OK Go’s Damian Kulash on the Saatchi Promo Winner

This morning, at the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase, young American director Nelson de Castro was crowned the winner of the OK Go Music Video Challenge. Yesterday we caught up with the band’s frontman Damian Kulash and Saatchi & Saatchi’s worldwide digital creative director Tom Eslinger to hear why they picked de Castro’s video for the prize and how music and advertising are more intertwined now than they ever have been. We'll have the full interview for you on Monday but for now, here's a teaser (above).

Below you can watch the winning promo and read our exclusive interview with Nelson de Castro, who tells us about himself, his career and the video that beat all the other entries to win the coveted Music Video Challenge.

Congratulations on winning the Saatchi & Saatchi OK Go Music Video Challenge! How happy are you and did you think you had a good chance of winning when you saw the other entries?

Thank you so much, it was definitely a surreal feeling when I got the news. I was ecstatic to see the hard work of our team pay off. There were some strong entries in the contest, but I’m proud of what we accomplished. I was confident that we had something that was right for OK Go.  

Please tell us a bit about yourself; your age, where you’re from and your career in directing so far…

I’m 25 years old, from Boston Massachusetts and currently living in Los Angeles.  I began directing fairly recently, while attending the film school at USC. I’ve had several directing and animation projects in development while working in various art departments to support myself, but this video is the first project I’ve directed since graduating from USC.

Where did the idea for the video come from and how did you develop it?

Every morning I would wake up and listen to the song in the shower - that’s where most of the video came together in my head. I’ve wanted to work with green screen suits for a while and I thought having as many as possible would add to the absurdity and fun. Initially, I had our lead interacting with these green-suited characters in various locations throughout a normal day, but the limitations of camera movement with green screen led me to realise it would be more fun to bring different environments into a static frame. I thought doing it all in one take would be a fun challenge, and of course fit the spirit of OK Go.

Are you a fan of OK Go? Your video really feels like one of theirs – did you draw inspiration from their previous promos?

I’ve been a fan of OK Go since Here It Goes Again and have always been impressed by the scale, execution and uniquely fun nature of their videos. I kept their tone and style in mind while conceptualising the project, but I generally avoided watching their past videos while I was writing. I wanted this to fit into their library, but feel original as well.  

How many takes did you need to get it right? Was there a particularly difficult part that tripped you up repeatedly and did you ever feel like you might not get it done?

We did fourteen takes in total and we ended up choosing the tenth one. Hands down, the hardest part was getting our lead into a green spandex suit in time to hit the last cue at the end of the video. Green suits are very difficult to see through, so you can imagine the challenge of dressing a flailing, suspended actor. Having worn the suits myself, I was very impressed by the coordination of our masked performers.  

I was a little nervous when we had roughly four hours of daylight left to shoot and still had to finalise choreography for the second chorus, Bbut a great suggestion from our producer, Jonny Adhout, got us back on our feet and it went smoothly from there.

Who’s the star of the video and how tired did the cast and crew become in general? What was the atmosphere like on set?

We didn’t have time for a proper casting session so we had to look into actors and friends we already knew. We managed to lock our star, Edwin Eversole, the day before we shot and I thought he was perfect for it. He’s actually a friend from USC and a talented director/cinematographer.  In fact, he provided the camera we used for the shoot.

Cast and crew fatigue was a concern, but it’s hard to bring down a good group of friends in green spandex suits. Let’s just say our green actors had enough energy for an impromptu dance party to some Daft Punk after we got our last shot. The atmosphere on set was fantastic - the right balance of focus and fun. We are all close friends and I think everyone had a great weekend doing something creative and absurd.  

What kind of impact do you think winning this prize will have on your career?

My hope is that this will lead to more exciting projects and collaborations with other creative visual artists and musicians. Hopefully the exposure will help jumpstart other projects and ideas I’d like to pursue and lead to more directing opportunities.

If you could make a music video for any artist, who would it be and why?

I would love to work with OK Go again, perhaps more directly, in the future. Few bands make videos purely dedicated to creative fun the way they do. Another artist I aspire to work with is Flying Lotus. I’m a big fan of his music and visual content and I think his experimental style and rich tone would be inspirational to feed off.  

What are your ambitions for the future?

I’d like to continue directing exciting projects that explore new techniques and ideas - projects that people can connect with and enjoy.  Whether it’s music video, commercial or longer narrative, I’m interested in developing strong ideas and sharing them through whatever format is necessary.  

Are you excited about being in Cannes? How will you spend your time here?

I’m so excited to experience Cannes for the first time. I’m not sure what to expect exactly, but I’m looking forward to meeting lots of talented filmmakers. It’s an incredible opportunity to connect and share ideas, and hopefully form relationships that will carry into the future.  

Are you signed to any production companies?

I’m not signed to any production companies, but would welcome any opportunity that allows me to pursue a career doing what I love.