Colonel Blimp

Director

Fred Rowson

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;

United Kingdom

Lucy Cooper

Kharmel Cochrane

Naomi Weijand

Darcey Simmons

Curtisha Kruythoff

Oluwatosin Omotosho

Sarah Adewunmi

Jade Denne

Soki Mak

Tara Sadeghi

Blink

Emily Tedrake

Ryan Delahunty

Jack Reynolds

Laura Northover

Lizzie Jones

Kerry Green

Josh Brooks

Juan Minotta

Mark James

Claudimar Neto

Ross Kwan

Zara Ali

Samuel Marr

Richard Fearon

Kelvin Chim

George Leo Manby

Black Kite Studios

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

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

The new&nbsp;episode of&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/7xlA6GsQtJfhtUsxNYiFYz" target="_blank">The Promonews Podcast: Talking Music Videos</a>&nbsp;is out today, featuring a conversation with British director <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/profiles/fred-rowson/11630" target="_blank">Fred Rowson</a> about his career directing music videos and the three videos he directed last year for&nbsp;Years &amp; Years, Little Mix and Wet Leg - aka 'the loungewear trilogy'.&nbsp;Rowson has now been directing music videos for a decade, regularly crossing music genres to helm videos for the likes of&nbsp;Bree Runway, Joe Goddard of Hot Chip, Zac Abel, and Police Dog Hogan. But his most consistent collaboration has been with Years &amp; Years, from their early hits to the video for Starstruck, the first release from the latest album.In the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/1M9kljvVwIuNguFXOhDkTv?si=b317fd1fcd6647fa&amp;nd=1" target="_blank">latest&nbsp;of the current series</a>&nbsp;of interviews with figures in the music video industry,&nbsp;in association with&nbsp;<a href="https://looptalent.co.uk/" target="_blank">Loop Talent</a>, Rowson&nbsp;opens up about the ups and downs of directing music videos, being driven by his love of music, and talks about&nbsp;his long working relationship with Olly Alexander of Years &amp; Years.He talks about making Startstruck with Olly and choreographer Sherrie Silver, and how that was followed by videos for pop queens&nbsp;Little Mix (for No) and indie darlings Wet Leg (for Too Late Now) - with the artists being dressed in loungewear, and thus becoming the accidental common theme of all three.<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="232" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/1M9kljvVwIuNguFXOhDkTv?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius:12px" width="100%"></iframe>This episode in the third series&nbsp;of&nbsp;The Promonews Podcast: Talking Music Videos, sponsored by Loop Talent, follows the first three episodes featuring director and creative director&nbsp;Nathan James Tettey, director&nbsp;KC Locke, and director's agent Sam Davey.Interviewees in the previous two series of the podcast include directors Salmon Ligthelm, Olivia Rose, Sophia Ray with producer Mayling Wong, Kasper Haggstrom,&nbsp;Lucrecia Taormina, RUFFMERCY and Louis Bhose.&nbsp;The podcast has also welcomed DoPs Rik Burnell and Adam Singodia, the latter talking with colourist Vlad Barin; hair stylist Regina Meesen; and COMPULSORY's Lee Fairweather.&nbsp;• Listen to&nbsp;The Promonews Podcast&nbsp;with Fred Rowson&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/1M9kljvVwIuNguFXOhDkTv?si=b317fd1fcd6647fa&amp;nd=1" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, and other platforms.&nbsp;

The Promonews Podcast: new episode with Fred Rowson out now!

Barnstorming indie band Wet Leg are reimagined as bath-loving aliens beamed down from outer space, in Fred Rowson's loveably&nbsp;eccentric promo for Too Late Now.&nbsp;Wrapped in bath towels, the band venture out into Croydon to experience the Earthly delight of a good hot soak for the very first time, reflecting the lyrics, “I just need a bubble bath to set me on a higher path”.During their pursuit they encounter the addictions of bubble bath and the relaxing qualities of cucumbers - which involves a certain amount of suggestiveness, in the already characteristic Wet Leg style&nbsp;-&nbsp;eventually finding true nirvana in the form of a very pink hot tub, drawing a conclusion to the space-invaders’ pilgrimage.Filmed across two days in South-East London and on a rather muddy Kentish farm, DoP Rik Burnell worked closely with Rowson to achieve the ‘fly on the wall’ aesthetic, shot on a very very long lens with minimal lighting.[imgtoken data:1]<blockquote>I was slightly stunned to shoot the first Wet Leg video that they didn’t direct themselves.</blockquote>"Wet Leg may be the coolest band of the year, but, surprisingly, they are also 2021’s year’s most innocent gang of outsiders," comments Rowson. "Tasked with documenting their first experience of exploring an urban centre outside of Ryde [on the Isle of Wight] I was shocked by their naivety, and nearly lost them on numerous occasions, not least when Rhian nearly went under a bus. Twice."Thankfully, no indie kids were harmed in the making of this movie, and the quintet instinctively found their way to the safety of a rural setting. Thank God. "Seriously though. I was slightly stunned when Hester and Rhian asked me to shoot the first Wet Leg video that they didn’t direct themselves. Pressure, considering that their previous two were, for me, the best of the year. But, from conception to shoot to edit, this was a mad, magical collaboration that’s up there with my favourite music video experiences."Thank you to Domino and John Moule for trusting us to get on with it, and thank you as always to the team of Terminators at Blink - Rosie, Seb, Laura: you gave up your lives and made this happen in less than a week. Thank you. Best in town."

