Production Company

FRIEND

London-based production company <a href="http://friendlondon.tv/" target="_blank">FRIEND</a> have announced that Noah Lee has joined their commercials and music video roster.Lee is an award-winning film and music video director, born in London and dividing his time between his birthplace and Los Angeles.&nbsp;His second video for US rapper 070 Shake has just been released - Lee and 070 Shake are pictured above on the set of Skin &amp; Bones&nbsp;- which was co-produced by FRIEND and LA-based company HPLA.&nbsp;Lee wrote, directed and edited his first short at the age of 23 - which was then nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at AFI Fest - and he has gone on to win widespread acclaim and awards for subsequent work, being featured at festivals worldwide and gaining enormous credibility online, including several Vimeo Staff Picks and Best of Month selections.&nbsp;In 2020, his&nbsp;video for Nice To Have, his first for 070 Shake, won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW. He has also garnered&nbsp;numerous UKMVA nominations in the past few years, winning a Best Newcomer&nbsp;award in 2016, as then Best R&amp;B/Soul Video UK in 2021, for his video for <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2021/06/14/celeste-tonight-tonight-noah-lee/71428" target="_blank">Celeste's Tonight Tonight</a>."It's an overused phrase, but Noah truly is a visionary filmmaker with the awards to back it up," comments FRIEND MD Luke Jacobs.&nbsp;"We're thrilled he's joined FRIEND."• Watch Noah&nbsp;Lee's showreel at FRIEND <a href="http://friendlondon.tv/directors/noah-lee#cat-liveaction" target="_blank">here</a>

Noah Lee

Noah Lee signs to FRIEND for UK representation

Noah Lee reunites with&nbsp;Danielle Balbuena - aka&nbsp;070 Shake - to make his second mesmerizing&nbsp;and dreamlike video&nbsp;for the New Jersey-born rapper, following their marvellous collaboration on <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2019/08/01/070-shake-nice-have-noah-lee/60087" target="_blank">Nice To Have</a>.In the video Skin &amp; Bones, Lee deconstucts the process of making the video for Skin &amp; Bones, with meta-fictional layering of 070 Shake's own part of the process, and those of the extras that populate the set.After the initial photographic studio set-up - inspired by The Master?&nbsp;-&nbsp;Shake engages in the big video set-piece, symbolically assuming weighty NFL-style shoulder-pad gear, and becoming drenched in studio rain. The extras of all shapes, sizes and ages take up their positions in different scenes as couples.[imgtoken data:1]And then Lee brilliantly defies expectations again, in unexpected ways - both heartwarming and chilling.This is his first video since signing with FRIEND in London for UK representation for music videos and commercials. The video, shot around Los Angeles is a co-production between FRIEND and HPLA.&nbsp;

Tyler Evans

Harper Slate

Juliana Bassi

Juliann McCandles

Ryan Hahn

Hpla

Patrick Golan

Danny Herman

Janelle J Lee

Tomislav Culina

Karim Belkasami

Mackenzie Myers

Angus Bernsen

Holly Sillius

Kaitlyn Battistelli

Ethos Studio

Def Jam Records

070 Shake 'Skin & Bones' by Noah Lee

070-Shake-'Skin-&-Bones'-by-Noah-Lee

French-Cuban sister duo Ibeyi scale the desert with Jorja Smith, in&nbsp;Lucrecia Taormina's captivating promo for Lavender and Red Roses.&nbsp;We see the artists trek through the midst of a sandy landscape, following the line of a rope to a well in the middle of the desert. They pour a jug full of lavender and red rose petals into the well - where, at the bottom a&nbsp;mysterious masked man digs further downwards.&nbsp;Arguably this&nbsp;abstract narrative explores themes of femininity and divine energy, suggesting it is time to 'cut the cord', and stop relying on women to pull up men who are not actively helping themselves or looking for ways to improve their own situation. But&nbsp;the&nbsp;beauty of the visual, the magic of Taormina' concept,&nbsp;lies in the various ways in which to read the unfolding action.[imgtoken data:1]Taormina weaves this ambiguous and metaphorical&nbsp;tale in her characteristic&nbsp;hyperreal style - not in a real desert, we suspect, but a very convincing studio and VFX-created approximation of one. A certain episode of&nbsp;Squid Game&nbsp;may also springs to mind while watching this too.[imgtoken data:2]Once distracted by the petals, the man stops digging, and grabs the rope.&nbsp;Initially, the women&nbsp;pull with all their strength, to help&nbsp;him to climb up, but... then the rope is cut.[imgtoken data:3]

