Production Company

SMUGGLER

Directing duo&nbsp;rubberband. have ingeniously crafted the breathtaking promo for Lucky Daye's N.W.A. - the OUTSIDE version -&nbsp;blending physical and digital mediums to create something truly distinctive.&nbsp;This is the alternate version of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOuos3tU3AE" target="_blank">the official video directed by rubberband for the track</a> earlier this year, where the duo have created a real magazine with stills from the original video.&nbsp;Comprised of just under one hundred individually designed pages, the creative team programmed a robot to flip through individual pages,&nbsp;taking the viewer on a journey through a living, breathing work of art. &nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]Each magazine spread is&nbsp;meticulously crafted, boasting eclectic aesthetics and styling, with an overarching feeling of nostalgia, harking back to the magazine culture of the duo's youth.The seamless combination of physical and digital elements - tied together with brilliant VFX work - results in a visual that is not only extremely captivating, but also truly innovative.&nbsp;By combining different creative mediums such as fashion, editorial, music, and film, rubberband.&nbsp;have proven once again that their creativity and out-of-the-box thinking is an intrinsic part of their filmmaking DNA.

United States

rubberband.

Elizabeth Doonan

Patrick Milling-Smith

Brian Carmody

Luigi Rossi

Lottie Abrahams

Matt Benton

Kristen Knisley

Patrick Golan

Seb Johnson

Bobby Wotherspoon

Miranda Lorenz

Hensel Martinez

Natalia Brito

Alexander-Julian Gibson

Melanesia Hunter

Dylan Edwards

Cabin Edit

Aubrey Woodiwiss

Dara Hamidi

Dennis Kang

James Siewert

Danna Takkako

Lucky Daye ft Lil Durk 'N.W.A' by rubberband. 

Lucky Daye - NWA feat Lil Durk (OUTSIDE Version)

Aoife McArdle returns to music videos, teaming up with Belfast's&nbsp;dynamic electronic producer/DJ duo Bicep to create a breathtaking music video that echoes the stylish TV series she helped create.Powered by signature Bicep production style of layered elements and beats in the track Water - with vocals by Clara La San -&nbsp;McArdle takes us on a trip where the essential drama of the scenario drifts into surrealism and eventually, existential absurdity.&nbsp;A female patient&nbsp;(played by Angela&nbsp;Nwagbo) is being transported by two hospital staff members&nbsp;on a hospital gurney down a pure white hospital corridor - which goes on&nbsp;and on. This, it becomes evident, is a journey with no end in sight - perhaps no end at all. What is the point of this journey, and apparent&nbsp;emergency? Is the patient, sometimes under a oxygen face mask, and then not, actually ill at all?Rooms adjacent to the corridor reveal odd arrangements&nbsp;that exacerbate the sense of dreamlike unreality. As the patient gains&nbsp;agency and the physical scope of the film starts to expand, each new location takes the form of a different stream of her consciousness.McArdle creates this psycho-drama through the beautifully crafted&nbsp;development of a visual aesthetic, which will be familiar to those who have seen&nbsp;Severance,&nbsp;the acclaimed&nbsp;Apple TV+&nbsp;drama that she has worked on as both director and producer&nbsp;- and which she discussed on The Promonews Podcast, earlier this year.As in the TV series, the pristine production design contributes&nbsp;to the sense of unease and dislocation. But here if anything McArdle&nbsp;gets the chance to break down the separation between recognisable reality and a surreal fiction even more - and play in the realm of the psyche.&nbsp;&nbsp;