Rosie Brear

Paul Weston

Sebastian Jowers

Alasdair Copland

Rik Burnell

Eve Carreno

Julia Chacińska

Emma Jayne Lipop

Sarah Scott

Joseph Taylor

The Assembly Rooms

Blackboard Studios

Joseph Gochez

Jack Stone

John Moule

Domino Recording Company

Gaby Mawson

Alternative

Indie

Rock

Wet Leg 'Too Late Now' by Fred Rowson

Wet-Leg-'Too-Late-Now'-by-Fred-Rowson

Little Mix aspire for domestic bliss in Fred Rowson's playful promo for No.&nbsp;Fed up with housework? Need help trimming the grass? Well look no further, your prayers have been answered by the all-action,&nbsp;all-smiling&nbsp;HUS-BOT!When the artists take home their own versions of a new 'mandroid', there are a few kinks getting them up and running, but then, all is well. For a while...The video was shot back in early July at the height of Covid, when Leigh-Anne and Perrie were in the later stage of their pregnancies. So the girls certainly needed a bit of help around the house.In his first video for Little Mix, Rowson brings a bit of a twisted edge to proceedings - especially when things start to go horribly wrong. Turns out it was a&nbsp;mistake to&nbsp;even rely on a robot male...[imgtoken data:1]&nbsp;

Emma Wellbelove

Frankie Willcock

Emma Pounds

Nathalie Pitters

Catharina Scarpellini

Leopold Naessens

Ranya El-rafaey

Zack Tate

Tanmoye Khan

Grant Sandy Phillips

Jamie McFarland

Thomas Wulbern

Aaron Carlo

Natasha Lawes

Little Mix 'No' by Fred Rowson 

Little-Mix-''no''-by-Fred-Rowson-

Fred Rowson reunites with Olly Alexander and Years &amp; Years in a thoroughly joyful new video for single Starstruck - choreographed by Sherrie Silver.It's the band's first release since Alexander’s breakthrough acting role&nbsp;in Russell T Davies’s TV drama&nbsp;It’s A Sin, and marks the return of Rowson to music video after a busy year making commercials and hunkering down to write his first feature film. And the result of their reunion is a delight - an outpouring of impish energy from the band's frontman, who utilises his on-screen charisma to inhabit not one but two versions of himself.Shot in the Hotel Café Royal in Piccadilly Circus in London - a gorgeously luxurious location made available as a result of the pandemic - the pyjama and dressing gown-clad Alexander looks uncertainly into one of its many ornate mirrors, and then finds himself facing a seriously adoring fan - his own döppelgänger. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]The entire video is the interplay between the two Ollys, masterfully shot&nbsp;and made cartoonishly entertaining by the choreography by Sherrie Silver, the Rwandan-born choreographer and dancer who shot to fame when she worked with Donald Glover on the video for Chilish Gambino's&nbsp;This Is America, and other projects.DoP&nbsp;Jaime Feliu-Torres makes full use of the lavish location, with silky-smooth Steadicam work throughout - especially in challenging scenarios, including multiple chase scenes - and the art direction and styling feel perfectly fitting, with an opulent yet contemporary spin.&nbsp;In short, this is a wonderfully charming comeback for Alexander, who has the zesty energy of a newcomer, balanced with the experience of an industry pro - and also for Fred Rowson, quite possibly&nbsp;the&nbsp;UK's best dressed music video director...FRED ROWSON:"Knowing that It's A Sin was soon to be released, but not knowing the massive impact it would have, Olly was clearly keen to create something totally different to what came before. Like the music, it represents all the things that we missed in 2020 - colour, joy, energy, comedy.[imgtoken data:2]<blockquote>It represents all the things that we missed in 2020 - colour, joy, energy, comedy.</blockquote>"This is light years away from the world that we created for Palo Santo on the last album, and all the better for it. We assembled an incredible team to bring Olly's vision to life, and I had my own starstruck moment when choreographer Sherrie Silver came on board. I've been desperate to work with her for years, and she did not disappoint; her wild, inspired ideas elevated the concept at every turn. She, Olly and I became like a three-headed monster, all adding jokes, dance moves and suggestions for shots."This kind of atmosphere attracts the best crew, and we were blessed with an amazing team, who pulled this off on a crazily tight schedule. Huge love to everyone at Blink, and on the production, who gave us the means to create something wild. I can't wait to see where Years &amp; Years go next."[imgtoken data:3]<blockquote>Sherrie, Olly and I became like a three-headed monster...</blockquote>LAURA NORTHOVER (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER):"Fred is a joy to work with. He’s a meticulous planner and fosters a uniquely collaborative environment when making a music video."I’m super pleased he’s back in the music video game because I missed him when he was annoyingly focussed on a feature and all of those commercials."

