been waiting to drop this: but here’s the official red bandz trailer of my short film ENVY
excited for y’all to see it. available nowhere, not digital, nor film.
los angeles screening coming enero
starring, timothy granaderos, margaux brooke, nicholas “slick” stewart”, raymond raymundo and jeremiah wassom as zander the hot yet reasonable bouncer
dir: me
pro: byron atienza + adam leeman
eps: kate oppenheim, ari kuschnir, brian latt
shot by: mego
written by: me & tara aquino
pro design: ali isaksen
steadicam/op: colin “new heights” macdonnell
1st ad: liv li
cut by: jojo king at cabin
choreo: jonathan de guzman
color: josh bohoskey at rare medium
original music by: dark heart
post pro co: josh sussman
an a bunch of savages joint in association with m ss ng p eces & tribeca studios
#shortfilm #narrative #neondemon
directing the jelly roll & carín león lighter clip reminded me of something I’d almost forgotten.
my first love. music videos. it’s where I started. where i felt most free. the style, the energy, the story told without words and product shots...
@a_lerios + @bbonfiglio pulled me back in. And I’m glad they did. 🥹 👌🏽 So before I think about what’s next… let’s celebrate what came first.
andy, @linmego and I… 10 years ago…
@kygomusic “firestone.” Let’s get it to 1 billion. 🤍
last LIGHTER video post is for the real ones.
been years since i directed a music video but I made the clip because I genuinely love this game. as far back as the ‘94 world cup been obsessed tbh...
i didn’t shoot any of these, i had to find them. which made this nearly impossible. went through every World Cup ever played and pulled the moments that hit different… but I also needed them to tell a visual story.
not just picking moments I loved but building something. small first. players waking on the pitch. then bigger. the game. the goals. cruyff turn, etc. then the celebrations. and ending exactly where it should… arms raised, holding up the cup.
I chose every moment and every player for a reason. nothing random. it was a painstaking yet special project. something i truly enjoyed.
now that you’ve seen the 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗘𝗥 clip and i over explained it… here’s some bts of how the empanada is made, or whatever the saying is.
warning: it’s a lot of me gesticulating, @belkasemi grunting and looking like chris nolan and @bbonfiglio offering mustache rides.
5 hours. 6 setups. 1 stadium. 1 vision.
Swipe and I’ll break down exactly what we were thinking behind each setup for the Lighter music video 🔥
1 | I/E. EL CAMINO
Front seat of a Chevy El Camino, cuz of course. Jelly has a quiet moment outside the stadium before the video literally explodes.
2 | INT. LOCKER ROOM
Same idea. Different worlds. Carín’s in a mexico themed locker room, Jelly an american car.
Placed them in the same stillness before they link up surrounded by the sights and sounds of world cup’s past.
3 | EXT. STADIUM - DRIVE-IN
our performance master that unifies everything.
A classic hip hop shot cuz that me. The El Camino, stadium behind them & above, World Cup highlights projected throughout.
It was 1 of 2 ways I ground their performance to the history of the FIFA shots rather than totally disparate elements. Like they’re performance belongs in the same conversation.
The fog. the 9 lights. it feels very sports anthemic. The feeling was intentional by me and @belkasemi
4 | I/E. STADIUM - STANDS
Empty stands with a repeating FIFA scoreboard (shoutout to @bbonfiglio for that idea).
Low angle. Handheld. Another classic hip hop shot to move Jelly closer to the field and connect him to the sport further.
5 | I/E. STADIUM - SPLIT SCREENS
TBH choosing moments to represent all world cups was nearly impossible.
But what we didn’t want is for the FIFA shots to feel random. We wanted a conversation with the performance. So we had our cast, Jelly and Carín mimic some famous celebration by players like Zizou, Messi, Mbappe and so on with the same energy but worlds and decades apart.
Go back and watch it again. You’ll see it.
6 | I/E. STADIUM - FIELD
We saved this one for last because it’s the only way to end it.
The pyro goes off whether you’re ready or not.
This is the crescendo. Everything Lighter was building toward. Two people, a stadium, fire on both sides and world cup trophies going up (also @timhow1 too 🫡 🇺🇸)
Def more intense than any of us anticipated but worth it, cuz tbh we only had 2 run throughs of the pyro 👀
What’s your favorite shot from the video? Drop it below. 👇🏽
years ago i went to russia with my boy @28avofficial
i didn’t speak the language. i barely slept. every meal contained an alarming amount of dill (i hate dill). i spent most of the trip disoriented, barely communicating and occasionally running from gigantic guard dogs
trips like this cement friendships
#archive / russia - second and final batch
this foto holds a time when i was younger, louder and searching … when nights felt chaotic and endless… i thot that was the point
but seasons change
now evenings are calm, mornings come easy, my back do hurt a lot tho but i’m more sure of who i am than i’ve ever been,,, grateful for another year above ground and many more
(i do sometimes miss this guy tho, lol)
found these shots of nipsey hu$$le in the archive. i was lucky enough to work with nip more than once and that’s not lost on me.
the true moments were always between takes. quiet calm before we started shooting … like he knew time mattered.
looking at these now feels heavier.
still a fan. still inspired.
the marathon continues.
#archive / los angeles
been organizing myself and in doing so unearthed so many lost memories i must share…
like this trip to russia with my brother from another @28avofficial way back before i had ig…
a very inspired yet chaotic moment in my life involving lots of dill, guns, short shorts, rpgs and attack dogs
#archive / russia
look up… the noise ain’t it. the performative outrage ain’t change. water yourself and yours. step outside. read. stretch ur hip flexors. actively listen. build something with intention, something small and true… cuz honest rebellion is tending to what’s real and what’s there for you in ur darkest hour.
