I’ve always been intimidated by music videos—the best ones seem to come from a cleverness and kind of conceptual storytelling that I wish came more naturally to me. For my first one, the only way to counter my impostering was to assemble a team of geniuses, the people who’d made the videos I’d adored from afar. It’s always so rewarding, though, when you find those people and realize they’re as lovely and warm as they are talented.
Still, making this asked a lot of them. Creating a world worthy of Adele and her daydreamers meant
@liam.mooore and his feverdreamers would have to spin a drab parking lot into luscious riverbed overnight. En route, the only heavy lifting
@whitjack didn’t do was carry the literal weight of Liam’s scaffolding—she and her team put the production on their backs and refused to drop our 10,000 pound ambitions.
@ntombimoyo ,
@kevinarnett and their costume dept gave each actor along the river their own technicolor spirit and
@sweetbabyjamie and
@pppiccioli pulled off the unthinkable, designing, then making Adele’s 70-pound dress in 10 days. Old friends were critical too—
@knucklewood continued his reign as the gruffest man to make the prettiest images, and old faithful
@robbbbb.richert was my righthand through the edit. Eboni Nichols brought movement to my still ideas and the women of the
@aquabatixusa swim team were the nicest, most can-do sirens to ever stalk any waters.
And then there’s
@adele who put all this trust in me, having only made one movie. I don’t know any other world-reigning icons, but I’m hard pressed to imagine anyone at that level being a more gracious, generous person than her. She supported us in the making of this in every way a fellow artist can. I feel like the luckiest boy in a Giants hat.
