of Your Sound (Official Video)

SND_BTS_Graded

Fred Rowson combines the advertising and music video worlds in this comedic hybrid for Yorkshire Tea.&nbsp;Giving an eccentric, tea-driven spin to the traditional 'holiday' video, we see a young character (played by George Kent) packing his bags for Ibiza, choosing to take 10kg of Yorkshire Tea with him, in place of everyday essentials.&nbsp;Packed full of slick transitions, graphic effects and greenscreen hilarity, it's a big change of tone for the brand, and Rowson does a brilliant job in ushering in this new style, in collaboration with ad agency Lucky Generals.[imgtoken data:1]“My favourite ads are the ones that get really, really specific about some small detail of life, and blow it up into something epic - and the creatives at Lucky Generals absolutely nailed that in this spot," says Rowson."From the client to the creatives to my HoDs and cast, we were all on the same page about how good this could be. So this has been one of the most fun experiences I've had in commercials.”[imgtoken data:2]&nbsp;So does it qualify as a proper music video - and does that even matter?"I'm just glad to see that the language of the music video has an enduring half-life," adds Rowson. "We will never escape the radiation."

United Kingdom

Ranya El-rafaey

Kharmel Cochrane

Angela Hart

Neesha Champaneria

Fred Rowson

Andrew Rawson

Johnjoe Besagni

Stefan Yap 

Paul Weston

Jack Bingham

Kerry Green

Paul Mammone

Johnny Lewis

Callum Reeves

Matty Mancey Jones

Jess Summer

Samuel Marr

Homespun

Selected Works

George Kent

Ninja Tune

Lucky Generals

Yorkshire Tea 'The Tea Song' by Fred Rowson

Pack Yer Bags - Skipton Alfie

Declan McKenna is back - and also back&nbsp;with regular collaborator Will Hooper to make a characteristically lighthearted and&nbsp;offbeat video for Sympathy, with Declan on a deserted sandy beach in the company of a piano, a metal detector, and some odd-looking seagulls.&nbsp;Reuniting the creative relationship&nbsp;that brought the brilliant visuals for <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2020/04/16/declan-mckenna-key-life-earth-will-hooper/64352">The Key To Life On Earth</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2020/01/31/declan-mckenna-beautiful-faces-will-hooper/63032">Beautiful Faces</a>, the video features a dreamlike narrative in a breezy beachside setting.&nbsp;Cue puppet seagulls, googly eyed-guitars and a metal detector narrative, all merging to form a trippy, hallucinatory seaside experience.[imgtoken data:1]Most crucially, it's the uplifting presence of Declan McKenna himself - as twinkly-eyed and energetic as he was when he burst onto the music scene a few years ago - but arguably with a bit more knowing&nbsp;maturity. He brings all of his A-game charm and charisma to this one.Safe to say that his and Will Hooper's creative relationship has resumed in brilliant&nbsp;fashion.&nbsp;They&nbsp;have delivered here, and then some. It's a&nbsp;very enjoyable addition to a growing canon of highly entertaining videos by the pair.[imgtoken data:2]&nbsp;

Louis Simonon

Tara Sadeghi

Michael Lewin

Charlie

Natasha Duursma

Patrick Craig

James Robertson

Josh Goldman Jacob

Oliver Bingham

Jack Plumbridge

Tomomi Kishimoto-Eley

Sam Allen

Richard Fearon

The Mill

Mouthpiece

Digital Orchard

Black Kite Studios

Indie

Singer songwriter

Declan McKenna 'Sympathy' by Will Hooper

Declan McKenna - Sympathy (Official Video)

Will Hooper continues his creative partnership with Sad Night Dynamite&nbsp;by directing the riotous video for the first single of their latest campaign - with SND's Josh and Archie as worker drone-enemies who meet in the street... and then it all kicks off.The Sick Of Your Sound video a frantic montage of POV rage, as we see the boys perform as they try and choke each other out, attracting an audience of curious onlookers. It's nasty, and we should not watch... yet we must.&nbsp;Because it's funny and an appropriately aggressive way to visualize this bad banger of a track.Reddened faces, watering eyes, nose’s bleeding, veins bulging... balancing a surreal, uncanny vibe with violent, bloody brilliance, it's an ugly yet satisfying watch. And a sign of great things to come.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]

