Production Company

Forever

Detective, superhero, Mandela... and now hucksterish TV shopping salesman. Idris Elba can do it all - as he demonstrates in Jamie-James Medina's bright, breezy and multi-layered&nbsp;video for Big Talk, the actor's collab with Manchester producer duo&nbsp;Solardo.In the video, Idris is the charismatic host of&nbsp;BIG TALK, broadcasting live on lo-fi cams from a basement studio. As Solardo and two girls man the phones, he is delivering an evangelistic sermon for the financially interested - and his financial advice is entirely based around the mysterious substance of Ambergris - the unique form of waste product created by whales that can be used in making perfume.[imgtoken data:1]Medina employs some familiar devices of the shopping channel aesthetic, camerawork, stock footage, in-camera FX and titles - merging with 80s/90s&nbsp;music video greenscreen FX.&nbsp;But within the visual fun, there is something rather more serious going on. The insidiousness of the host and his message is where Idris comes into his own, enabling him to get his teeth into the character.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As Jamie-James Medina explained in his treatment for the video: "Idris is the host of BIG TALK - a little show about BIG ideas. He produces a weekly sermon for the financially interested. He is part financial advisor, part spiritual guru. And all hustler. Beneath the views on the day’s business news, our host is operating a surreal and dangerous game of deception.[imgtoken data:2]"On this broadcast, he seems to only be interested in one very specific natural resource: ambergris aka whale vomit. In its purest form, the intestinal slurry can be found bobbing through the ocean, where it slowly hardens under the sun. Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, described the smell of whale’s vomit as 'a faint stream of perfume.'&nbsp;It is this stream — the crystalized ambergris — that washes ashore and has become a highly coveted perfume ingredient, used to fix scent to skin. Indeed, a group of fishermen in Yemen stumbled upon a small chunk of the stuff in the belly of a dead whale in 2021, which they sold for $1.5 million."Our host looks into the camera and says, 'If you’re ready to storm the beaches in search of AMBERGRIS, then I have a deal for you! Call us right now on 0898-BIG-T£LK!'&nbsp;[imgtoken data:3]As the track continues to bang, we watch as the host pulls a brick of ambergris from his pocket and delivers a verse from Melville’s Moby Dick."A message on the&nbsp;dangers of human greed wrapped up into an alluring package - and it's a banging track. What more could you want?&nbsp;

