Art Director

Ruta Staseviciute

Adam Barker directs a stirring promo for rock band Sabaton's impressive cover of the iconic&nbsp;Motörhead track 1916.&nbsp;The video interweaves a powerful march through the streets with gut-wrenching battlefield reenactments, travelling from 1916 through 1939 and to the present day. Barker and team achieve really impressive performances from his cast and terrific production value&nbsp;in the battle scenes.“I heard the track and it’s heartbreaking story of human sacrifice to the beat of marching drum... I immediately thought of staging a tribute march but I wanted to show their world - the towns they left behind and the human sacrifice of the battlefield," says Adam Barker.&nbsp;"It was crucial for me to enlist a diverse cast as this was global effort, where humanity united to fight against repression for peace. We owe everything to these heroes from our past. Doing them justice was central in my mind throughout the entire process."It's a special piece of work that pays tribute to the past with a foot firmly set in the present, and one that has the blessing of the original band.&nbsp;"Motörhead’s Mikey Dee, Phil Campbell along with the Lemmy Kilmister estate supported the release," reveals Barker. "Mikey and Phil are seen in the march along with longtime Motörhead manager Eddie Rocha."[imgtoken data:1][imgtoken data:2]&nbsp;&nbsp;

United Kingdom

Stevi Jelbart

Adam Barker

Video Ink Ltd

Sabaton

Benjamin Goff

Oliver Price

Jamie Ward

Matthew Boone

John-paul Conway

Harvey Mountford

Michelle Yates

Rick Mcculaugh

Ghost VFX

Xander Phillips

Nuclear Blast

Rock

Sabaton '1916' by Adam Barker

Sabaton-'1916'-by-Adam-Barker

BWTV - that's Liam Achaibou and Ryan Vernava - direct a hopeful promo for Liam Gallagher, addressing issues surrounding mental health in males, for the single Too Good For Giving Up.Representing the debilitating nature of depression and the importance of talking out, the video stars&nbsp;David Jonsson, best known for his role in the hit BBC drama&nbsp;Industry. The video opens on him&nbsp;dragging an oversized effigy of himself down the street, struggling under the weight of the huge structure.[imgtoken data:1]As he continues his sullen journey, many ignore him. But then a few onlookers begin to lift up various parts of the structure, allowing Jonsson's character to escape from the weight of the doppelganger.One of those who helps is wearing a Talk Club T-shirt - the men's&nbsp;mental health charity that Gallagher has teamed upwith for this project.&nbsp;And with that weight lifted off his shoulders,&nbsp;Jonsson’s character stands upright, as if for the&nbsp;first time. He wanders into a nearby pub, where&nbsp;he is welcomed into a Talk Club meeting.The video’s eloquent and poignant message&nbsp;was inspired by&nbsp;Vernava and Achaibou losing&nbsp;a friend and collaborator several years ago, which changed the way that they&nbsp;view mental health issues.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:2]&nbsp;As for Liam Gallagher he has said about the project:&nbsp;"We all know someone affected by suicide which sadly seems to be at an all-time high," Gallagher has said, about the project. "I've lost many people far too early and it’s important to talk. I'm really pleased to be able to help in anyway with this song and will be partnering with Talk Club on this track."&nbsp;All UK revenue that is generated from the track will be donated to <a href="https://talkclub.org/" target="_blank">Talk Club</a> for six months, an initiative that started on October 1st. Gallagher will further support the campaign by taking over Talk Club’s Twitter account to discuss mental health issues from 11am-12pm this Thursday, October 13th.Talk Club co-founders Ben Akers and Gavin Thorpe add:&nbsp;“Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50. And Liam is a hero to many of that generation. So to be collaborating with him on something that raises the awareness of Talk Club, and gets men talking and improving their mental fitness, will save lives.”&nbsp;