Suzie Walsh

Sam Seager

Alasdair Baines

Caleb Johnson

Chrissy Hutton

Mathilda Mace

Eden Read

Assembly Rooms

Machine Shop

Elektra Records

Alternative

Sad Night Dynamite 'Sick Of Your Sound' by Will Hooper

The <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/7iXHivxCV38vbNV1gHqaFJ" target="_blank">latest episode of The Promonews Podcast - Talking Music Videos</a> has just been released, with David and Rob of Promonews in conversation with a&nbsp;director with a very distinctive take on the pop video genre - <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/profiles/tash-tung/26523" target="_blank">Tash Tung</a>.&nbsp;She is the director of videos for Bree Runway, Medusa, MK, Dodi, Shaybo and Jorja Smith, Lucinda Chua and more, and since her breakthrough in the mid 2010s, Tash Tung has brought her own style to pop videos - which is often regarded as more understated or intimate than other directors in a similar field.On this episode of the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/7xlA6GsQtJfhtUsxNYiFYz" target="_blank">Promonews Podcast</a> -&nbsp;produced in association with&nbsp;<a href="https://looptalent.co.uk/" target="_blank">Loop Talent</a>&nbsp;- Tash Tung talks about bringing her sensitive&nbsp;style to the pop video genre in various ways, how that helps pop stars present another side of themselves, her use of choreography to convey emotion -&nbsp;and why she cast herself in her video for Sega Bodega.Having directed a number of live videos as well as the more conventional variety, she explains how that experience helped in making her lonform for Dodi, Live In The Attic; and the importance of having established a personal relationship with Shaybo when directing the My Sister&nbsp;video, featuring Jorja Smith. And she talks about exploring identity and specifically her Malaysian&nbsp;heritage, with musician and friend Lucinda Chua. And having broken into the world of commercials she reveals&nbsp;her ambitions for the future.<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/7iXHivxCV38vbNV1gHqaFJ?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius:12px" width="100%"></iframe>This is the latest episode of&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/7xlA6GsQtJfhtUsxNYiFYz" target="_blank">The Promonews Podcast: Talking Music Videos</a>. The past year has seen the Podcast interview a range of creatives who are active making music videos right now,&nbsp;including Charlie Sarsfield, Noel Paul, Ali Kurr and Joe Connor.&nbsp;Recent interviewees include Aoife McArdle discussing her path from music video director to director and producer on Apple TV+ show&nbsp;Severance; and pioneering music video&nbsp;director Andy Morahan talking about working&nbsp;with Guns 'n Roses, on the 30th anniversary of his legendary video for November Rain.And you can explore the Promonews Podcast for interviews with the likes of KC Locke, Sam Brown,&nbsp;Sophia Ray &amp; Mayling Wong, Milo Blake,&nbsp;Fred Rowson, Nathan James Tettey,&nbsp;Kasper Haggstrom, Olivia Rose and Sam Davey.• Listen to&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/7iXHivxCV38vbNV1gHqaFJ" target="_blank">The Promonews Podcast&nbsp;with Tash Tung</a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;Spotify, and other platforms.

Tash Tung

The Promonews Podcast: new episode with Tash Tung out now!

Max McLachlan helps introduce the world to the new Birdy, in this captivating&nbsp;promo for Raincatchers.&nbsp;The video depicts Birdy as a giant, helping her younger self (played by Eleanor Hockley) navigate a world of corporate monotony and oppressive rules, blending&nbsp;semi-autobiographic lyrics with dark fantasy aesthetics.&nbsp;"Birdy is not a kid anymore," says McLachlan. "The world has known her since she was barely a teenager. She wanted a music video that would shed the dainty image of her as a naive child, but address the years of youth lost having to play grown-up in the industry."What better way to show how much she’s grown than to make her a giant?"[imgtoken data:1]Birdy drops down a miniature scale model of the office environment to the young girl,&nbsp;empowering her to see herself from a new vantage point, and gather the courage to break free and blaze her own path - whilst seeing life in a more playful way, as the child she is.&nbsp;The desaturated, near-dystopian aesthetic perfectly suits the narrative concept, and it's packed full of absorbing, emotional iconography.&nbsp;