United Kingdom

Ondrej Lipensky

Michelle Corney

Dasa Stefflova

Aoife McArdle

Luca Chapman

Vasek Sejna

Maximilian Pittner

Jakub Dvorak

Dan Vagenknecht

Michal Ralis

Zbynek Kunc

Dan Sherwen

Final Cut

George K

Amy Richardson

Black Kite Studios

Alexandra Vondrackova

Johnny Freeman

Angela Nwagbo

Unit+Sofa

Dance

Electronica

Bicep ft Clara La San 'Water' by Aoife McArdle

Bicep--'Water-Ft.-Clara-La-San-'-by-Aoife-Mcardle

Britt Lower - the rebellious, enigmatic Helly in Apple's TV drama&nbsp;Severance -&nbsp;takes on another challenging role in Allie Avital's video for The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.Lower plays a wife who is constrained by&nbsp;her sterile homelife and&nbsp;monotonous relationship with an uncommunicative husband. But then she sees a blue bird in a tree outside the perfect home - lipsyncing to the song Wolf. And that sparks the ravenous beast inside her.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]She walks out of&nbsp;the house and into the wilderness on her doorstep. She loses her demure facade, and she embraces nature.&nbsp;Lower goes feral in the forest, absorbing all its elements in a visceral way. In doing so, she&nbsp;becomes dishevelled, bloodied - but undeterred.Eventually she stumbles&nbsp;into a local bar - where in a Lynchian backroom, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs beckons her inside, and to the end-point of her journey.&nbsp;Her return to her house follows, and&nbsp;an encounter with her husband which wordlessly resets the parameters of their&nbsp;relationship.[imgtoken data:2]"Wolf&nbsp;has so much narrative built into the lyrics, and it was such a dream to delve into these themes of hunger, connection, and wildness," says Avital. "Britt Lower and I used a movement-based technique to play with the nuances of this character as she seeks various forms of connection and moves from feeling trapped to wild to rediscovering a new form of intimacy with her husband."As a director, it’s rare to find such open minded artists like Karen, Nick, and Brian and I’m so grateful they put so much trust in our creative process."[imgtoken data:3]&nbsp;

Allie Avital

Manny Caston

Gummy Films

Rachel Walden

Meg Murnane

Sarah Wilson

Robby Morris

Sienna Brown

Sonja Tsypin

Steven Grise

Rafe Scobey-Thal

Kaitlyn Battistelli

Nat Tereshchenko

Ethos Studio

B.art.vfx

Gisela Fulla-Silvestre

Melanie St Clair

Ghitta Larsen

Ryan Forte

David McCabe

Natasha Newman-Thomas

Mike Potter

Seiji

Izzi Galindo

Ashly Tsao

Rock

Alternative

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs 'Wolf' by Allie Avital

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Wolf (Official Video)

In a 20th anniversary celebration of Christina Aguilera's classic ballad Beautiful, Fiona Jane Burgess delves into what is plaguing the youth of today in a series of striking tableaux that focus on the threat of social media and 'influencer' culture on the wellbeing of the impressionable young.The video starts with a series of children blankly staring at their phones, their eyes lit up by their phone screens. Burgess brings each character’s insecurity to life as the camera pans from different perspectives. Young girls stare at themselves in the mirror, covered in cosmetic surgery incision lines, not convinced by the song’s powerful lyrics.&nbsp;But ultimately, as with Aguilera's classic song, this is ultimagely a message of hope.&nbsp;The video ends with a powerful shot of kids playing hopscotch and climbing trees. It is a reminder that should be instilled in every child; it’s okay to just be a kid.[imgtoken data:1] FIONA JANE BURGESS:“This film is a love letter to young people in 2022. It’s an acknowledgement of the fact that social media has totally transformed our relationship with our bodies, and in turn, our mental health."Young people are constantly fed images of unrealistic beauty standards, and with more images and influencers than ever circulating online, it’s virtually impossible to control what information young people consume. This in turn has created an online world which can be as positive as it is volatile. This film explores the tension between progression versus regression in terms of beauty standards and how our cultural relationship to it has evolved in the last twenty years, specifically in relation to the impact it’s having on children and young people.[imgtoken data:2]<blockquote>My hope is that this film opens up a conversation around... images and messages children are consuming.</blockquote>"Research suggests that time spent on social networking sites is associated with body image issues and disordered eating in teens. According to emergency room trends, there’s been a 50% increase in reported self-injury among teenagers since 2009."According to a paper published in the British Journal of Health Psychology, more than half of girls and one-third of boys ages 6 to 8 are unhappy with their body weight. And more than 80 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of being “fat.” This is heartbreaking. This needs to change. And this film aims to be part of that change.[imgtoken data:3]"This film is an act of resilience. A celebration of courage and self love. A love letter, a signal for change in the way we perceive beauty. My hope is that this film opens up a conversation around the potential harm associated with what images and messages children are consuming, if it’s not spoken about and discussed."I think a lot of children and young people feel suffocated by the online world but don’t know if they’re alone in feeling this way, so for me this film is about acknowledging that they aren’t alone, that it’s normal to have insecurities and to try to have a balanced view of social media and not let it dictate the way we think of ourselves.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Fiona Jane Burgess

