Hyperbole be damned, Chris Milk may very well be the most creative director working in music video today. And, when you consider that he tends to work with much more mainstream acts than many of his cutting edge peers and still gets away with his unexpected flights of fancy, it's all the more impressive. His output over the past year or so has included a performance video for Green Day and U2 that doubled as a powerful statement about our government's priorities, a story of a randy bug for Gnarls Barkley, and an epic Evel Kneivalization of Kanye West. Not surprisingly, he is nominated for Best Director honors at the 2007 MVPA Awards — being held Wednesday, May 16 in Los Angeles.
name: Chris Milk
company: @radical.media
job/title: director
First video: Chemical Brothers "Golden Path." Jennifer Heath [Milk's rep] convinced them to let me write. It seemed like a complete pipe dream. Then, to all of our surprise, they gave it to me. To their credit, Carole Fairbrother at Virgin and the Chems liked the treatment and gave me the job even though I had no videos on my reel.
Strangest Video: Courtney Love "Mono." My second video and her first as a solo artist. First meeting to go over the concept was in rehab. I'm not sure either of us were ready to make that video.
What's Next: Shooting a zero budget video for Travis right now. Feels like film school again. Fran Healy , the lead singer, and I shot with no permit in a park in Malibu last weekend. I was holding a light reflector disk with my teeth and one hand, and operating camera with the other. Would have been a piece of cake if not for the 40mph wind.
Working on some video/sculpture installation pieces, hopefully for some sort of eventual gallery exhibit. Shooting more still photography.
Looking for a feature film script inspiring enough to devote the next few years of my life to.
[note: visit Chrismilk.com for higher-res quicktimes of all the above videos. Click on the "moving" section.]
