Mike Sunda

This seems like a great time to announce my presentation on “Guerrilla social marketing campaigns in the era of engagement baiting”, exclusively at @fwbfest.info Aug 1-3 in Idyllwild, CA. The emerging tech and music festival from @fwb.help Tickets at fwbfest.info

It started in late 2024 with @tedchildish and I thinking of subversive ideas to promote PUSH’s 5th anniversary in Japan, and ended with the biggest album rollout never to happen. Firstly, the why – aside from just bringing novelty to the feed and having some fun along the way, we saw this as a chance to comment on a few things: social media literacy, star power (we never said which Frank!), Tokyo FOMO, and the perceived “authenticity” of OOH signage in the age of AI and deep-fakes (if we’d had more budget we would have bought a billboard). The “how” is littered with details too, from deep Wizard of Oz lore to a lighthearted jab at creative directors raiding the shelves of Tsutaya for their mood boards (shout out to the homie David Rudnick who nailed it with his take on the Provoke reference). The plan was to reveal that the May 22nd “drop day” we’d hinted at was actually the date of our PUSH party – the intended message being that while we’ve worked with big names like Megan and Ye, surely what’s actually “cool” is an independent studio flying over an artist like Jawnino on their own dime? Despite the Wizard of Oz reference on our party flyer, the connection flew under the radar, by which point we’d also amassed well over eight-digits of views in earned media, so we felt like the story deserved a more satisfying conclusion than a simple “gotcha”. We tried giving away the account to the obvious Frank and… a few other Franks too (from Mr. Wupperman’s estate to the Brentford FC media team) but no one bit, so rather than waste the platform, we decided that we’d turn it into a Nathan-meets-native-social attempt to break a new independent music star, outside of the usual industry infrastructure. Next on the agenda: going through the 100s of tracks we’ve received, auditioning the best, and throwing our creative and strategic weight behind their journey to become the next FRANK. Stay tuned. Creative Director: @tedchildish Strategy Director: @mksnd Design & Creative: @seekeveryone Production: @push.xyz Client: FRANK 🧙‍♂️🪄

千葉雄喜 「流れる」 In the works since January 2023, finally released. Independently funded by the two artists with support from WOTC, CANADA and PUSH. A special project with incredible commitment from everyone involved. 🐒❄️ Director @stillz Production Company @weownthecity @canadacanadacom @push.xyz Executive Producer (WeOwnTheCity) @stillz Executive Producer (CANADA) @victormatanoguera Executive Producers (PUSH) @krzakicks @mksnd Director of Photography @russfraser Producers @estebanzuzu @sakamat @saka.filmworks Editor @aitorbigas Assistant Editor @danielmendoza Colorist @kaitlynbattistelli @ethos_studio VFX artist @buralqy Sound Designer @klankwerk Full credits over at @push.xyz

At 23, I was writing my undergraduate thesis about the Lacanian return of the repressed in Godzilla (1954). At 36, I’m channeling mild frustration about belligerent Tokyo taxi drivers and dehumanising self-checkouts into a music video about a retired Kaiju. Older, definitely not wiser. Unlike @ryantedder and @onerepublic , who are aging like fine wine. Thanks to the band and @brodyharper for letting us have fun with this one. ♫ OneRepublic - Invincible ♫ Director: 🙋 Producer: @aimeantonia Director of Photography: @azariahbjorvig Kaiju Costume Designer: @wazamonollc6211 Editor: @ivanovvitya Creative Director: @0.1_yu Art Director: @joevenning Design Director: @samuelrhodes Lighting Director: @arataijichi Additional Sound Design: @xliimusic VFX Studio: @madnomad.collective VFX Producer: @bazanonami Colorist: @yerrekke Plus too many more to mention, and also @samuelrhodes and @xeosiah for the BTS snaps 🦎

Fun times at @adfest speaking about the latest wave of “Cool Japan” emerging from non-hegemonic cultural spaces. Thanks to everyone who humoured me going from Hanatarash to Ichiran to Althusser in the space of about ten slides.

Laraaji at sunset, Mala blends at the pool, mycelium tattoos, Mayor Max, reflecting on Stuart Hall and the Small Axe journal in the beautiful forests of Idyllwild, catching up with old friends and making new ones… FEST was everything I’d hoped it would be, and more. My heart and mind are equally nourished 🫂

Building on the London < > Tokyo connections with this music video for Jeshi’s “Inside Out”. Takeshi Kitano’s ‘90s yakuza flicks were some of the first cultural touchpoints I had for Japan as a teen, so enjoyed digging into that in a way that still felt thematically and visually authentic for Jeshi’s story and music, as well as leaning into the grittier side of Tokyo as a parallel to the London depicted in “The Great Stink” EP. Huge thanks to everyone who helped us make this happen — very much a passion project and would never have been possible without a lot of generosity from all involved. Big thanks to Heckler in particular for the partnership on this one, and of course man like @jeshi__ for trusting us to do justice to this incredible track. Director: Mike Sunda @mksnd DOP: Victor Ivanov @ivanovvitya Editor: Andrew Holmes @andreweditor Producer: Aime Okamoto @aimeantonia 1st AC: Yuji Suzuki @yujis.uzuki B-Cam: Brenden Savi @brendensavi Line Producer: Joshua Helius @joushuahelius Lightning Director: Riki Tsuchiya HMUA: Phoebe Lin @feebz Styling: Ellie Rimmer @ellie_r1 , Mia Kitora Howe @mia.kitorahowe Sound Recordist: Skirmantas Ivanauskas @spider_location_sound Film Loader: Koichi Kitamura @koichi_kitamura_ Production Support: Orion Johnson @harlem.globetrotta , Kai Cheney @chene.yy , Mario Stopford @poppysushi , Yuka Arora @0.1_yu , Sonia Royal @sonia.loves.jesus Featuring: Licaxxx @licaxxx1 , MARS89 @mars89.unlimited , FREDWAVE @fredwave_ , Crash Tracy @crash__tracy , Kei Bond @bond.fitness Senior VFX Producer: Xinhui Zheng Grade: Pete Ritchie VFX: Cody Amos & Yong Soon Ong Online and Compositing: Davor Zec, Johnson Lim & Azreena Ahmad IO: Craig Woo & Zackery Wang Sound design: XLII @xliimusic Poster Design: Bernie Hitachi @berniehitachi Special thanks: Capsule Rentals @capsule.rentals , KILOTYPE, Tokyoridez @tokyoridez , Jamel Lopez, Kodak Japan @kodak_motionjp @kodak_shootfilm Executive Producers: Charu Menon @charumenon , Mike Sunda @mksnd Produced by PUSH @push.xyz and HECKLER @hecklerhq