Back to 4Talent PRICE JAMES
Price James, 28, has his sights set on directing feature films - so catch his fantastic promos while you can.
If you've spent any time this year flicking through music television channels, chances are you've not caught much more than Kate Nash sucking her way through a pile of old lemons or Rihanna waving around her waterproofs.
However, if you've found it in yourself to stick with it, perhaps you've been lucky enough to catch hyperactive, day-glo Australian teens Operator Please's Just A Song About Ping Pong or dance geniuses Simian Mobile Disco's It's The Beat videos. Both rank among some of the most innovative and visually stunning pieces of music promotion of 2007 and both are the work of Price James - a 28-year-old director likely to gain a future place alongside Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry as one of the world's visionary directors.
However, James still has a long way to go before his name is chalked up with such longstanding luminaries - after all, he's been directing videos professionally for less than a year. "I only made my first video last November," he admits. "I was struggling financially last year, working in a shit office McJob and I started making videos for the love of it." But with the entire music industry changed forever by online possibilities, James' turnaround from the 9-to-5 to the video industry's most exciting new director is thanks largely to the global phenomenon of social networking websites. "I got signed purely because of MySpace," he says. "I knew last year that I wanted to be serious about making ‘things that moved' for a living so I pimped my MySpace, made my first video and word of mouth spread."
But word of mouth doesn't help you pay the rent. Fortunately for James, his work this year has seen him able to ditch the 'McJob' for a far more fulfilling and lucrative occupation. "I love the feeling of pushing something as far as you can, and it's amazing getting feedback from people who enjoy your work," James enthuses, and admits the benefits are more than simple appreciation: "When the zeros start adding up, I suppose that's when you know your stuff isn't just self-indulgent."
Those zeros have been boosted by his work with some of music's most exciting new names. James however, has no interest in pursuing bigger stars simply for the financial rewards: "Even the most respected artists release the odd turkey every now and again," he says, "For me it's much more about the track, I won't work on a video if I'm not crazy about the song."
Fortunately for James, the artists he has worked with to-date have all shared his interest in simple production techniques, shunning pointless technical wizardry simply because a budget allows it, and instead pursuing a style inspired by some unlikely artistic influences. "Tony Hart is my hero," claims James. "Him and Neil Buchanan from Art Attack. I love craft. I want people to really engage with my work through its humour and quirkiness. Both are mostly missing from the industry at the moment."
As James continues to increase his profile within one sector of the industry, he is already considering a future move to bigger, more ambitious projects, envisioning his work appearing on more than one of MTV's many channels. As Michel Gondry did with his move from working with Daft Punk or The White Stripes to directing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, James has his sights set on the cinema screen. "Working on feature films is my ultimate goal," he says. "I'm writing dialogue and trying to get better at that. I'm giving myself five years to do it."
CONTACTS
www.myspace.com/pricejames
pricejames@rsafilms.co.uk
Judge: Michael Baggs, editor, channel4.com/4unsigned
Photography: John Stewardson
Price was one of 20 4Talent Award winners in 2007, our hotly tipped young creatives to watch, to hire and to collaborate with. To meet the other 19 click here
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