United Kingdom

Phoebe Shakespeare

Kibrea Carmichael

Salomé Pressac

Paix Robinson

Brittany Newman

Wizzo

Jamie-James Medina

Olwyn Fagan

Sam Alberg

Tim Sidell

Sasha Nixon

Najma Alimour

Rose Esme Lucas

Rob Barlow

Thomas Nicholson

Esther Edusi

Luke Farley

Yasmin Khan

Jessica Debruyne

Spencer Campbell

Alex Jimenez

Color Collective

Fons Schiedon

Ultra Records

Dance

Solardo & Idris Elba 'Big Talk' by Jamie-James Medina

Solardo-&-Idris-Elba-'Big-Talk'-by-Jamie-james-Medina

The full spectrum of human emotion is on display in a small photobooth, in&nbsp;Sayna Fardaraghi's evocative promo for Tom Grennan.&nbsp;The video for Grennan's Here sees the pop star as a DIY handyman, fixing and sorting out an aging photobooth, as a variety of different characters enter and exit, each with their own stories and purpose.[imgtoken data:1]There are romantic couples, friends, strangers, self-conscious prom queens, robbers...&nbsp;each taking centre stage in their own stylised vignettes.&nbsp;With energy and emotion packed into the concept - all tied together by several quickfire montages of still images, which expand upon the characters - this is an impressive&nbsp;debut pop video by Sayna Fardaraghi, who recently signed to Forever.[imgtoken data:2]"I've always wanted to create an intimate connection between complete strangers through shared memories, moments and experiences," says&nbsp;Fardaraghi. "A&nbsp;photobooth became the perfect&nbsp;microcosm&nbsp;for that for me. It's something so simple yet so effective&nbsp;and hasn't been often explored cinematically.[imgtoken data:3]"The photobooth in the music video is a room that experiences the good, the vulnerable, and sometimes the bad. It's that ephemeral moment that we've all had at some point in our lives, and bringing that to the screen accompanied by Tom's incredible song, his energy and the array of featured talent has been a pleasure to work with.&nbsp;"I couldn't have asked for a better array of talent and crew to bring this to life.&nbsp;It brought so many folks together and was packed with beautiful on-camera surprises.[imgtoken data:4]"When I spoke to Tom we discussed how it should be a range of scenarios and emotions that are more&nbsp;real&nbsp;than fictional, exploring more dark moments and not just all light and frivolous. I went through the scenarios I had in mind and made sure they're&nbsp;all at some point relatable and 'real life'&nbsp;than pure fiction and otherworldly."One of my favourite parts came when discussing the development of the peak of the song with my DOP Charlie Knight. We spoke about how integral the photobooth&nbsp;flash needed&nbsp;to be, and went through a series of tests with different bulbs to find the perfect one&nbsp; - I&nbsp;mean perfect colour, brightness intensity, flash size, etc. My goodness was it so worth it!&nbsp;[imgtoken data:5]"The trickiest part was the peak of the song and aligning the images as closely as possible. If you freeze on the hands you'll find that the next frame matches it as closely as possible, but still shows a different moment frozen in time. This took a long while to perfect, but truly has paid off and is such an integral part of the music video. Big thanks to Toby Heard our editor who was a dream to work with!"

Georgia Currell

Francesca Houlder

Thomas Viney

Olivia Jessop

Isabella Dupee

Sayna Fardaraghi

Sam Katz

Kat Cattaneo

Ana Krkjulius

Charlie Knight

Oscar Stewart

Niomi Collins

Sam Barnham

Jonny Iseli

Catharina Scarpellini

Hannah Knowles

Holly Tidwell

Iliana Mavroeidakou

Toby Heard

Pundersons Gardens

Megan Lee

Electric Theatre Collective

Sony Music

Tom Grennan 'Here' by Sayna Fardaraghi

Tom-Grennan-'Here'-by-Sayna-Fardaraghi

Harvey Sutherland teams up with&nbsp;Dām-FunK&nbsp;in the laidback romp for&nbsp;Feeling Of Love.&nbsp;In the video, we see&nbsp;Dām-FunK&nbsp;groove with his keytar, hovering around sunny LA streets without a care in the world.&nbsp;Opening with a vintage, Golden-era black and white aesthetic, the video soon bursts into full vibrant colour, culminating in a glorious sunset performance at the Griffith Observatory at the end.&nbsp;The feel-good vibes keep on coming with this one, and it has instant rewatch appeal.&nbsp;

United States

International Animal Inc.

Chad Bonanno

Kraig Bryant

House Anxiety

Under Exclusive Licence From Clarity Recordings

Funk

Harvey Sutherland ft Dām-FunK 'Feeling Of Love' by Fons Schiedon

Harvey-Sutherland-Ft.-Dām-funk--'Feeling-Of-Love'-by-Fons-Schiedon

Directing duo&nbsp;AB/CD/CD&nbsp;explore the relationship between human and machine in their new video for French electronic artist Delaurentis.A young woman becomes the flamboyant&nbsp;conductor of an airborne squadron of drones, in a mesmerising confluence of stylish cinematography, choreography and visual effects for Unica's Cloud. As the power dynamic moves towards the girl - played by&nbsp;Helena Olmedo Duynslaeger - it brings a riveting spectacle, with the overriding sense that this could quickly become destructive.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The machine and the place of the human body is a central issue in the work of the directing team who had already explored it with their short film&nbsp;<a href="https://vimeo.com/353217130" target="_blank">Server Room</a>,&nbsp;and commercials such as 'Age of Experience' for&nbsp;Samsung.[imgtoken data:1]&nbsp;&nbsp;