Blair Smith

Chanel Parkinson

Robert Diment

Andreas Bjørseth

Josh Brooks

Ola Austad

Seth Crosby

Max Bellhouse

Natalie Wilkins

Josh Knight

Grace Ellington

Jo Lewandowska

Okay Studio

Julien Alary

Untold Studios

Hannah Ashby Ward

Lane Casting

Kodak

Digital Orchard

Christina Aguilera 'Beautiful (2022 Version)' by Fiona Jane Burgess

Christina Aguilera - Beautiful (2022 Version)

Precociously talented director Phillip Youmans made his music video debut for Michael Kiwanuka's Interlude (Loving The People) in 2020, after the release of his acclaimed debut feature Burning Cane. His second collaboration&nbsp;with Kiwanuka, for Beautiful Life, has now finally seen the light of day, and it&nbsp;is very powerful work indeed.The setting is a house party, where four teenagers are playing the most dangerous game of all - Russian roulette - observed by their friends. In fact, Youmans'&nbsp;main purpose is not to focus on the extreme tension built-in to the scenario.&nbsp;This is also an exploration of what happens in a life-or-death situation, and the real phenomenon of having your life flash before you in moments of extreme danger - caused by the hormonal release of DMT.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]“This story is a cautionary tale about our nation’s easy access to, and fascination with, guns," Yeomans has explained.&nbsp;"We follow teenagers playing Russian roulette with a parent’s revolver. As each player holds the gun up to their temple, their lives flash before their eyes."When we die, our bodies release DMT; as the chemical fills our bloodstream, it’s said that a person experiences their life flashing before their eyes. So close to their possible death, I wanted to explore these characters through their memories. With each pull of the trigger, the chance of death rises and each player deals with varying levels of fear."Overconfidence and recklessness underline the core themes of this film: life is beautiful and precious, and conformity and exhibitionism can be deadly. Though they’re fearful, they pull the trigger anyway, bowing to the pressure of the moment.”[imgtoken data:2]Shot on 16mm, Youmans’ raw immersive approach creates both bold, dynamic and claustrophobic scenes, while the kinetic camera during each flashback brings a nostalgic and alive feel. Through striking storytelling carried by authentic performances from the nuanced and diverse cast, Phillip Youmans entwines his craft and the powerful single from Kiwanuka into a matter of life and death celebrating the real strength in the human spirit.&nbsp;And the final shot, after the inevitable outcome of the ultimate gamble, is possibly the most pointed of all, puncturing the moments of sentimentality before it. Don't try this at home, kids.&nbsp;

Phillip Youmans

OB Management

Stray Dogs

Jeff Leeds Cohn

Pancho Ortiz

April Rivera

Liz Toonkel

Ryan Silber

Michael Kiwanuka 'Beautiful Life' by Phillip Youmans

Michael Kiwanuka - Beautiful Life

Directing duo rubberband. follow up the brooding terror of their video for <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2022/06/27/steve-lacy-mercury-rubberband/77040" target="_blank">Mercury</a>&nbsp;with something more upbeat and suitably sun-drenched for their second Steve Lacy video - again with a surreal twist.Lacy performs in an empty industrial space alongside his band, as guest vocalist Fousheé is suspended against a bright blue sky. Once Lacy joins his companion against the bright backdrop, the film takes on a hazy dream-like mode&nbsp; - it is this move toward surrealism that ties in with Lacy’s established visual language.As with Mercury,&nbsp;rubberband.&nbsp;worked with award-winning cinematographer Evan Prosofsky, and shot the video on 35mm.&nbsp;“We wanted to do something dead simple and completely free," say the directors. "We said, put them on the tallest crane we can find, and don’t remove anything. Show everything. The artifice in full. That was literally our pitch. The whole pathos of the album for us visually was the idea that: Safety is an Illusion, both in life and in love. We feel like this was a dead simple, evocative way to show that.”

LFR Productions

Gianfranco Svagelj

Sergey Poplavsky

Boma Pennebaker

Evan Prosofsky

Raphaël Ajuelos

Camille Yorrick

Kwasi Fordjour

Spencer Scranton

Vladimir Tevloski

Christina Corso

Alexa Hernandez

Diana Shin

Cabin Editing Company

Steve Lacy ft Fousheé 'Sunshine' by rubberband.