United Kingdom

Francesca Di Mottola

Holly Shearn

Joshua Gochez

Oliver Whitworth

Holly Wood

Lucrecia Taormina

Joshua Noon

Luke Tierney

Aliyah Otchere

Krunal Saardrani

John Lynch

Jack Green

Cassius McCabe

Jeffrey Vine

Max Lincoln

Joseph Taylor

Assembly Rooms

Luke Morrison

Electric Theatre Company

Michelle Kruger

Wicked Pixels

Carl Jeppe

XL Recordings

Lane Casting

Alternative

Ibeyi ft Jorja Smith 'Lavender And Red Roses' by Lucrecia Taormina

Ibeyi--'Lavender-And-Roses'-by-Lucrecia-Taormina

London-based production company FRIEND is raising funds for Ukraine with a sale of limited edition prints by several directors on the company's commercial and music video rosters.&nbsp;The prints of art&nbsp;and photography by Alex Gargot, Anuk Rohde, Colin Solal Cardo (pictured above), Kid. Studio, Lucrecia Taormina, Pablo Maestres and Paul Herrman are available to buy now on <a href="https://friend-london.myshopify.com/" target="_blank">FRIEND's Shopify page</a>. All proceeds from the sale of the prints - on sale at £80 each - will go to Ukraine's defence efforts as the country continues to resist the&nbsp;invasion&nbsp;by Russian forces."As Putin’s cowardly war sadly wages on, we all must continue to donate and support our friends in Ukraine by any means possible," states the company in the description accompanying the sale of the limited edition prints."FRIEND is blessed to have many talented directors that are also great photographers, and as such we’ve decided to create a limited edition print sale, every penny of which will go to Ukraine. These will be received by members of the FRIEND family who are currently stationed on the frontlines of the war."In December, we had the good fortunate to be able to produce a music video for Arlo Parks in Kyiv. Our local producer Valentin Peshykin has informed us that Leonid Sidor, the gaffer on our shoot, is currently fundraising for drones - a key component to Ukraine’s military strategy, offering bird’s eye view of oncoming invaders."Our commercial EP Chris Abitbol’s partner is a Ukrainian artist, whose family are in Kyiv.&nbsp;Her father is helping to source more tactical body armour for the fearless civilians and soldiers in his country. Every donation helps him provide more flak jackets and helmets for those who need them most!If you can please help us support a nation in need, and in return receive some amazing limited edition prints."• Ukraine Print Sale on FRIEND's Shopify page <a href="https://friend-london.myshopify.com/" target="_blank">here</a>

FRIEND launches Ukraine Print Sale 

Noel Paul directs an alluring ghostly&nbsp;fantasy for Let's Eat Grandma.&nbsp;Following up his previous collaboration with the indie-pop duo on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2022/01/06/lets-eat-grandma-happy-new-year-noel-paul/74465">Happy New Year</a>, the video for Levitation depicts Jenny Hollingsworth from the band on a train&nbsp;ride, peering out of the window on a journey and seeing her reflection - played by&nbsp;bandmate Rosa Walton, mirroring her every move.As&nbsp;the train speeds on, Rosa develops an increasingly separate identity, and the dreamlike quality of the video begins to transcend&nbsp;the material world. Paul develops the train carriage vignette into an exhilarating scene of the pair flying through the skies together, hand in hand.Noel Paul has done a marvellous job with this strongly conceptual performance piece that&nbsp;dares to cast Jenny and Rosa as heroines in the tradition&nbsp;of classic English literature and film - an aesthetic also championed&nbsp;by artists such as&nbsp;Kate Bush and directors like Sophie Muller. It also carries forward the surrealism of the previous visual for Happy New Year - and encapsulates the haunting quality of the song.[imgtoken data:1][imgtoken data:2]

