Emily McLean is a talented artist and a dear friend of mine. She recently visited from New York and we linked up to shoot this video in San Francisco’s Stern Grove. This is the first video off of her latest EP, “I Get Down a Lot…”
Check out the video after the cut!
As some of you may know, I was one of ten finalists in SF Weekly’s Masterminds contest that recognizes 10 emerging artists in the Bay Area. A couple of weeks ago at Artopia, where they feature the artists’ work, I was awarded as the 1st place winner! I was given a $750 grant and received a lot of love from everyone there. I feel really appreciative to have been recognized for the work I have been doing, especially since I’ve only been at it for a few years.
Big thanks to everyone at SF Weekly and all of my friends and supporters that came through that evening. This is definitely a great start to this new year and I’m looking forward to taking the momentum and putting it back into my work.
During last December, I took a trip to LA to visit friends and link with a couple of artists, one of them being Sango. I caught up with him during the first day of his LA tour at The Good Hurt and he shared a few words before his set, which was dynamic and energetic. I really enjoyed getting to share this moment with Sango and, after checking out the video, I hope you do as well.
This was the last thing that I filmed while living in Santa Cruz. You might recognize Josh from Bandalore and the new face is his friend, Chris.
Earlier this year, I linked up with the wonderful and super stylish, SiairaShawn to create visuals for her latest single, Icarus. I had the incredible honor of doing her first official music video. Set at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, we took a simple approach to the concept and let things happen organically. Her wardrobe set against the white architecture made for a really amazing contrast and I’m jazzed about how the video came out.
I hope you all enjoy it!
Last summer I spent a few days in LA and had the opportunity to link with up with the talented, Marz Lovejoy. She took a few moments before her show at the Key Club to show me some things that mean a great deal to her: her elephants, her mother, and Erykah Badu.
Check her out as she performs “Just Go: Picasso Blue” and “Sticky.”
Over the summer, I took a trip to LA to meet with Robin Hannibal [Quadron/Boom Clap Bachelors] and create two music videos for his solo EP, Bobby. I was more than thrilled and excited to not only meet such a talented individual, but to also collaborate and help bring his stories and visions to life.
Robin Hannibal is a bit of a mysterious guy so I thought that in this video, he should play a central role in it. Robin came up with the storyline and we felt things along as we were shooting. It was a fun and low-key day at the canals, the beach and in Los Feliz and I had a great time. Keep an eye out for the second video, but enjoy this one in the meantime (which debuted on OkayPlayer and CMJ)!
A few months ago, I had the pleasure of shooting a music video with Mara Hruby (who most of you may recognize from the ‘Simili Life‘ video that I directed for Quadron) for her rendition of ‘Character.’ This is one of my favorite music videos to date. I was able to set a mood and aesthetic that I think is representative of Mara’s style and persona. I feel really honored that the video was able to debut on Essence.com. I hope you all enjoy the video and keep an eye on Mara – she has a great future ahead of her.
I’m not sure how I got into making music videos, but it’s been a real adventure and a lot of fun. Being a filmmaker, I enjoy making videos that resemble what I like to embody in my short films. I incorporate longer shots, fewer cuts, and often move at, what feels like to me, a much slower pace than most videos. At first that used to worry me, the fear that folks might tune out or become disinterested, but I realized that I had to trust in what I constructed through imagery and pacing and that it would be engaging enough to hold the attention of folks for 3 minutes. That it might even be captivating enough that folks would want to watch it a second time.
With that being said, here is my latest unofficial music video that I have directed for SBTRTKT’s Hold On which features one of my new favorite vocalists, Sampha.
I’m still not certain how I feel about this piece as I’m a bit out of my comfort zone with this one. As a way to push myself, I’m trying something new by incorporating narration into some of the future videos that I put together. I found a really nice quote by Bob Marley and was inspired to try and set some visuals to it. Originally, I had planned to shoot this at Golden Gate Park, but it was your typical beautiful day in San Francisco (cold, windy and grey), so I decided to put together something quick at a friend’s place.