Macy-trieu Dingle

Caroline Pope

Lily Ashley

Max Mclachlan

Jonjo Lowe

Jennifer Ivory

Abi Hurcomb

Ailsa Aikoa

Elicia Lotherington

Joel Spence

James Lahaise

Maria Comparetto

Emma Mendel

Alex Gregory

Kelvin Chim

Eleanor Hockley

Warner Music UK

Birdy 'Raincatchers' by Max McLachlan

Birdy - Raincatchers (Official Music Video)

<h3>Blink's new signing talks about how her comic inspiration arrives in various ways&nbsp;- including after being dumped on Valentine's Day.</h3>Following her triumph in November with her hilarious short Dishes Dishes Dishes at Yarns, the short film competition run by Stitch Editing, Emma Parkinson has now joined the directors roster at Blink, where she will be represented for music videos and commercials.&nbsp;&nbsp;Parkinson, 23, comes from Bath. She is a BFI Film Academy alum and former BAFTA mentee who began her career as a casting director specialising in street casting for Lane Casting in London, before spending&nbsp;a couple of years&nbsp;working in advertising, including at Wieden &amp; Kennedy via their training scheme The Kennedys.She also got her start as a director making music videos for the likes of Byker Grove Fan Club and Aga Ujma.&nbsp; Her&nbsp;return to directing after her stint in adland with the delightful&nbsp;Dishes Dishes Dishes - where the apparently mundane issue of washing up threatens a budding relationship -&nbsp;as well as her equally amusing&nbsp;short film I Love You, Rob, demonstrates her distinctive talent for drawing humour from the quirks of everyday&nbsp;life.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With her just signing to Blink, it feels like&nbsp;a good time to find out&nbsp;a bit more about Emma Parkinson. So we sent over a few questions...&nbsp;<blockquote>I’m still a little scared of defining myself as a ‘comedy writer/director.’</blockquote>You’ve made at least two very funny short films. When did it become apparent that you preferred to write and direct comedy?To be honest I think I’ve always preferred making people laugh. But there was usually a funnier fella around when I was younger - or at least, that’s what I was led to believe. It was only when I joined <a href="https://thekennedyslondon.com/" target="_blank">The Kennedys</a> at W+K that my mentors really started encouraging my funny side, and then lockdown provided so many opportunities to get weird.I’m still a little scared of defining myself as a ‘comedy writer/director’. I think the best stories always have a little humour in them.What’s the background to I Love You, Rob&nbsp; - apart from the fact it’s the story of your mum’s first boyfriend -&nbsp;and how did you land on your approach to the story?So I was kind of dumped last Valentine’s Day (unplanned, I should say for the benefit of the person involved). At the time, I was trying to find a positive way to spin the situation and the only spin I could think of was the fact that it was a bit of a family tradition. The film started as a piece of writing - this letter to Rob - which I sent to my friend, James Barlow. He texted me back: ‘We need to make this’.&nbsp;[vidtoken data:0]James is a great collaborator and we came up with the initial visual approach together. As the story itself is pieced together from things I was told as a child, it made sense to approach it like a children’s storybook, with these caricatured vignettes. Obviously I asked my mum for permission, but like any good daughter trying to pay tribute to her parents, I was acutely aware of the fact that it was really all about me.So we took this aspect of selfish self involvement and ran with it. The words on the characters’ lips are mine. The narration is mine. The woman Rob ends up with is me. The asshole director is me. Stylistically I’ve never made anything like it before, but I don’t think I could have approached it much differently.You have had training via the BFI Film Academy and BAFTA mentoring. What were the most important things you learned from those experiences?These programmes were basically my Uni experience. Super practical, super tailored. I think the regional BFI Film Academy courses are particularly important for bringing more young people in, considering how London-centric the industry is generally.They were a good introduction to the process and potential career paths, and I met some lovely people who are now my closest friends. My BAFTA mentor gave me a lot more practical guidance - she really encouraged me to Just Make It.What was your first music video and what did you learn from making it?