Moderator:
David Knight, MusicVidFest, Promo News, BUG
Panellists:
Natalie Arnett, independent commissioner
Now an independent commissioner, Natalie started off her music video career as a commissioner at Warner Music, working with the likes of Lianne La Havas. She then moved on to Mercury Records, where her roster included Jake Bugg. She has been commissioning for Jake since he signed with the label, and continues to work with him now. Natalie has commissioned videos for many high-profile artists, including Iggy Azalea, and more recently has been working with Marina and the Diamonds as Creative Director on her new album Froot. She also heads up Untitled, producing lots of lovely videos for her directors.
Joe Connor, director, The Maccabees / Band of Skulls / Paul Weller
Joe trained as a Theatre Director at the Central School of Speech and Drama, specialising in Mime and Clowning. Whilst at Central he co-founded a theatre company; Parrot in the Tank. He has taken shows to abandoned train stations in Slovakia, crumbling amphitheatres in Montenegro and esteemed institutes such as The ICA in London to name just a few credits. A job as the projectionist at the Screen on the Green led him to start making films. He’s since had the pleasure of working with some great musicians like as Paul Weller, Band of Skulls, The Maccabees and people such as designer Paul Smith and actors Tom Hiddleston, Daniel Radcliffe and Aidan Turner. Joe likes to make things, he’s a near professional lunger and his favourite time of day is 4.25pm.
Kim Jarrett, directors’ rep, OB Management
Kim looks after video careers and creative development of talents at production companies such as Agile Films, Rattling Stick and Sonny to name a few. Having started out in the industry as a production assistant at Epoch Films, followed by A&R co-ordinator at music publishing company Perfect Songs; Kim’s day-to-day role at OB involves strategising the careers of both established and up-and-coming music video directors. This encompasses advising on treatments, interpreting briefs and liaising between video commissioners and production companies to match the right talent to the right project. Recent projects span diverse styles and genres from Emil Nava’s videos for Ed Sheeran’s ‘X’ campaign, to the likes of Glass Animals by Georgia Hudson and videos for Raury by Andrew Donoho. This year promises forthcoming projects with exciting new directors such as SCRATCH, Calum MacDiarmid and Oscar Hudson.
Will Nichols, senior visual content manager, Parlophone / Warner Bros Records
Over the past 6 years, at EMI and now Warner Records, Will Nichols has played a crucial role in developing visual content into a central and essential part of every artist campaign. He has commissioned and produced content and videos for Blur, Royal Blood, Paul Weller, Lily Allen, Emeli Sandé, Bastille, Tinie Tempah and many more. From live concert films and longform documentaries to serialised online content and the occasional foray into music video, his work has helped put Parlophone and Warner Bros. artists at the centre of the visual creative world.
Sam Doyle & Orlando Weeks, The Maccabees
Sam and Orlando will be joining the panel to discuss their own approach to music video making, and their recent set of videos made with Joe Connor.