Noel Paul

Aisha Kemp

David Bird

Dan Henderson

Charlotte Hayde

Matt Nolan

Stephen Allwright

Charlotte Brason

Sholto Price

Teme Samuel

Lauren Webster

Indie

Let's Eat Grandma 'Levitation' by Noel Paul

Let's Eat Grandma - Levitation (Official Video)

Anuk Rohde directs a&nbsp;death-defying promo for iconic rockers Def Leppard.&nbsp;The video for Kick centres on&nbsp;a Wall Of Death carnival show, intercut between bikers' stunt driving and the group performing in the centre&nbsp;of the cylindrical structure.&nbsp;A cast of eccentric characters make up the supporting crowd - who watch on and celebrate the high octane event - and&nbsp;a series of portrait vignettes&nbsp;outside of the venue showcases the distinctive styling and makeup.&nbsp;The cinematography jumps between a grimy, shabby&nbsp;aesthetic and slow shutter black and white setups, which adds a textural, raw vibe to the&nbsp;concept.[imgtoken data:1][imgtoken data:2][imgtoken data:3]

Syd Harmony

Ellie Walker

Anuk Rohde

Dominik Braz Bittrich

Jens Nielsen

Nicole Hartley

James Duffy

Pat Aldinger

Jamie Tarr

Elle Lotherington

Matt Alsopp

Jason Dully

Max Carrington

Ellie Bond

Leana Ardeleanu

Jan Gleisberg

Marina Starke

Found

Def Leppard 'Kick' by Anuk Rohde

Def Leppard - Kick (Official Music Video)

Arlo Parks's first new song since the release of her hugely successful debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams comes with a luminous visual by directing duo Zhang + Knight - their first&nbsp;music video since <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2021/01/14/london-grammar-lose-your-head-zhang-knight/68950" target="_blank">London Grammar's Lose Your Head</a> a year ago.For Softly -&nbsp;a song about "how fragile you feel in the dying days of a relationship when you’re still desperately in love" according to Parks -&nbsp;the directing team create a version of&nbsp;the real world which slowly unravels, layer by layer.What initially looks like an idealised, picture perfect&nbsp;location is gradually decontructed. The early sense of the singer being in a mid-century studio movie or musical is gradually undercut, as the staging is revealed and comes apart at the seams, leaving the constituent elements floating in surreal space.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]The marvel is that like their previous successful works for Eden and aforementioned London Grammar, everything is created in-camera - in this case at a film studio in Kiev."For us 'Softly' explored the idea of wanting something that was once perfect to end in a gentle way, and we wanted to express this using the world surrounding Arlo," explain Zhang and Knight. "We were instinctively drawn to the warm toned, hazy nostalgia of the 1960's, as we loved the idea of something universally romantic being slowly stripped away throughout the film."We based the colours of the bricks, trims and doors on mid-century painting in order to bake this romanticism into everything. The production itself was a huge challenge, as everything was captured in-camera with each piece of the set built on wheels operated by several production crew. However, we knew it was all worth it when we saw the skyscrapers dancing around Arlo for the first time."

