Interesting things I learned from looking into Devendra Banhart's ubiquitous video for "Carmensita" include:
- Skinny is not a pseudonym for Devendra Banhart.
- Skinny is a filmmaking trio comprised of director Dori Oskowitz, journalist Marc-Edouard Leon and director David Hache.
- Directing a video for Nickelback does not preclude you from working with somebody like Devendra Banhart. That's right. Dori Oskowitz — which should be a familiar name to Video Static readers — has directed videos for bunch of bands you would never expect to see mentioned in the same sentence as Devendra. Most notable would be his smash hit video "Rock Star" and "If Everyone Cared" for Nickelback.
- The name Skinny stems from the fact that all three members claim to have the physiques of 12 year old girls. I assume it's just from the waist up.
- Posting a request for a director to reveal himself/herself like I did may be pathetic, but it's so much easier than making calls and sending emails and Googling.
So, with that as prelude, here is Dori Oskowitz on behalf of Skinny....
name: Dori Oskowitz aka 1/3 of SKINNY
job/title: director
first video: The Skinny collective started as a chance side project. I showed up one day at my old apartment to get something and Marc was there — he had actually moved into my room when I moved out. Marc had seen some of my music videos and liked them, so he asked if I wanted to collaborate with him and David on a video for a French band called Rock&Roll. I was a huge fan of the band, so I agreed. We had three days to prep and the budget was $1,000. The concept was to follow the band through the most debaucherous party imaginable and capture honest moments without having to set them up. We also wanted to make it look like one continuous shot. I had a pretty good idea for how to light and shoot it, but was a bit skeptical of people actually showing up and partying in front of a camera. It turned out that Marc and David know everyone in the world, so within an hour of arriving on location there were 60+ glamorous hipsteratti partying harder than I had ever seen on a Sunday night. Naked french dudes, drugs and fake vomit. Skinny was born. --> watch Rock&Roll "Losers, Boozers, Jacuzzi Users"
strangest video: Everything happened so serendipitously with this Devendra Banhart video. Marc is basically the Hunter S. Thompson of Flaunt Magazine and he got an interview with Devendra. He showed him our video for Rock&Roll and, to our amazement, Devendra asked us to direct his next video. We found out about this on Christmas day, by the way. We had gone from a fun side project to working with one of our favorite musicians, but it gets better. After we somehow convince management to allow us to make a Bollywood video, they tell us that Natalie Portman has been invited to play the lead role. Apparently Devendra had given her a song for a charity compilation, so he asked if she would return the favor. Our producer Stephanie Scire and I spent about a month or so of pulling every favor in the world and the pieces were neatly falling into place until the chaos hit. The day before the shoot we lost our stage and had to move our pre-built sets. That night we lost the actor who was supposed to play the evil Raja. After frightening the shit out of the entire waitstaff of an Indian restaurant by asking them to be in our music video, David ran into the mother of an old friend. She told us her boyfriend worked with a guy who fit the part perfectly. We called and he kindly agreed to take the day off from work and give acting a "try.” So, now we have the manager of the Guitar Center playing opposite one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Devendra also brought along friend and actress Kat Dennings (from The 40 Year Old Virgin) to play the blue god Shiva. Natalie brought her friend Lucas Haas to set, who we convinced to make an appearance as a flamboyant Ali Baba on acid. Add in a couple live octopuses from a Korean restaurant, a 20 person Bollywood Dance troupe and body paint. Our set was complete. You know when you have one of those super crazy dreams and you wake up convinced that you’re insane? Thats what the Devendra shoot felt like. We were able to piece it all together thanks to our DP Starr Whitesides, AD Jeremy Robinson and production designer Isaac Gabaeff. PS: Both of the octopuses were returned to the restaurant alive. --> watch Devendra Banhart "Carmensita" (Quicktime)
whats next: I'm signed to Shadow Screen and still directing stuff on my own. I just finished a short film and a T-mobile viral spot. I am also continuing to work with Skinny. We just did a video for an incredible artist called The Grey Kid which involved models in lingerie and gorilla masks. Skinny is also gearing up to shoot a documentary /installation piece for the music venue The Smell.