Kharmel Cochrane

Liam Achaibou

BWTV

Ryan Vernava

Jack Hartley

Daniel Nickson

Rosie Ford

Carrie Sutton

Zomdic Films

Kirstin Cruickshank

Chris Sarginson

Adrian Peckitt

Ewan Stewart

Mihai Catalin

Danny Usman

Martin Welsby

Lucy Gregory

Beth Gowland

Lucy Matthews

Dan Davies

Andi Chu

David Jonsson

Warner

Liam Gallagher 'Too Good For Giving Up' by BWTV

Liam-Gallagher-'Too-Good-For-Giving-Up'-by-Bwtv,liam-Achaibou-&-Ryan-Vernava

James Slater completes his excellent series of videos for Leeds band Yard Act's first album The Overload with a superb valedictory&nbsp;effort for the album's final&nbsp;track&nbsp;100% Endurance - starring iconic actor David Thewlis.Thewlis wakes up on a street bench, finding himself on a suburban housing estate, surrounded by its residents. They are familiar faces to anyone who has watched the previous Yard Act videos,&nbsp;as most have appeared in one or more, playing the characters that populate the 'Yard Act universe' - created by the band's frontman,&nbsp;James Smith.&nbsp;Smith has played some characters himself in the preceding videos - a dodgy magician (in <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2021/11/25/yard-act-land-blind-james-slater/73960" target="_blank">Land Of The Blind</a>), a slippery estate agent (in <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2021/12/15/yard-act-payday-james-slater/74305" target="_blank">Payday</a>), and obnoxious club owner Graham (in <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2021/09/14/yard-act-overload-james-slater/72771" target="_blank">The Overload</a>). But in 100% Endurance, Thewlis plays Smith, more or less. Appropriately he takes over lipsync duties for the album's least abrasive, most philosophical song, as a world-weary but wise figure wondering among his fellow housing estate inhabitants.[imgtoken data:1]James Slater then delivers an additional delicious curveball. Suddenly, a giant hand drops down into the scene&nbsp;- David&nbsp;Thewlis's. It picks up what turns out to be a tiny figurine of himself (or is it Smith?), from a miniature model version of the housing estate. It's a sudden, comic twist that resonates with the overriding theme&nbsp;of the song: 'what's&nbsp;it all about, anyway?...'<blockquote>[Thewlis] really bought into it all and delivered a brilliant performance, tying the whole thing together.</blockquote>"Prior to shooting 100% Endurance, I'd already been lucky enough to shoot four&nbsp;videos from&nbsp;The Overload," confirms Slater.&nbsp;"It's given us the opportunity to create our own Yard Act cinematic universe, with characters and themes recurring across all the films. With this video we wanted to wrap everything up.&nbsp;"I thought we should have a go at answering (that question)&nbsp;by revealing that&nbsp;the universe (well, the Yard Act universe at least) is in fact a miniature model set, kept atop Thewlis'&nbsp;spare room.[imgtoken data:2]&nbsp;"James and David had been chatting for a while, as it turned out he was a big fan of the band. He let us know he'd be up for doing a video and thankfully liked the idea. We shot it in his native Blackpool. He really bought into it all and delivered a brilliant performance, tying the whole thing together. I think he'll go far!"<blockquote>It's testament to James Slater and his vision for bringing our songs to life every time.</blockquote>James Smith adds that&nbsp;his experience of making this video was a combination of enjoyment and disbelief. “It was great shooting this video," he says. "I barely had to do anything, and I didn’t have fake facial hair glued to [my] head for once."I still can’t believe David got involved. I was such a fan of his work from Naked through to Fargo, and when I told James Slater he was interested in working with us, he was so buzzing. A brilliant actor, and an absolute joy to watch work. Equally so, he is a thoroughly decent, down-to-earth person who is funny as fuck, and that goes a fair way I reckon."[imgtoken data:3]Smith&nbsp;also pays tribute to Slater's work across five videos for The Overload. “This video also stands as testament, once more, to James Slater and his vision for bringing our songs to life every time," he says. "I always knew we would revisit the world one last time to bring the whole concept of the album full circle, and I knew the final video would be for 100% Endurance. But once the album came out and touring kicked in, I never knew when we would find the time. Finally we did, and getting all the cast of characters back together felt lovely too."We’ve met so many ace people making these videos and the more you meet them, the easier it is. Bless everyone who was on board throughout. If no one figures it out in the next five years, I’ll do a thorough breakdown of all the videos with every reference, easter egg and narrative hint we&nbsp;stuck in there.”