Zhang + Knight

Radioaktive Film

Valentyn Petyshkin

Kate Galytska

Val Semko

Giuseppe Favale

Peter Chetverikov

Leo Sidorenko

Oian Arteta

Max Halushka

Simon Donnellon

Slava Barabolia

Jack Williams

Jonny Thorpe

Glassworks

Denis Reva

Arlo Parks 'Softly' by Zhang + Knight

Arlo Parks - Softly (Official Video)

Noel Paul directs an ethereal promo for British pop duo Let's Eat Grandma, for their very timely new release, Happy New Year.&nbsp;Taking place in an indoor tennis court, we see the duo - made up of&nbsp;Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth - face off in a tennis match, intermittently exchanging lines of the track between serves.&nbsp;There is a surreality to the concept, as balls hover mid-air, waiting to be hit, and the pair's bodies seem to ragdoll with every strike.&nbsp;There is also a certain level of apathy to the girls' performances - until they&nbsp;reconnect, start smashing their rackets and appear on an outdoor court, under a parade of fireworks.&nbsp;The abstract concept perfectly suits the spacey&nbsp;soundscapes of the track, aesthetically reminiscent of a parallel universe where things don't&nbsp;make sense, but are absolutely mesmerising to watch and experience.&nbsp;

Arabella Kemp

Brendan Harvey

Kris Craven

Daniel Villanueva

Michael Mroczek

Will Murray Brown

Kristof Szentgyorgyvary

Sam Hussein

Maria Hopper

Laura Phipps

Let's Eat Grandma 'Happy New Year' by Noel Paul

Let's Eat Grandma - Happy New Year (Official Video)

Deadpool&nbsp;actor&nbsp;Ed Skrein takes on directing duties in this&nbsp;high-concept sci-fi vision for CASisDEAD, featuring La Roux -&nbsp;who also features in the Blade Runner-esque narrative.&nbsp;Exploring experimentation and futuristic worlds, the video is masterfully conceptualised, with mesmerising art direction and top-notch prosthetic work, care of&nbsp;Stuart Richards and&nbsp;Vee Holt.[imgtoken data:1]Seamless VFX stitch&nbsp;the ambitious visuals together, balancing the haunting artificiality of the world on-screen, with the recognisable mementos of the world we currently inhabit.&nbsp;The glossy aesthetic also feels gritty and alien at times, as if a parallel world is being captured with anachronistic technology, which elevates the unsettling concept and themes.&nbsp;

Ed Skrein

Joseph J Goldman

Hugo Holford

Chris Malin

Chris Dowling

Stuart Richards

Claire Yurika Davis

Vee Holt

Charlie Reddie

Homespun

Electric Theatre Collective

Dom Binegger  Digital Ridge

Millie Rose

Hip Hop

Dance

Electronica

CASisDEAD ft La Roux 'Park Assist' by Ed Skrein

Casisdead-Ft.-La-Roux-'Park-Assit'-by-Ed-Skrein

Siah is under heavy&nbsp;surveillance in Lucrecia Taormina's video for Ain't Stoppin.&nbsp;Set in a&nbsp;café, - with an enigmatic&nbsp;voiceover which tops and tails the concept - the video presents&nbsp;an abstract, Tarantino-esque vignette following a wanted man.&nbsp;Siah sets up shop at the café, and as he orders a&nbsp;smorgasbord of coffee and snacks, a group of twenty men slowly filter in to keep a close eye on his every movement.&nbsp;Switching from the overtly surreal aesthetic seen in recent videos for Ashnikko and Bree Runway, this video still has a heavy dose of Taormina's weird fantasy vibes, and works brilliantly as a standalone visual for the track.&nbsp;And of course, if you haven't heard our talk with Lucrecia Taormina yet as part of The Promonews Podcast, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/537iE9VbGYrFMlMwZJIAM1?si=WXM7BDjsQAKwvPW6EPQHcg&amp;dl_branch=1">be sure to click through and take a listen!&nbsp;</a>