Rachel Bashford

Andrew Potter

Jaime Feliu-torres

Anil Duru

Julian White

Jennifer Gardiner

Nicholas Royal

Shiori Takahashi

Porsche Poon

Tamara Mennell

Polydor

Sherrie Silver

Richard Lewis

Marti Guiver

Hiroshi Matsushita

Years & Years 'Starstruck' by Fred Rowson

Years-And-Years-'Starstruck'-by-Fred-Rowson

Dream-team Bree Runway and Fred Rowson continue their ambitious collaboration with this second, pointed foray into the world of 'Crackney'.Runway has never suffered fools gladly. Her short visual canon is reliably barbed and political. We first encountered her in <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2017/09/26/bree-runway-what-do-i-tell-my-friends-fred-rowson/49791">What Do I Tell My Friends</a>, in which the singer murdered an abusive fashion photographer and desecrated his corpse. This, her first collaboration with Rowson, was a caustic piece of wit in 2017 that anticipated the #MeToo campaign.Two years later, for Runway’s latest project, the two have developed the cartoonish, satirical world of Crackney. Their magical realist conception of London is a springboard for criticisms of culture and the city, in which dark skin-tones are a profitable commodity and Runway doppelgängers run amock.Big Racks takes aim at rigged capitalism and white gatekeepers of industry. Gentrifiers, procedural bureaucrats and trendy columnists who feel entitled to a piece of Runway (“I must touch your hair!”) This episode hones in on a beauty tycoon character we met in <a href="http://https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2019/05/29/bree-runway-2on-fred-rowson/58936">20N</a>. This time, the businesswoman is&nbsp;trying to secure a patent on her home brewed ‘Be Runway Body Spray’. Leading with the headline,<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/02/revealed-the-stark-evidence-of-everyday-racial-bias-in-britain"> “57% of ethnic minorities feel they have to work harder to succeed in a British workplace”</a>, the video skewers&nbsp;the myth that hard work is the only factor at play in personal success. Even with a fistful of cash, she can only secure a deal with a literal paper bag over her head.The video benifits from some hyperactive, mixed-format photography by Stefan Yap. And a fresh, comic&nbsp;book colour palatte, for which we can thank stylist&nbsp;Holly Adamthwaite and colourist&nbsp;Edwin Metternich. Spiky politcal satire rarely looks so fun.

Ghandi El-Chamaa

Ellie Britton

Tom Allan

Stefan Yap

Stephen Dunn

Kieran Brown

Lucie Red

Holly Adamthwaite

Marvin Francis

Paige Cole

Ben Crook

Speade

Edwin Metternich

Glassworks

Chloe Ensor

Martha Kinn

Hip Hop

Contemporary R&B

Trap

Bree Runway ft Brooke Candy 'Big Racks' by Fred Rowson 

Bree-Runway-Ft-Brooke-Candy--'Big-Racks-'-by-Fred-Rowson-

Fred Rowson and Bree Runway revive the collaboration that began with&nbsp;2017&rsquo;s&nbsp;What Do I Tell My Friends? (where&nbsp;Bree murders a fashion photographer and twerks over his dead body) with an&nbsp;ambitious new project starting with this video for 2ON. &nbsp;After his work on the last Years &amp; Years&rsquo; release, Palo Santo, Bree asked Fred Rowson to take on the role of Creative Director. This time, Bree wanted something much larger in scale - a satirical concept based around her experiences growing up in Hackney, coming from a Ghanaian family, and finding that the darkness of her skin tone was the source of bullying and commentary throughout her childhood.From these painful beginnings, Bree and Fred created a cartoon world - Crackney - in which the concept of skin tone is malleable, in which Bree is a fashion tycoon, with her office based in her real-life living room, running a business that sells Be Runway Body Spray - a spray that turns the wearer into, of course, Bree Runway.With a set of references spanning from Aqua&#39;s Barbie Girl video to Twin Peaks, via Mortal Kombat, Bree and Fred created a colourful, heightened visual world which link narratively her social media presence, the songs themselves, the stills and EP artwork - shot by Charlotte Rutherford - and the two music videos, written and directed by Fred. Fred and Bree are planning to extend the concept to Bree&rsquo;s live shows in the future.