‘He is wed, and she is a milkmaid’ for Avice Caro. I made it with my then-housemates and the artist in our little flat. The concept was a Renaissance painting brought to life, and I’m really glad we kept it as simple as it was, considering the £300 budget (aka my overdraft).[vidtoken data:1]My housemates are all super talented filmmakers/artists in their own right and they brought a lot to it. I guess you could say I learnt the power of having the right collaborators.According to your brief bio, you started your career in street-casting. How enjoyable was that?&nbsp;I loved it. And it was very valuable seeing that aspect of production in so much detail - they definitely don’t get the credit they deserve. Hannah from LANE is a powerhouse&nbsp;and I’m thankful she took me and my questionable fashion choices in at the time.<blockquote>Bone-bleaching isn’t a hugely common component of working in adland.</blockquote>How did you hook up with Byker Grove Fan Club and three&nbsp;intense darkly comedic videos for them?The lead singer/bassist Huw and I met a few years ago in our home town, bonding while bandaging up a drunk guy who’d gone to town punching a wall. This meeting seems to have set the tone of most of our work together.I was first asked to do a video for their song Cake Shop&nbsp;a few years ago. It’s one of the more disgusting things I’ve done: a cake eating contest with cakes made of mushy peas, custard, sardines, frankfurters, pickled eggs, meringues, and lots of other uncomplimentary ingredients.I only realised after that we could have faked how gross they were. But the guys were so down, and I’d like to say both cast and crew had a good time with it (only one guy threw up a bit). They encourage my more horrible parts and I am always impressed / appalled with how far they let me take things.&nbsp;[vidtoken data:2]You have worked at ad agencies, including W&amp;K. What has working in advertising taught you? What have you worked on in that world that you’re most pleased with?I did so much, especially while in The Kennedys, that I would never have done otherwise. For example, I now know how to clean bones, after bleaching some for a window display. Obviously bone-bleaching isn’t a hugely common component of working in adland, but having a broad toolkit is definitely encouraged. It’s also a space where you fail very regularly. I hate failing. I’d like to say I’ve learned how to hate it less.&nbsp;I actually made my first comedy film while in The Kennedys, about a mannequin who I was living with at the time. I would say I’m quite pleased with that, even though it’s not strictly advertising (soz).<blockquote>The cameos so far have mostly been out of necessity, or in a ‘meta’ way.</blockquote>Dishes Dishes Dishes immediately struck a chord with the Yarns audience, who loved it&nbsp; - and that’s probably the case with everyone who’s seen it. It’s the obvious question, but did this arise from personal experience? And if so, which side were you on: OCD or super-relaxed about washing-up?&nbsp;I hate to say it - I think I’m more lax. Or at least I hear that’s what my housemates have been telling people (I see you, Pablo). But my neurotic tendencies lie elsewhere, so I can very much empathise with the protagonist in that sense. And I think the subject of the story could easily be replaced with any domestic task - it’s really about the fatality of being a politely avoidant British man. I’m really glad it resonated with people. I hope they take it as a cue to be less politely avoidant.&nbsp;To answer the question - it is not based on a personal relationship experience of my own, but I fear it’s definitely opened me up to scrutiny with future lovers.&nbsp;[vidtoken data:3]You have made cameo appearances in several of your films. Will that continue now you’ve joined Blink?&nbsp;The cameos so far have mostly been out of necessity, or in a ‘meta’ way. I think it really depends on the project. Even though it appears a bit self-indulgent, it also feels quite vulnerable, and it’s good to put yourself in vulnerable positions, right? Right??After one screening for I Love You, Rob, I had an audience member ask me if I cast myself in it because I wanted to be the woman my Dad would leave my Mum for - in a Freudian way. So I guess you could say it always prompts good conversation.• Emma Parkinson is now signed to Blink. Watch her showreel <a href="https://blinkprods.com/reels/emma/" target="_blank">here</a>.

