PRISM PRIZE AWARDS at TIFF Bell Lightbox (350 King West), Sunday (May 15), 7 pm. $13. tickets.tiff.net.
You might not be able to see music videos on television any more, but that hasn’t stopped directors and musicians from taking the art form in innovative, influential and fan-base-boosting directions. Just graze the short list for the annual Prism Prize, which puts the spotlight on Canadian video-makers and bestows $10,000 on the winner, to be announced Sunday.
This year’s top 10 includes offerings from indie acts – the Elwins, Braids, Kalle Mattson, Harrison, Fast Romantics, A Tribe Called Red and Monogrenade – and bigger names like Grimes, Drake and Death from Above 1979. Four of the Toronto nominees talked to us about the ins and outs of the music video industry.
What’s the biggest challenge making music videos in Canada, or Toronto specifically?
I don’t find it that difficult. Toronto is a production town. You get your permits, you get your crew, go out and shoot, just like shooting anywhere else…. When I was coming up, it was harder for black kids and kids of colour to get any kind of leeway. Not impossible – some people did it. I was doing hip-hop and music videos, and those things just weren’t respected. I had to go to New York, know what I mean? It ain’t easy getting into any of these fields. And transitioning from music videos into anything else is the most difficult. The hustle is very real. – Director X, director of Drake’s Hotline Bling and recipient of Prism Prize’s 2016 special achievement award
People are pumping out so much content, so how do you rise above the crowd? I think we need more platforms to showcase music videos and other short-form content, and to curate these videos in smart, exciting ways to reach new audiences. – Alan Poon, director of So Down Low, by the Elwins
Are there decent funding opportunities?
Canada is rich in funding. We don’t know how lucky we are. I talk to my American music friends about this stuff and it blows their minds. We’ve had videos funded by organizations and just on our own. We’ve had budgets of $20K and we’ve also done videos for practically nothing. It’s all about the idea, and then working backwards to figure out how to afford or accomplish it. – Matthew Angus, director of Fast Romantics’ Julia
I prefer when artists can raise their own funds and have a marketing plan. I love that we have agencies like FACTOR, BravoFACT, MuchFACT and the various arts councils, but partnering with them can be like running a three-legged race with an extra person. As soon as that money’s in your hands, you start worrying about their deadlines and staying in their good books rather than making art worth seeing. – Philip Sportel, director of Avalanche, by Kalle Mattson
What helps a music video get online traction?
It has to generate some kind of emotional response, and it has to do it in the first 10 seconds. People have no attention span on the internet. None. – Matthew Angus
It’s such a different age now than when people would find stuff on TV. Now they gotta know the song, click on the link. It’s very difficult to get people to look at something they never knew existed. What goes viral, what people get excited about and want to send their friends is usually crazy stuff. Really super-unexpected. Stuff that’ll do well in the meme world. The 7-second, 15-second world of guy drinking Coke falls down, Coke explodes, house collapses. – Director X
Should we lament the days when Much played videos, or is the internet’s levelling of the playing field a positive thing?
We shouldn’t lament anything! The internet is the great equalizer. – Matthew Angus
I remember when you’d have to wait for The Wedge at 10 pm on Much to see what was new and cool, or get that DVD on the back of RES magazine to see interesting short films and music videos from around the world. Now [videos are] a regular part of daily media consumption. I think it’s great, but the expectations are much higher, and our brains get bored very fast. I can’t even watch a Beyoncé video in its entirety. Now your video has to compete with everyone else’s in the world, and that’s a very exciting and scary thought. – Alan Poon
Are music videos gaining respect as an art form?
Making music videos is a terrific way to learn [filmmaking], but the industry doesn’t know that. You find some of the best directors doing music videos. David Fincher made music videos, Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Francis Lawrence, Marc Webb, Len Wiseman. It’s innovative, visual, intelligent – if you’re good at it, you can see all those qualities. The industry looks down on them as a lesser art form. But that also happened with photography and hip-hop and impressionist painting and breakdancing and graffiti. Now it’s Banksy, now it’s Kanye. – Director X
carlag@nowtoronto.com | @carlagillis
