Interviews

Talking Videos, Britney and more with Director Joseph Kahn

Director Joseph Kahn calls it one of his best videos, but notes that he's referring to the "unseen" version before correcting himself, rechristening it the "never to be seen" version.

He's referring to the Director's Cut of Britney Spears "Perfume," an unreleased version of the video that generated a whole lot of intrigue and interest online, including even a petition for its release. 

It was an unavoidable topic when Kahn and I recently connected to talk about his career and music videos in general. And although he's know to be outspoken and iconoclastic — how many other directors would have the sack to publicly declare that his cut of "Perfume" is not only the better video, but his best video ever? — he's also rarely full of shit.  And the Director's Cut of "Perfume" is indeed the kind of video that would have generated way more talk and controversy than the skirmish we've seen over whether the "Director's Cut" would be released or not. Trust me. Or, rather, trust Joseph Kahn. 

Read on for our conversation about all this and much more...

The Videostatic Interview: Jodeb

Jodeb is Jonathan Desbiens, a director and artist who has rocketed to the top of many music video shortlists thanks to a distinctive style that's proven to be a perfect match for EDM. It's a style that's based upon finding the harmony between two opposing forces — the exotic on-location shoots vs the weeks of VFX and animation — creating worlds grounded neither entirely in fantasy, nor reality.

And there are similarly perfect contradictions that define Jodeb — the world traveler who lives in a tiny town an hour outside Montreal, the EDM maestro with the trippy images who has never even smoked so much as a cigarette, the refined VFX wiz who is completely self-taught, and the list goes on.

We had the opportunity to chat recently and Jodeb was way more open that you might expect from somebody who prefers to be seen in a mask for his official photo.