Emma Parkinson

Emma Parkinson: "I’ve always preferred making people laugh."

I love you, Rob

Avice Caro - He is wed; and she is a milkmaid

Cake Shop - The Byker Grove Fan Club

03. Dishes Dishes Dishes

A love story blossoms in the most unlikely of locations, in Fred Rowson's playful promo for Mae Muller.&nbsp;The video for I Just Came To Dance plays out like a Gucci shoot on a golf course, with a bit of The Virgin Suicides thrown in for good measure, and sees Mae attract the attention of a golfing guy with gorgeous looks but&nbsp;a flatlining personality.[imgtoken data:1]Mae can’t decide whether she wants to get with him or kill him. So, instead, she toys with him.Conceptually opposite to the lyrics of the track - you are definitely not meant to be busting moves in the middle of a golf course, but that doesn't&nbsp;stop&nbsp;Muller and friends -&nbsp;the video is imbued with director Fred Rowson's comedic, slightly surreal style, and it will keep viewers on their toes throughout.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Lucy Cooper

Naomi Weijand

Darcey Simmons

Curtisha Kruythoff

Oluwatosin Omotosho

Sarah Adewunmi

Jade Denne

Soki Mak

Emily Tedrake

Ryan Delahunty

Jack Reynolds

Laura Northover

Lizzie Jones

Josh Brooks

Juan Minotta

Mark James

Claudimar Neto

Ross Kwan

Zara Ali

George Leo Manby

Mae Muller 'I Just Came To Dance' by Fred Rowson

Mae Muller - I Just Came To Dance (Official Video)

Jak Payne directs a breathless promo for&nbsp;Rina Sawayama and her new single Frankenstein, bringing a modern-day relevance to the&nbsp;original story of a single character&nbsp;comprised of different bodies.&nbsp;&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]Payne adds a psychological twist as well as a contemporary edge to the&nbsp;Frankenstein legend, with Sawayama navigating dimly lit halls at a party, before her 'monster' alter ego locks 'shy' Rina in the bathroom.&nbsp;Imbued with experimental fashion, and&nbsp;nods to influential 90s photographers such as&nbsp;Davide Sorrenti and Juergen Teller, as well as Gen Z touchstones Skins and Euphoria, the video is its own Frankenstein's monster of references, seamlessly blended together with contemporary flair.[imgtoken data:2]Payne wears his inspirations on his sleeve, but with an injection of his own style and vision, it becomes a heightened, stylish affair with just the right amount of fright for the spooky season.[imgtoken data:3]

James Soldan

Road Casting

Charlie Morris

Jordan Kelsey

Jak Payne

Rosie Brear

Will Frost

Igor Smitka

Harry Hardwick

Elle Lotherington

Austin Phillips

Edward Harper Jones

Anil Duru

Anastasya Cherkasyuk

Joshua Pilmore

Romi Roppongi

Lauren Webster

Rich Woolway

No.8

Aaliyah Oke

Rina Sawayama 'Frankenstein' by Jak Payne

Rina Sawayama - Frankenstein (Official Video)

Tash Tung directs a heartfelt, poetic promo for&nbsp;Lucinda Chua - featuring&nbsp;Chua&nbsp;alongside 9 year-old actor Coco Bridger as Chua’s younger self.The richly cinematic narrative for Golden starts as Lucinda as Yian, confined in the isolation of a mosquito net, discovering&nbsp;Yian Yian, similarly alone. Yian Yian offers her both punishment and salvation, as Lucinda comes to understand and accept herself fully.[imgtoken data:1]Ethereal and tender, the gentle camera movement and sharp focus on composition and space help reveal the story, whilst leaving plenty open to interpretation.&nbsp;Assembling a production team of London’s leading East and South East Asian creatives, the crew includes&nbsp;executive creative producer Tiger Hagino Reid, producer Cheruto Wang, production designer Erin Tse, movement director Duane Nasis and photographer Milo Van Giap.

Erin Tse

Duane Nasis

Anna Kennedy

Matt King

Cheruto Wang

James Leech

Peter Bishop

Lucy Crow

Oli Robertshaw

Ant Belle

Eleanor Chapman

Ryunoshin Tomoyose

Natsumi Narita

Thomas Mangham

Coco Bridger

Lucinda Chua

Lucinda Chua 'Golden' by Tash Tung

Lucinda-Chua-'Golden'-by-Tash-Tung

Tash Tung directs an impressive live film for the four songs on singer-songwriter Dodie's new EP.&nbsp;Each track comes complete with a visual standalone, embracing its own emotional journey and themes. Simultaneously evolving into the full film, Dodie's performance blends with the mesmerising dance choreography, experimenting with ideas of connectivity and privacy.[imgtoken data:1]The punchy dichotomy of light versus dark spills into the art direction and cinematography, without detracting from the intimacy of the performance.&nbsp;The whole piece is bookended by the artist performing alone, and the journey in between is beautifully conceptualised and executed, and matches the lilting nature of the tracks.&nbsp;Beautiful work.&nbsp;