Pilar Cartro Benavides

Bradley Boorman

Rik Burnell

Gabriel Jones

Joshua Dadson

John Letsinger

Benjamin Leggett

Frida Phillips

Sophie Ebbs

Dave Bullivant

Siah 'Ain't Stoppin' by Lucrecia Taormina

Ain't-Stoppin-'Siah'-by-Lucrecia-Taormina

Chirolles Khalil, the director of critically acclaimed videos for Preditah ft WSTRN and Tokio Myers ft Akala, and the recently released video for Rudimental featuring Morgan and Tike, has joined the music video director's roster at FRIEND.Khalil joins the London-based production company with a growing reputation for his strong narrative style, and sense of energy. Originally from Egypt, raised in Milan and now based in London, he jumped into directing after studying at Central Saint Martins."I’ve been talking to Chiro for over a year now, and am excited to finally say he’s a part of the FRIEND family," says Luke Tierney, head of music at FRIEND.&nbsp;"We were instantly impressed after seeing his Tokio Myers video and once I got to see him on set for Preditah, I knew he was a good fit for us and us for him."• Watch Chirolles Khalil's showreel at FRIEND <a href="http://friendlondon.tv/directors/chirolles-khalil#cat-musicvideos" target="_blank">here</a>&nbsp;

Chirolles Khalil

Chirolles Khalil signs to FRIEND

Chirolles Khalil directs a dreamlike promo for Rudimental's Be The One, featuring Morgan and Tike.&nbsp;Set within an industrial complex - dressed with vibrant yet understated art direction - the video is constructed from a series of snapshot vignettes, placing the artists in a perpetually evolving environment as the camera glides around them.&nbsp;DoP&nbsp;Fola Abatan matches the laidback pace with smooth Steadicam shots - care of operator&nbsp;Sebastien Joly - and extended takes, though there are a handful of frenetic strobe moments and glitchy edits to keep things fresh.&nbsp;

Meghan Willcox

Rage Films

Fola Abatan

Mihail Panov

Grace Beckerburn

Alize Demange

Joe Nkadi

Laurretta Power

Andi Chu

Lucy Rogers

Ellie Koslowksy

Sebastien Joly

Electronic

Rudimental ft Morgan, Tike 'Be The One' by Chirolles Khalil

Rudimental-Ft-Morgan,-Tike-'Be-The-One'-by-Chirolles-Khalil

Lucrecia Taormina laments consumerism and shopping fever, in the darkly comedic promo for Steven Wilson's Personal Shopper.&nbsp;In a sleek shopping mall, we are introduced to a man who has just received a huge wad of fifty pound notes. Ready to shop until he drops - quite literally - he visits different shops and counters, swapping parts of his body for bling and new things.&nbsp;As the shopper&nbsp;exchanges&nbsp;increasingly important parts of himself, from fingers to eyes to lips, the concept only gets more absurd and out of control, with Taormina's flair for the unusual remaining utterly engaging throughout. There's a terrific performance by Robert Lane as the deluded consumer, while DoP&nbsp;Pieter Snyman creates a hyperreal aesthetic through soft beauty lighting and clinical colour palettes of white and shiny metal.&nbsp;If Apple did body horror adverts, this is what they would look like. Fascinating work.&nbsp;

Ty Hack

Pieter Snyman

Phil Heron

Rob Hawkins

Peter Bishop

Oliver Hogan

Flora Huddart

Natasha Lawes

Andrea Gomez Anzola

Meg Thorne

Richard Fearon

Black Kite Studios

Crystal Spotlight

Robert Lane

Natalia Maus

Ash Teague

Doug Walshe

Progressive Art Rock

Steven Wilson 'Personal Shopper' by Lucrecia Taormina

Steven-Wilson-'Personal-Shopper'-by-Lucrecia-Taormina

Lucrecia Taormina brings her trademark off-the-wall style to one of the most exciting collabs of the year, with Bree Runway ft Missy Elliott's ATM.&nbsp;Opening on-stage in an opulent club cum&nbsp;casino, Bree dives right into some firey choreography, before we are introduced to a man with an ATM for a head... So far, so Taormina.&nbsp;The concept is completely absurd, paying homage to the oddball concepts of the late 90's and early 2000's, making the iconic Missy Elliott's inclusion that much more appropriate.&nbsp;Top-notch across the board, this is one of the most exciting visuals to come out of the last year in lockdown, and a taste of something more exuberant, risky and bold.&nbsp;And if there's one frame that stays with you, it has to be Bree's gigantic mouth firing out tonnes of dollar notes...

FRIEND

Production Company

Featured Work