I was asked yesterday was I still commissioning- and it struck me that although I have probably commissioned hundreds, I was starting to forget which ones I'd done. It made me think of when we did Cheryl Cole 'Fight For This Love'...
which at the time was a big moment - her first solo release after Girls Aloud split, a massive moment for the label, Polydor Records, and an 'all eyes on' release for Universal Music. We had been given some amazing treatments but, as always when there's a big branding exercise going on in the background, nothing was quite right (as frankly, we probably didn't know what we wanted enough to brief it clearly). It was the first time I stuck my neck out and wrote a treatment myself - and only because it was the eleventh hour and we needed something that worked, not just worked - was AMAZING. Looking back it wasn't even a treatment at all - just an idea about Cheryl being flanked by a troop of dancers - the Sergeant Major of her own very stylish army. I hadn't got much further and that's where music video genius Ray Kay came in. We had worked together a few times previously and he was one of the few directors that could achieve that global 'US' style look with the edge we needed. He flew from LA to the London and we shot the video three days later. It's also important to say that Cheryl's team - Lisa Laudat (Hair & Make-up), Victoria Adcock (Stylist) and Elizabeth Honan (Choreography) where the true stars here, as they turned magic around that quickly to make it a truly iconic music video.
Anyway, to answer the question, yes i'm still commissioning... (but i'd preferably like more than a week to put it together!) #throwbackthursday #musicvideos #commissioning #cherylcole #polydorrecords #universalmusic