Rubina Marchiori

Krunal Saadrani

Lorena Pagès

Danny Rumbelow

Jason Henwood

Maria Camilla

Miranda Chambers

Eliza Clarke

Shihori Ito

Dodie 'Live From The Attic' by Tash Tung

Dodie-'Live-From-The-Attic'-by-Tash-Tung

<h3>We spoke to Will Hooper and Max McLachlan about why turning Bally Gill into a cactus in their UKMVA-nominated video for funk band Franc Moody was just part of a bigger masterplan.</h3>&nbsp;Will Hooper and Max McLachlan have made much more than a music video for Franc Moody's new release. The pair&nbsp;have pretty much created a world to accompany the main single from the acclaimed London funk outfit's third album, Into The Ether.&nbsp;And a very strange world it is too.&nbsp;The project centres on the music video that Hooper (above left)&nbsp;and McLachlan (right) co-directed for the single Raining In LA - a comic-horror piece with very surreal overtones, in which a businessman in need of a holiday, takes a trip organised by the mysterious travel agency named FM Travel. It turns out he is heading to a barren desert&nbsp;- where he will undergo a remarkable&nbsp;transformation: metamorphising into a cactus. Prickles and everything.[vidtoken data:0]Starring Bally Gill (Sherwood,&nbsp;Slow Horses, RSC's&nbsp;Romeo &amp; Juliet)&nbsp;the Raining In LA video&nbsp;is the centrepiece of a collection of films to support the song and the album. It also includes an 'infomercial' for the sinister FM Travel, featuring the band led by&nbsp;Ned Franc and Jon Moody as shifty salespeople, pushing the FM dream - included as part of the Raining In LA promo; the video for I'm In A Funk where a manic&nbsp;individual (Charles Timpson)&nbsp;distributes FM Travel flyers among the bemused public in a London neighbourhood; the visualiser for In Transit, also featuring Franc and Moody as the wheeler-dealer travel agents.[vidtoken data:1]This is also the first time that Hooper and McLachlan have worked on a project together as co-directors. Will Hooper has built his reputation since signing to Blink in 2018&nbsp;with his videos for IDLES, Declan McKenna, Rag 'n Bone Man, Dua Lipa and others, and is now usually busy making commercials. By contrast, McLachlan is an up and coming talent, busy working on promos for the likes of&nbsp;Ibibio Sound Machine, Naima Bock, Girli and October and The Eyes.So we spoke to the two directors about how the Franc Moody project and their collaboration came together.[imgtoken data:1]<blockquote>From the beginning the imagery of a journey into the desert was crucial to the band.</blockquote>PROMONEWS: How did the project begin for you? What were the label and band looking for?&nbsp;WILL: Quite a long time ago actually - way back in October of last year. The band’s management reached out to myself and Laura [Northover] at Blink. They sent us a few early mixes for a handful of songs that would feature on their next record&nbsp;Into The Ether, and straight away I could sniff the delicious promise in the tracks. They were really good and I was immediately interested.We then got an epic conceptual breakdown of the whole album that they’d carefully put together for us, with a little breakdown of each track individually. This was incredibly useful to form a total picture of what the album was trying to tell everyone. They also told us they wanted to shoot in the desert. That was very important to them as so much of the record is inspired by the vast expanse of the desert.So I bought some Factor 50 and met the band, bringing with me a rucksack full of initial ideas to chat them through, mainly to see if anything tickled their fancy. It’s always a stab in the dark at this stage, so I always enjoy over-egging the pudding a bit&nbsp;and write far too many ideas than I should…[imgtoken data:2]Above: Will Hooper (left) and Max McLachlan in the offices of FM TravelWhen (and how) did you two decide to work together on the project?WILL: As the job was brought to us super-early in their album campaign launch, it ended up being one of those ones that drags out quite a bit - which ultimately is epic as you have actually have time to think about stuff and develop stuff, which is very rare to be afforded in music videos.At one stage in this long process however, I was looking a bit silly busy juggling a few commercial jobs and we decided that we needed an extra mind and pair of hands to do a bit of the leg work. We couldn’t find one of those so we got Max in.I jest. Max has been a long time friend of mine and someone who’s work I greatly admire. So we were super lucky that he’d agreed to come onto this job and co-direct it with me. [imgtoken data:3]<blockquote>Ideas came from&nbsp;Mormon educational adverts, Looney Tunes, and ancient internet videos.</blockquote>MAX: Franc Moody were magnetically drawn to Will’s unique and grubby genius - as was I when I first found out about Blink. After I started running there and got to know him, we discovered we had the same disgraceful taste.I’ve been lucky enough to assist Will with some jobs. And when he became really busy with commercial work we spoke about me coming on board and diving into the deep end of the sand-filled world that Will was already forming for Franc Moody’s album.Will had already created a bank of desert and office-laced imagery for each track. Then when we sat down we began to tie it all together and build a world we were excited to make real. From there it was pretty organic. I've definitely learnt a lot but luckily at every new stage our creative approach together came naturally.WILL: Max brought so much of his genius to it. He probably made the movie at least 69 times better than if I had not forced him to do it.[imgtoken data:4]Above: Hooper (centre) and McLachlan (right) with DoP Carlos Feher,&nbsp;on location in the&nbsp;Tabernas Desert.&nbsp;<blockquote>We found ourselves out in the harshest desert Spain had to offer...&nbsp;</blockquote>How much material have you created for the album, and how would you describe it, in terms of the ideas it’s exploring, and its relationship to the band and their new music?WILL: It’s funny, this project has been going on for quite some time, [so] I feel like we forget how much has even been created for the album.The core of our project was always the Raining In LA video. So most of the other content acts to expand the world, or create crumbs leading to that video, which hopefully gives more context to the previous work.MAX: Throughout the project we knew we had to balance the strange tone we wanted to create, and the themes of self-discovery, with the utter funkiness and groove of their music. We wanted to make sure it always had a sense of fun and energy&nbsp;that didn’t strip away any of the pure danceability of the tracks.