France

AB-CD-CD

Lola Idounda

La Pac

Jerome Denis

Laetitia Snaoui

Mathieu Perez

Sander Vandenbroucke

Nina Trubert

Martin Grillet

Lucas Pommier

Penelope Hemon

Alya Derris

Anouk Haïf

Vincent Fleischmann

Sylvain Canaux

Saint Louis

FIRM

Celine Marsais

Helena Olmedo Duynslaeger

Very Content

Zelie Deletrain

Alternative, Electronica

Delaurentis 'Unica's Cloud' by AB/CD/CD

Delaurentis-'Unica's-Cloud'-by-Music-Video-Directed-By-Abcdcd-(franz-Ferdinand-And-Lily-Allen's-Clippers)

Griff dances with her shadow in AB/CD/CD's dynamic promo for One Night.&nbsp;Opening on a bustling London street, the artist notices her shadow acting out of character, untethered to natural rules, and moving to its own beat.[imgtoken data:1]Launching into a flurry of choreographed dance - and plenty of visual effects trickery - we follow Griff out of the streets of the city and inside, into studio setups, where the shadow is brought to life as a real character.&nbsp;Tapping into classic musical film territory - it's a modern updating of&nbsp;the 'me and my shadow' concept that has been delighting audiences since the early days of cinema -&nbsp;the video feels like a step up in scale for the artist, who won the&nbsp;Brit Award for Rising Star back in May. &nbsp;

Eleri Evans

Caroline Clayton

Warner Music

Natalie Wetherell

Lily Ashton

Ty Hack

Joel Honeywell

Karl Hui

Griff 'One Night' by AB/CD/CD

Griff-'One-Night'-by-Ab-cd-cd

Fons Schiedon heads off the deep end of trippy with his mesmerising video for Brooklyn psych-rock practitioners Geese.Scheidon raids his lo-fi FX toybox to frame the band's performance of Low Era in an ongoing Apocalypse, with boiling skies and brownstones pulled from their moorings to provide a walkway for the alien invasion. Or something.In fact, attempting a&nbsp;rational description of the video is probably doing it a disservice. It's just a trip, with hints of '60s exploitation and horror (and Ghostbusters) thrown in. And also like watching a promo made in that time&nbsp;long, long ago,&nbsp;when directors did not have to go through the bother of writing&nbsp;treatments.[imgtoken data:1]

Now Won

International Animal

Gabriel Shalom

Arseniy Grobovnikov

Partisan Records

PIAS

Rock

Geese 'Low Era' by Fons Schiedon

Geese-'Low-Era'-by-Fons-Schiedon

Alewya leads a pulsating underground rave in Simon Lane's atmospheric performance vid for the singer-songwriter's Spirit_X.With Alewya tapping into the spiritual aspect of dance music, Lane creates an exciting spectacle from the judicious use of lighting, art direction, supporting cast and editing, in the rarely explored tunnels under London. Most importantly, the focus is on the stunning presence&nbsp;of Alewya herself.“This song was written from a presence and understanding of my flow state and how many things can come to me when I’m dancing this dance as crazy as it might be," states Alewya. "This is my absolute power and one to be reckoned with. It’s human, ancestral and it’s very wild.”

Simon Lane

Poppy Ashton

Luke Goodrich

Jake Gabbay

James Hills

Jonny Boomer

Lee Trigg

Shamara Roper

Luz Giraldo

Vlad Barin

CHEAT

Thea Dagnaud

Natalia Maus

Because

Beau Pritchard James

Aimee Meek

Alewya 'Spirit_X' by Simon Lane 

Alewya--'Spirit_x'-by-Simon-Lane-

Karim Ansel explores the&nbsp;tortured, pernicious inner voice of Mowdee’s psyche, in his brilliant video for Je T'embête.&nbsp;We all have our own internal struggles between good and bad, and it can often feel like we are completely out of control of who takes the reigns. Mowdee is in the unfortunate position of having his doppelgänger&nbsp;appear&nbsp;as an all-too-real apparition, causing trouble and mini catastrophes&nbsp;around every corner.&nbsp;Initially embarrassed by his cheeky, menacing demeanour, Mowdee eventually comes round to his darker self, via several hilarious vignettes that take place across the course of a day.&nbsp;DoP&nbsp;James Coote balances an authentic, real-life aesthetic with a handful of experimental angles, all shot on film to give it a grainy and raw texture. Ansel's direction jumps between understated and slapstick, providing the perfect platform for the ensuing drama, without going too overboard and silly.He also worked from a treatment/animatic that mapped out the narrative in great detail, as you can see from this entertaining&nbsp;<a href="https://vimeo.com/507442159" target="_blank">animatic vs final video</a> visual. &nbsp;