Julie Hoult, Leomie Francis Anderson,  Richard Myers, Rebecca Morrison, Taneisha Bodmer

Bree Runway '2ON' by Fred Rowson 

Bree-Runway--'2on'-by-Fred-Rowson-

The third video for Years &amp; Years&#39; second album Palo Santo sees Fred Rowson create a sort of postscript to the short film he directed that brought the album&#39;s dystopian universe to life, and provided the context for his videos for <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2018/03/12/years-years-sanctify-fred-rowson" target="_blank">Sanctify</a> and <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2018/05/16/years-years-if-youre-over-me-fred-rowson" target="_blank">If You&#39;re Over Me</a>.Once again, Y&amp;Y&#39;s frontman Olly Alexander is the smouldering human dancer existing in a world run by androids. But with All For You, Rowson focusses on performance, movement and&nbsp;atmosphere rather than narrative development. And ultimately it involves&nbsp;a tempestuous Olly pitting himself against a sexy android girl in a dance battle of the ages. It&#39;s all symbolic of the psychological battle raging within Olly Alexander.

Sara Fawsitt

Abi Jones

Jack Meredith

Mauro Chiarello

Rami Bartholdy

Lydia Stott

Nathan Matthews

Zoe Klink

Nick Royal

Romin Sartipi

Jenny Glynn

David Stephens @ Assembley Rooms

Clare Norrish

Richard Grewe

Years & Years 'All For You' by Fred Rowson 

Years-&-Years-'All-For-You-'-by-Fred-Rowson-

Over the first two videos of the new album campaign Fred Rowson has explored the alternate universe that powers Years &amp; Years&#39; new album Palo Santo - released today (July 6th). And now, following <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2018/03/12/years-years-sanctify-fred-rowson" target="_blank">Sanctify</a> and <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2018/05/16/years-years-if-youre-over-me-fred-rowson" target="_blank">If You&#39;re Over Me</a> comes the accompanying short film - also named Palo Santo - that brings it all together.In fact, this beautifully made short sci-fi drama, shot in Thailand, really is what the campaign is all about. It adds&nbsp;a new dimension to the story more broadly touched upon in the videos, of human enslavement by android masters, to provide round-the-clock entertainment.&nbsp;At the heart of it is Olly Alexander&#39;s role as entertainer-in-chief in this android world Palo Santo, and the prize property&nbsp;of an android apparachnik and ringmaster - a subtle and sympathetic&nbsp;characterisation by the Thai actor Vithaya Pansringarm.[imgtoken data:1]The previous videos are abbreviated in the film to give more room to&nbsp;the narrative, while&nbsp;there are some surprising cameos - the ominiscient voice that directs life in Palo Santo is provided by none other than Dame Judy Dench; there&#39;s also an appearance by Ben Whishaw.&nbsp;It looks stunning, courtesy of photography by DoP Jaime Feliu Torres, and superbly edited by Sacha Szwarc at Speade.&nbsp;Written by Alexander and Rowson - who have a long association of working together - the pace of Palo Santo never drops, as it flips seamlessly&nbsp;between character interplay&nbsp;and performance set-pieces, taking in moments of humour and pathos. It becomes&nbsp;a genuinely emotional ride. Ultimately it&nbsp;shows what an accomplished director that&nbsp;Fred Rowson has become.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Corin Taylor

Jack Bingham

Jaime Feliu Torres

Inthira Sawantrat

Siranat Ratchusanti

Emma Croft

Maxine Crew

Aaron Sillis

Jacob Holme

Indochina Productions

Simon Nicholas

Mutita Na Songkla

Atchariya Pinitsanpirom

Electric Theatre Collective

Oliver Whitworth

Sacha Szwarc

Lewis Crossfield

Alex Bingham

Semera Khan

Years & Years 'Palo Santo' by Fred Rowson

Years & Years - Palo Santo (Short Film)

