Audioslave’s “Doesn’t Remind Me” earned three awards, including the Fulltank award for video of the year, which was presented to director Chris Milk of bicoastal/international @radical.media/music, during the 15th Annual Music Video Production Association (MVPA) Awards May 11 at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. Also on the strength of this clip, the Panavision award for best cinematography was bestowed upon DP Danny Hiele; and the Adobe award for best editing went to editor Livio Sanchez of The Whitehouse, with bases in Chicago, New York, Santa Monica and London.
Also among the winners was Marc Webb of Hollywood-based DNA, who collected two awards, including the Sony Pictures Studio award for director of the year–for a body of work that included My Chemical Romance’s “Helena,” All American Rejects’ “Move Along” and Weezer’s “Perfect Situation.” Webb also earned the Adbeast award for pop video of the year for “Move Along.”
When Milk accepted his award–the final presentation of the evening–he acknowledged his fellow nominees, and added that early videos from some of these nominees “shaped me as a student in film school.”
Two nominees from that category–Samuel Bayer of bicoastal/international HSI Productions (he was formerly with bicoastal/international RSA and its sister music video shop Black Dog Films), and Floria Sigismondi of Revolver Film Company, Toronto and Los Angeles–received special awards during the show.
Bayer received the Eastman Kodak Award for Lifetime Achievement. The presentation–made by the band Green Day–included a montage of Bayer’s work, including his classic Nirvana clip “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and recent work from Green Day’s American Idiot, including “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends.”
Sigismondi’s early video for Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People” (’96) was entered into the MVPA Hall of Fame; MVPA president Pam Tarr made the presentation. Sigismondi earned two additional MVPA Awards: Best direction of a female artist for Fiona Apple’s “O’ Sailor,” and alternative video of the year for The White Stripes’ “Blue Orchid.”
During the evening, some veteran directors with upcoming features were recognized for their music video work, including Michel Gondry, David Fincher and Brett Ratner. Gondry, of bicoastal/international Partizan, was on hand to collect the award for hip-hop video of the year for Kanye West/Adam Levi’s “Heard ‘Em Say.” Afterwards, the helmer related that his next feature, The Science of Sleep, is scheduled to open Aug. 4; as well, in September he is scheduled to begin production on a feature titled Be Kind, Rewind. David Fincher of bicoastal Anonymous Content–whose Zodiac is currently in postproduction–was recognized for animated video of the year for Nine Inch Nails’ “Only”, a photoreal CG clip created with Venice-based Digital Domain. Brett Ratner–helmer of the soon to be released X-Men: The Last Stand–was featured in a taped acceptance for cross promotion video of the year for Jessica Simpson’s “These Boots Are Made For Walking.”
Other helmers to receive awards included Mark Pellington of bicoastal Merge @ Crossroads, who topped the rock video of the year category with Foo Fighters’ “The Best of You”; Paul Hunter of HSI Productions, who was recognized for R&B video of the year on the strength of Stevie Wonder’s “What the Fuss”; Joseph Kahn of HSI in the category of best direction of a male artist for Jamiroquai’s “Feels Like It Should”; Sophie Muller of Beverly Hills-based Oil Factory for adult contemporary video of the year for Gwen Stefani’s “Cool”; Mike Myerburg for best direction of a new artist for The Like’s “What I Say And What I Mean”; and Johan Renck of Black Dog for international video of the year for Robbie Williams’ “Tripping”. HSI’s Scott Speer received the Sunset Edit Award for Best directorial debut for Switchfoot’s “Stars.”
In craft categories, Santa Monica-based The Syndicate’s Bob Curreri was named best colorist for My Chemical Romance’s “Helena.” Meanwhile, Venice-based Motion Theory was recognized for best special effects for Beck’s “Girl.”