Karim Ansel

Alice Marchal

Fabrice Jeandemange

James Coote

Gustin Guillaume

Arthur Bartoli

Tom Haffner

Moussa Assoumani

Lea Fontaine

Marie Raffy

Vincent Amor

Hip Hop

Mowdee 'Je t'embête' by Karim Ansel

Mowdee-'Je-T'embête-'-by-Karim-Ansel

Danica Arias Kleinknecht directs a breezy dance promo&nbsp;for Kito, Zhu and Jeremih.&nbsp;The video for Follow observes an eclectic handful of dancers - including Caleb Bonney and Stephen Ojo from Beyoncé's Black Is King film - as they traverse the grungier side of NYC, performing in tunnels, overpasses and anywhere that inspires them on the way.&nbsp;Beautifully shot by DoP&nbsp;Patrick Golan, the grittier aesthetic and heavy use of contrast&nbsp;is a step away from usual dance films, which often prefer soft lighting and landmark locations. The choice to flip this concept on its head is an inspired one, and makes for a brilliant visual.&nbsp;

Danica Arias Kleinknecht

Silver Springs Productions

Noco

Jean Mougin

Jake Denicola

Patrick Golan

Nicolas Lopez

Colton Huynh

John Kopec

John Izarparte

Briana Andalore

Sena Murahashi

Cheeky Ma

Josh Bohoskey

The Mill

Robert McBay

Kevin Kloecker

Loies Kim

Electronic

Kito, ZHU, Jeremih 'Follow' by Danica Arias Kleinknecht

Kito, ZHU, Jeremih - Follow

Fons Schiedon explores digital connection in the endearing&nbsp;video for Groove Armada's Lover 4 Now.&nbsp;Depicting an unlikely long-distance relationship between a dog and a cat, the animated concept is a touching snapshot of our current zeitgeist, as we continue to exist in between digital life and the real world.&nbsp;Schiedon uses an abstract, handdrawn style to create an otherworldy universe devoid of human interaction, utilising a restricted colour palette and unique textures to enhance the offbeat narrative.

Groove Armada ft Todd Edwards 'Lover 4 Now' by Fons Schiedon

Groove Armada - Lover 4 Now (feat. Todd Edwards) (Official Video)

Director&nbsp;duo&nbsp;Machine Operated explore regret and loss in the beautiful visual for Grace Carter.&nbsp;Opening with a 45-second segment of glitchy memories and snapshots of past love, the video for Blame transitions into an ethereal series of performance setups.&nbsp;Building upon their work with fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton, Nike and Fendi, the&nbsp;editorial aesthetic combines&nbsp;abstract and realistic concept to create something otherworldly and poignant.&nbsp;

Machine Operated

Oli Falcon

David Bird

Brendan Harvey

Jonny Lewis

Leo Naessens

Louis Simonon

Toni Blaze

Rannia Williams, Cloe Nelson

Lucy Thomas

Max Dos Santos

Toby Tomkins

Olivia Lightfoot

Steph Haughton

Polydor

Contemporary R&B

Grace Carter, Jacob Banks 'Blame' by Machine Operated

Grace-Carter,-Jacob-Banks-'Blame'-by-Machine-Operated

Savvas Stavrou returns to his native Cyprus for his latest video for Jamie McDermott, aka The Irrepressibles, to visualise the themes of unrequired love and heartache in The Most Beautiful Boy.Evocative imagery capturing the intense&nbsp;friendship of two young boys is counterpointed with the anguish of one of the boys, now an adult soldier. He is mourning the loss of his friend, but this&nbsp;'present-day' scenario is more figurative than the journey into the past: the child's body he carries is a symbol of his loss, his pain is expressed through sharp movement.Stavrou and his DoP Luciana Riso make excellent use of the island location too, spanning lush greens for the nostalgic sections of boyhood adventure, to the arid whites, and rocky beaches of the soldier's world.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]

Forever

Production Company

Featured Work