Director Josh Forbes is the kind of guy who uses an opportunity for self-aggrandizement like this to instead give shout-outs to other directors he respects and lots of the folks who have helped him create a whimsical and sensitive music video world full of lifesize puppets, spellbinding animation, homey production designs and a whole bunch of heart. In short, he's good people and a good director who's just now coming into his own.
Select videos include:
- Sara Bareilles "Love Song"
- Switches "Drama Queen"
- The Submarines "Peace And Hate"
- Great Northern "Home"
- The Myriad "A Clean Shot"
- Division Day "Tigers"
name: Josh Forbes
company: Winch + Pulley
title/job: director
First Video: The first video I ever directed was "Fire Safety" for Thee Spivies. I did it for a college class. I was going to school in Denver, but shot it in Los Angeles. Well, Whittier, actually. It was one of those things where not having a clue really helped. We shot it on donated 35mm with everyone and their mother working for free. I think the final budget came to about $3,000, which to me now is absolutely absurd.
Strangest Video: The strangest video, to date, was probably "Control" for Metro Station. One of the singers is Billy Ray Cyrus' kid, and Billy Ray showed up on set, which was surreal. Also, the video is supposed to be a debaucherous party with all sorts of crazy kids doing naughty things. The final edit is pretty tame, but I felt like a sleazebag having girls take their shirts off and making people make out with each other. If you've seen most of my work, I have the emotional maturity of a fifth-grader, so it's funny to me that my idea of a risqué party involved people chugging soda and jumping in bounce castles.
What's Next: Things really seem to be taking off. I feel like I've finally assembled my dream team. My DP Marc Ritzema and I have worked together for years, but now I'm starting to bring a whole gaggle of geniuses into the Winch+Pulley family. I've recently teamed up with Ghost Town for all my post needs, and they're amazing. They've done a lot of great work with heroes of mine like Ace Norton, Toben Seymour, Alma Har'el, Nima Nourizadeh and Ray Tintori. Also, my producer Justin Benoliel works out of their office, and it's quickly becoming my second home. My rep Lanette Phillips is amazing and has really helped me step things up. In fact, it looks like I have four pretty huge videos in the month of May. I don't want to jinx anything, but keep checking in with winchandpulley.com [editor: What, you can't tell folks to just keep checking videostatic.com?] for updates.