Steve Lacy - Sunshine (Official Video) ft. Fousheé

Directing duo rubberband. have created a mesmerising film for the return of Steve Lacy, using minimalism to draw the viewer into their distinctive take on the horror genre.As the camera does a 360-degree pan within a fenced-off area in a factory setting, Lacey comes in and out of shot to perform the Latin-flavoured Mercury. This motion control-driven device to frame the performance is the core of the video, but then rubberband. begin to disrupt our expectations.Halfway through the piece, an animal briefly appears walking outside the fence. The tone has now unexpectedly shifted, and the viewer is suddenly aware&nbsp;of a likely interaction between this creature and&nbsp;Lacy.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]Tension begins to crank up - confirmed by a flash of fur in front of the camera shortly afterwards. From then on Lacy is as much off screen as on-screen, and when he appears, his clothes are increasingly shredded.Shot by award winning cinematographer Evan Profosky on 35mm film, the video takes far less than&nbsp;its brief two minute and 30 second runtime to create a sense of sinister foreboding and creeping horror. The concept works to apply the classic horror formula, that what you (mostly) cannot see is more terrifying. It also captures the increasingly hard-edged&nbsp;energy of Mercury, the first of highly anticipated new material from Lacy.

Max Colt

Soul

Steve Lacy 'Mercury' by rubberband.

Steve Lacy - Mercury (Official Video)

Fenn O’Meally directs a touching promo for&nbsp;Lil Silva and Sampha, combining modern and archive home video footage, filmed in&nbsp;London and Jamaica.&nbsp;The concept for new track Another Sketch&nbsp;creates a symbiotic relationship between the past and the present, connecting the two worlds and sketching a visual and cultural history, placing the act of congregation at the heart of it all.[imgtoken data:1]Utilising a mix of both newly-created and vintage footage, the film explores&nbsp;the characters and zeitgeist of each time period, through&nbsp;a celebratory, emotional lens.The video is book-ended with the text 'he waves back home', and it's&nbsp;a wonderful way to encapsulate the entire concept in one short phrase.&nbsp;"This project has a special place in my heart," says O'Meally. "Until you dig deep you're unaware of just how many layers you're immersed in.[imgtoken data:2]"From the genius of Silva's music to his community and their stories, the footage old and new and even the ripples of sound throughout - like the waves I recorded on a trip to Jamaica in February - there are so many moments of life past and present that contribute to this piece.&nbsp;"I always dream of making work that really and honestly makes you feel something deep within you. So this has been an incredibly fulfilling project, more than I could have ever anticipated. I'm so grateful to Bafic, Silva and Sampha for the opportunity."

Joshua Gochez

Calvin How

Juanjose Mouko Nsue

Fenn O’Meally

Elliott Beach

Benoit Soler

Georgie Dale

Niomi Collins

Charlie Cowper

Rupert Hornstein

Kairo Jones

Shanice Noel

Michele Baylis

Lainy Black

The Assembly Rooms

Thomas Mangham

Alt Soul

Lil Silva ft Sampha 'Another Sketch' by Fenn O’Meally

Lil-Silva-Ft-Sampha-'Another-Sketch'-by-Fenn-O’meally

Isaac Ravishankara finds a highly original way to combine a storyline with music performance - inventively merging the two parts together in every shot - in his lovely video for&nbsp;George Ezra's Green Green Grass.Ravinshankara nods to a few screen classics and gives it a nice modern twist, with a diner-robbing loved-up couple also being females of a certain age. Meanwhile, George smoothly observes everything, telling the story of the 'young lovers' with his trusty guitar, all the way from the diner to getaway vehicle to the field where the pair bury their ill-gotten loot.&nbsp;The device of an on-screen musical narrator device is not remotely new, but Ravishankara takes it too a new level here, with a sense of fun that is entirely suitable to the George Ezra persona and musical oeuvre.Theoretically there is competition in every shot between the narrative and the performance. In fact, they work seamlessly together, due to the clever construction of the shots and also some terrific performances - from&nbsp;Amy Stoch and Michele Matheson as the happy criminals, and Ezra too.&nbsp;&nbsp;And it looks absolutely marvellous. DoP Logan Triplett filmed this on 2-perf 35 mm 200T 5213 film stock, so it always will.[imgtoken data:1]<blockquote>To pull this off turned out to be much harder than we thought.</blockquote>"The concept that came to mind when I first heard Green Green Grass was a simple narrative - two not-so-young lovers rob a diner, joyride out of town, and bury the money with the rest of their retirement fund out in the middle of nowhere then dance with joy. Pulp Fiction meets Thelma and Louise meets Harold and Maude," says Isaac Ravishankara."However, we really wanted to anchor the video on a unique and dynamic performance from George. I really loathe simply intercutting a performance with a narrative. So we proposed an experiment - what if George is performing WITHIN every shot of the narrative? What would that feel like?&nbsp;"To pull this off turned out to be much harder than we thought. Working with the wonderful DoP Logan Triplett, and our brilliant choreographers Jillian Meyers and Dana Wilson, we had to pre-visualize the video in advance to determine which shots in the narrative would correspond to which lines of performance. Then on the day, the concept was really brought to life by our two 'young lovers' - Amy Stoch and Michele Matheson - and obviously George Ezra as well!"In the end, I think it's really fun to be able to watch the video with a different focus each time, and I'm really excited by how the whole "experiment" turned out."&nbsp;&nbsp;