[imgtoken data:5]<blockquote>Anna Kennedy... said the two words that changed our lives: BALLY and GILL.</blockquote>The tone is quirky and surreal to the point of being unsettling - and arguably quite a sobering message. What were your main reference points?&nbsp;WILL: David Lynch was a crucial reference from the very beginning. There was never anything specific from one of his films we wanted to draw from, but the tone he creates is perfect. The malaise of his movies which allows you to laugh at the oddity of them while still forcing you to keep your wits about you at all times.MAX: As far as specific ideas we drew from, they came from Mormon educational adverts, Looney Tunes, and ancient internet videos - which is the only way we can communicate.How did you come up with the concept of FM Travel, and what is its significance in the whole project? How does this reflect what Franc Moody are about?WILL: The album is an exploration of self-discovery, and from the beginning the imagery of a journey into the desert was crucial to the band. However, we were worried about making a 'go to the desert and you’ll find yourself'&nbsp;movie that sells cheap answers and false hopes, inadvertently promoting a ‘move into a luxury RV in the desert with a pug called Petunia and you’ll never feel sad again!!’ Instagram-lifestyle.[imgtoken data:6]Above: Bally Gill prepares to become full cactus, hands-first.Instead we decided to flip it on its head and focus on someone having been sold a dream journey of self-discovery, only to be left stranded with more confusion in place of answers. Thus our dream journey salesmen/hucksters, aka FM Travel, was born. Once we started to discuss why they would want to trap people in the desert, we delved deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of the lore.The centrepiece is Raining In LA, where a man’s dream holiday turns out to be a one-way trip to the desert. Where did you shoot it and what were the main challenges of the shoot?MAX: We looked at a lot of deserts. Big ones, small ones, skinny ones. And when we got the recce pics through from the Spanish contact we were talking to it was a stop in tracks moment for us and we knew [the Tabernas Desert, in South-Eastern Spain] was the&nbsp;one. It wasn’t immediately the easiest location to service however, but the setting was so important to our story, that we found ways to make it work.So yes, we found ourselves out in the harshest desert Spain had to offer, our skin frying in the rays of the Tabernas sun. It was hot, it was sweaty, it had few toilets... [but] it was amazing.WILL: Naturally it’s difficult to film in the middle of nowhere, there’s hardly access to a nearby Argos if you forget anything, let alone figuring out getting anything out there in the first place. Massive respects and honour must be paid to the one and only Laura Northover who mastered riding the treacherous, gnarly dunes with a rented minivan…[imgtoken data:7]How did you cast award-winning actor Bally Gill in the role of the hapless traveller? Was it a difficult makeup job turning him into a plant?MAX: We were crazy lucky to have a hand from the casting legend, Anna Kennedy. She saw a list of actors we had created who we thought would be of the right sort of vibe, and she said the two words that changed our lives: BALLY and GILL.As soon as we saw his reel we knew he could bring the goods and my god did he deliver. I can’t believe he was told “can you become a cactus for these two human worms for a music video?” and he said “get me on that plane”.After he came out of that make-up chair with sticks on his green-painted face, fear boiling in his eyes, you knew it couldn’t have been anyone other than Bally Gill.[imgtoken data:8]Above: Art dept assistant Ricardo Leon and production manager Ana Gamiz&nbsp;prepare the cactus for final shot of Raining In LAWhat's the story about the guy in the I'm In A Funk visual trying to hand out FM Travel flyers? And when and where did you shoot that video? M: When Will started the project, he threw out a blast of bizarre and distinct desert visuals for the band to chew on; the image of a man wandering with a plastic bag constantly pouring out sand really stuck with them. Once we got deeper into the project together we started to discuss what this could add to the world we were building. We already knew we wanted our main character in Raining In LA to have been drawn in by a flyer, so it dawned on us this mystery man could be a FM Travel employee, sent from the desert on a mission to lure people.[vidtoken data:2]We decided the plastic sand bag was a sand timer, counting down the clock before he is banished back to the desert realm. Then it was just a matter of finding the right guy and running around Peckham with him, and boy oh boy did we find thee guy in Charles Timpson.How did you organise the production, in terms of shooting what, and when?&nbsp;WILL: We didn’t organise a single thing. We are hopeless. Endless &lt;3s and praise goes to producer Rosie Brear for her tireless and resolute work on this job. The amount of deliverables and deadlines and moving parts was a headache that our tiny brains could not comprehend. Rosie has a galaxy brain and made the impossible happen with this. What a clever and talented and lovely egg she is.<blockquote>Rumours are the band have created nether-realm version of ourselves called Mill and Wax...</blockquote>Is there anything else coming out? And if so what can we expect?MAX: The sand-filled well of Franc Moody may never run dry (...or drier I suppose). There may be videos coming out we don’t even know we’ve created. Rumours are the band have created the nether-realm version of ourselves called Mill and Wax, who wear almost exact copies of our famous red and green plumber outfits but in disgusting purple and yellow, concocting and filming bizarre videos for eternity.WILL: Sorry about him. Yes, there is one more movie&nbsp;coming out -&nbsp;featuring Toni C, the Cactus Driver...[vidtoken data:3]• Will Hooper is represented by Blink for music videos and commercials. Watch more of his work <a href="https://blinkprods.com/talent/will-hooper/" target="_blank">here</a> and Max McLachlan's work <a href="https://www.instagram.com/maxburnseasy/?hl=en" target="_blank">here</a>.

