The people who oversee the music video production process for record labels are called "commissioners." Why the quotes? Because almost nobody actually has "commissioner" as their title and, more importantly, many of these folks are involved in a whole lot more than just making videos. Now that we've got that out of the way, meet Devin Sarno. He's a "commissioner" at Warner Bros, where he's steered through videos and helped plot the visual style for My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers and way too many more acts to name here.
name: Devin Sarno
company: Warner Bros. Records
title/job: VP, Visual Content
First Video: I believe the first video I officially "commissioned" was Ziggy Marley "Kozmik" with Stephane Sednaoui, when I was at Virgin Records. Stephane ranks as perhaps the only director who has ever physically tackled me to the ground in a telecine session and bitten me (donning a skirt, mind you).
Stephane Sednaoui is French.
Strangest Video: Unfortunately there are quite a few that come to mind, but one in particular was with my dear friend Doug Aitken. He was directing a video for me at Sony/WORK Group. It was shot off the coast of the Catalina Islands and the main picture boat he was planning to use ended up sinking on the voyage over. Along those same lines, we almost drowned My Chemical Romance in the "Ghost of You" video. That boat also ended up taking in a huge amount of water during one shot and began sinking rapidly (watch the Making The Video). Of course, a few of the band members can't swim, so it was a lovely moment of tension.
What's Next: What's next is the video that plays when you shut your eyes and rub your lids as hard as possible.