Isaac Ravishankara

Logan Triplett

Jillian Meyers

Dana Wilson

Ellie Johnson

Cartel Editorial

Dante Pasquinelli

Michael Lewin

George Ezra 'Green Green Grass' by Isaac Ravishankara

George Ezra - Green Green Grass (Official Video)

Nadira Amrani directs a captivating promo for Bree Runway's Pressure, with a stylish concept that&nbsp;boasts big choreography moments, sensational styling and a glossy, high-fashion aesthetic - all tied together by Bree's commanding presence as a high-powered&nbsp;Girl Boss.&nbsp;The 16mm format adds a nostalgic, timeless feel to the visuals, whilst seamless whip-pan transitions and a tight edit keep the video moving at a breathtaking pace.[imgtoken data:1]“I’ve been a big fan of Bree for a while," says Amrani. "She’s one of the UK’s most exciting artists at the moment, so I knew this music video needed to be big, high fashion and iconic."The idea behind Pressure came from walking around east London and seeing corporate buildings empty during the pandemic. I loved the idea of taking over the corporate space. A big reference was Michael Jackson’s Bad -&nbsp;we wanted this to be a choreography heavy video.[imgtoken data:2]"Shooting on 16mm with Olan Collardy, we took a lot of references from fashion editorials and wanted to capture a high fashion vintage feel. Bree’s gravity-defying hair pull moment was also a reference to the smooth criminal lean but had sexy undertones."Working with the incredible stylist Anna Trevelyan we had custom-made latex from Atsuko Kudo which played with the whole idea of Bree being the boss.”

Nadira Amrani

Sidney Arthur

Tom Wynborne

Olan Collardy

Michael Hannides

Esther Edusi

Krunal Saardrani

Coco Mell

Billie Mckenzie

Gary Coogan

The Quarry

Matthieu Toullet

The Mill

James Hackett

Kash Powell

Ranya El-rafaey

Anna Trevelyan

Sheena Adae-Amoakoh

Tomi Ajayi

Bree Runway 'Pressure' by Nadira Amrani

Bree-Runway-'Pressure'-by-Nadira-Amrani

Ebeneza Blanche creates an impressionistic portrait of London life, around the charismatic presence of Joy Crookes, in the video for 19th Floor.With an emphasis on family and community, Blanche's video for 19th Floor echoes his previous&nbsp;video for Little Simz's Point And Kill, set in Nigeria. Here he presents Joy at home with her grandmother, and nods to her part-Irish heritage, and a series of performance vignettes is augmented by her performing a traditional Irish dance, in an abandoned building.[imgtoken data:1]Blanche also highlights an eclectic group of working class people and families&nbsp;in West London, and cleverly connects them as they watch a man falling from the iconic Trellick Tower - and come together to save him.&nbsp;With Joy Crookes at its heart, the video has a nostalgic and warmth, and an additional touch of mystery and magic, that is captured&nbsp;by DoP Jack Exton and&nbsp;goes hand-in-hand with the beautiful styling of&nbsp;Matthew Josephs and Justin Hamilton.&nbsp;“By placing Joy Crookes as the voice for the underprivileged, I wanted to create a visual that questions and provokes the viewers by spotlighting the different races and class systems in London," says Blanche.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:2]"I also wanted to pay homage to the community affected by the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, by showing a male falling off the roof and being caught by the bystanders to symbolise the unity and empowerment of the people."The experience working with Joy Crookes felt very organic. She's a hard worker and amazing to work with. I drew a lot of inspiration from the lyrics of the song and the conversations that took place with [her].

SMUGGLER

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