Will Hooper & Max McLachlan on Franc Moody's Raining In LA: "David Lynch was a crucial reference." 

Raining in LA - Franc Moody

Franc Moody - In Transit (Official Visualiser)

Franc Moody - I'm In A Funk (Official Video)

FINAL_CACTUS_MAN.mp4

Jak Payne directs a jolting and haunting promo for Polish-born, UK-based electronic artist VTSS.&nbsp;Taking inspiration from directors&nbsp;Julia Ducournau and David Cronenberg, the unsettling visuals centre around a studio performance, where the artist creeps and scuttles around an abstract space, and becomes entangled in mesmerising shibari.&nbsp;Utilising AR and video effects to distort the artist's face in the closeup setups,&nbsp;&nbsp;the film reflects on the applications of new technologies and their increasing influence on self-perception.

Marko Vrbos

Frankie Willcock

Joe Mulvihill

Adam Fox

Sam Harvey

Yoi Wan Kong

VTSS 'Body Mind Hell' by Jak Payne

VTSS - 'Body Mind Hell' (Official Video)

Will Hooper and Max McLachlan take Bally Gill on a surreal journey into the desert for Raining In LA, the first collaboration between the directors and London soul combo Franc Moody for the upcoming new album.It starts with a lo-fi&nbsp;info-mercial, featuring the band, about the joys of a new tavel agent, FM Travel. Then the gullible working guy played by Gill signs up and takes a suspicious coach journey into the desert to escape his mundane existence. But he finds himself in a very strange, upside world, and facing a very odd fate...Hooper and McLachlan are working&nbsp;for the first time as a directing duo on the project, having created visualisers for each of the five tracks on Into The Ether, the new Franc Moody album. Over several months they produced a slew of info-mercials, teasers and easter eggs which paved the way for the full-length music video for Raining In LA.&nbsp;

Blink

Production Company

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