Lola Cookman

Jade Denne

Joanne Johnson

James Slater

Sam Flynn

Chris Sargent

Aaron Dunleavy

Ben Eve

Mihai Virlan

Sam James

Brody Salmon

Bethani Gowland

Emma Tierney

Leanne Bartlett

Louise Hood

Matthew Prickett

Work Editorial

Black Kite Studios

David Thewlis

Island Records

Alexa Haywood at Free Agent UK

Post-Punk

Alternative

Yard Act '100% Endurance' by James Slater

Yard-Act-'100%-Endurance'-by-James-Slater

The Amazons return to action with the anthemic Bloodrush, and a&nbsp;fun, carnival sideshow-themed video by James Slater that gets the blood, and adrenalin&nbsp;pumping.&nbsp;The band wander into this atmospheric setting, absorbed by the performers, including trapeze artists, a BMX rider, fire-juggler -&nbsp;and a knife-throwing act. It's the latter that provides the real thrills as the Zons' lead singer Matt Thomson finds himself in the firing line of the blindfolded knife thrower.[imgtoken data:1]&nbsp;&nbsp;Slater and his production team found authentic talent&nbsp;for their carnival characters - including knife thrower Simon Ratzka, and his assistant&nbsp;Tor Callis - for the video shot at an abandoned amusement park in Lancashire.All appropriate precautions were taken, of course, when it came to&nbsp;the knives being thrown.&nbsp;No lead singers were harmed in the making of this video...

George Haydock

Josh Lenaghan

Laurie Nutall

Lee Symington

David Knight

Fiction Records

The Amazons 'Bloodrush' by James Slater

The Amazons - Bloodrush

Blake Claridge directs a stirring promo for the long-awaited return of&nbsp;The Subways.&nbsp;The video takes place in a 70's-inspired bedroom - complete with wood panelling, graphic carpets and earthy colour palettes - with the group rocking out as the camera rotates and descends frenetically, perpetually transitioning from the top to the bottom of the room in a crane-style movement.&nbsp;"I guess I can refer to The Subways as long time collaborators now," says Blake Claridge.&nbsp;"It's been about fifteen years since our first video. Perhaps I am getting old now - I’m not!!""That was also the drive of the concept of the video. The track is certainly punk and youthful and I wanted to bring that to the piece without it feeling forced or out of touch, so kept things simple and allowed them to do what they do best."

Laura Parkes

Blake Claridge

Emily Vincent

Blindeye Films

Charlie Relph

Catherine Derry

Luke Makepeace

Kate O’shea

Louis Catlett

Jessica Vile

The Subways 'You Kill My Cool' by Blake Claridge

The Subways - You Kill My Cool (Official Video)

James Slater applies rules of the Old Masters&nbsp;to his video for Liverpool band Blondes, contemplating their post-party blues in Low On The Comedown.Slater's classically-inspired portraits of the band become increasingy complicated&nbsp;and&nbsp;crowded, as the party itself starts to encroach into proceedings."The video is inspired by the compositions in classical paintings," says Slater.&nbsp;"I asked the band to invite their mates along to this empty house in Liverpool and got them to form a big pile. It’s the morning after the night before composed like a Caravaggio painting."