With Years &amp; Years&#39; concept-led second album&nbsp;Palo Santo on the way, the second video by Fred Rowson is the next episode&nbsp;in the story of Y&amp;Y&#39;s Olly Alexander as a captive human performer&nbsp;in a world dominated by androids.After his unveiling as a prize exhibit in Sanctify, Olly becomes&nbsp;the star of an elaborate cabaret, where humans must perform continuously for their android masters, in If You&#39;re Over Me. As the song progresses the routines become increasingly spectactular - and we also glimpse life backstage.Clearly there&#39;s some kind of history between Olly and one of his fellow dancers...&nbsp;

Years & Years 'If You're Over Me' by Fred Rowson

Years-&-Years-'If-You're-Over-Me'-by-Fred-Rowson

Years &amp; Years return with a dystopian adventure directed by the band&#39;s regular collaborator Fred Rowson, featuring frontman Olly Alexander as the last human in a future world populated by androids.In this the first part of a sequential series of videos from tracks from the new Years &amp; Years, Olly is captured and presented as entertainment for a panel of judges in the Eastern city of Palo Santo (the video was shot in Thailand).&nbsp;In a way the video is the reverse of Justin Timberlake&#39;s Dirty video - a human dances for an android audience, rather than the other way around. But like Dirty, the&nbsp;track Sanctify has that huge Michael Jackson influence.

Ryan Beck

Final Cut

Gloria FX

Vithaya Pansringarm

Years & Years 'Sanctify' by Fred Rowson

Years-&-Years-'Sanctify-'-by-Fred-Rowson

Fred Rowson&#39;s video for Bree Runway is an all-too-believeable story of exploitation&nbsp;of young female talent in the pop industry, with a righteous side-order of revenge.Bree becomes the subject of a photo session with a top photographer, who uses his position to assert increasing levels of control, which ratchets into sexual abuse. But he has messed with the wrong girl.Fred Rowson does a very good job here in creating a dramatic situation that deals with a serious issue&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;and showing just how feasible this is &ndash; while retaining conventions of the pop video, including performance.&nbsp;&quot;Ever since Bree and I shared a mutual love of Kanye West on the dance floor, I knew I wanted to make a music video for her,&quot; he says. &quot;We dedicated this to perverts everywhere; your days are numbered.&quot;

Benjamin Wearing

Alicia Howitt

Coline Bach

Tim Smith

Ardith Birchall

Bella Jefferson

Urban

Bree Runway 'What Do I Tell My Friends?' by Fred Rowson

Bree-Runway-'What-Do-I-Tell-My-Friends?-'-by-Fred-Rowson

Blink MD James Studholme&#39;s sideline as leader of shambly&nbsp;folk-bluegrass outfit Police Dog Hogan has led to notable videos by Blink and Colonel Blimp directors - but surely none better than this one by Fred Rowson.As Rowson explains below, the band&#39;s song Tyburn Jig provided the ideal opportunity to realise a long-cherished idea, to create a Victorian-era Rogues Gallery like no other. What marks it out is the wit and invention that&#39;s gone into fleshing out the idea, and its brilliant delivery, involving great work in various&nbsp;departments - including wardrobe, art direction, make-up and photography.The characters set before the police photographer&#39;s massive 19th century camera are an outlandish, exotic yet hapless bunch - they make Tom Hardy&#39;s band of reprobates in&nbsp;Taboo&nbsp;look slightly boring &ndash; all sentenced to hang,&nbsp;for committing pathetically trivial misdemeanours: stealing a wheel of cheese, egg smashing, pretending to have divine powers...&nbsp;&nbsp;These unfortunates&nbsp;look amazing thanks to costume design by Grace Snell, art direction by Zoe Klinck and prosthetics and makeup by Emma Croft, who transformed Studholme and other band members into the unlikeliest characters. And then there&#39;s the fact it looks rather like it was shot in Victorian times: that&#39;s down&nbsp;to the skills of DoP Stefan Yap and colourist Edwin Metternich at Framestore. Wonderful work all round - the sort of thing that makes you proud to be British.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Rory Shaw

Zoe Klinck

Grace Snell

Framestore

Katie Rhodes

Police Dog Hogan 'Tyburn Jig' by Fred Rowson

Police Dog Hogan - Tyburn Jig

Fred Rowson takes us on a journey through the centre of the spirit in this bizarre and hilarious video for Hot Chip&#39;s Joe Goddard.Following the burgeoning UFO-hunting spiritualist cult of &#39;Colour Spectrum&#39; and some of their meetings and religious materials is an experience unto itself. Mixing VHS footage from the cult-founder in with modern day practices (bizarre rituals, outfits and custom a-plenty) are taken to the general public, who are completely baffled. A very comical look at how deeply unsuccessful a British equivalent of Heaven&#39;s Gate would be.

Fred Rowson

Director

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