Tom McGoldrick

Indie

Indie-pop

Blondes 'Low On The Comedown' by James Slater

Blondes-'Low-On-The-Comedown'-by-James-Slater

Jack Lightfoot directs a touching exploration of brotherhood, in his promo for Sam Tompkins' latest single.&nbsp;Starring real-life siblings Sonnyboy and Buddy Skelton, the video for My Brother interweaves several narrative vignettes, set in an anachronistic, early Noughties time period.&nbsp;In the concept, the younger of the two brothers - Buddy - is struggling to connect with Sonnyboy, and feels left out when trying to spend time with him. This all changes when their father dies, and the two form an unbreakable bond and friendship.&nbsp;"It was great to team up with Sam again, this time in the director's chair," says Lightfoot.&nbsp;"Sam came up with the narrative, and having a younger brother myself it really struck a chord with me - we've certainly been through many similar situations together - sorry Tom!&nbsp;"I was delighted that we managed to land Sonnyboy and Buddy for the lead roles - they're such a talented family and look great on camera, they really took this video to the next level. Big thanks as always to the production, artist, and label dream teams involved."&nbsp;

Jack Lightfoot

James Dearden

Vincent Edwards

Mike O'Connor

Josh Tue

Patricia Cygan

Fabianne Calitri

Alex Fountain

Dan Moran

Sonnyboy Skelton

Buddy Skelton

Sam Tompkins 'My Brother' by Jack Lightfoot

Sam-Tompkins-'My-Brother'-by-Jack-Lightfoot

James Slater brings the cast of characters bursting from the fertile mind of Yard Act lead singer James Smith to life in the video for The Overload - set in a car boot sale near Leeds.Smith has developed numerous of these oddball characters and voices in the band's releases thus far. Now with the title track of Yard Act's forthcoming debut album, he performs an energetic and&nbsp;splenetic stream of consciousness while persuing the goods of a quirky bunch of stall holders - including&nbsp;pink judges, morris dancing punks, fortune tellers, and dancing orphans.[imgtoken data:1]Then he transforms into his most powerful creation - a surly, gold Rover-driving promoter called Graham. It transpires he's not fan of Yard Act's mouthy lead singer, and his catchphrase is -&nbsp;"If you don't challenge me on anything, I'm actually very f*ckin nice."But ironically it is Graham who comes to James's aid, when the car boot community turn nasty, in Slater's rollicking, full throttle video.

Paul Mortlock

Si Howells

Amii Priestly

Ash Fenners

Aaron Dunleavy Films

Yard Act 'The Overload' by James Slater

Yard-Act--'The-Overload'-by-James-Slater

James Slater directs a breezy, spooky, tongue-in-cheek promo for Wigan band The Lathums.&nbsp;Centring around a performance in a&nbsp;living room somewhere in Northern England (probably Wigan), the video for I See Your Ghost takes a ghoulish turn early on, where various props and disembodied heads take flight and float around the space. And memorably,&nbsp;lead singer Alex Moore's head&nbsp;becomes the centrepiece of a salad. Ooh er.The spooky inspiration doesn't stop there, with the lads&nbsp;dressing up as ghosts and tearing around the town on skateboards. With Halloween just around the corner - and not being able to do the usual stuff this year -&nbsp;it's a timely release, and refreshingly British take on ghosts and ghouls.&nbsp;

Lou Gallagher

My Accomplice

Imogen Harrison

Joe Vickers

Joshua Hunt

Robbie Canale

Georgina Wadsworth

Juliette Wileman

Absolute

Alexa Haywood @ Free Agent Uk

Emily Jeffery

Universal

The Lathums 'I See Your Ghost' by James Slater 

The-Lathums--'I-See-Your-Ghost-'-by-James-Slater-

James Slater is celebrating after his video for <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2014/08/21/jamie-t-zombie-james-slater" target="_blank">Jamie T&#39;s Zombie</a> won Best Video at the 2015 NME Awards. And his excellent run of form continues with this charming exercise in&nbsp;lo-fi&nbsp;surrealism for the highly promising Stealing Sheep.&nbsp;Suitably enough its for a song called Not Real, and special mention goes to Ruth Pease and Natasha Lawes, creators of the weirdly lifelike masks worn by the band, as well as hair and makeup.&nbsp;

Ruta Staseviciute

Art Director

Videos featuring Ruta Staseviciute

2023 (1)

2022 (6)

2021 (1)

2020 (1)

2015 (1)

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