With Director Brandon Dickerson at the helm, kaboom productions has just launched BOOM, a brand new division of the company that’s solely focused on visually creative content matched to music— in other words, music videos. Lauren Schwartz, kaboom’s founder and executive producer, explains that with this new branch, kaboom further establishes itself as a "complete content provider."
"Whatever the medium and the format, be it 30-second spots, Web and interactive work, short films and now music videos, our directors create visual, branded materials," she says.
What's Their Gig?
After several years of making music videos for a number of studios, Dickerson brings his experience and client base to BOOM. Surprisingly, Schwartz admits, "I vowed years ago never to open a music video company. I always heard terrible things about the shoots— the lack of money, the talent always showing up late, etc. Because it’s Brandon, though— and I have a great respect and affinity for him— I was open to the idea when he came to me with it."
Dickerson has already created videos for recording artists ranging from Sixpence None The Richer and Kenny Wayne Shepherd to Vince Gill and Switchfoot.
The Cool Factor
Schwartz says music videos offer a degree of creative freedom to directors that other media doesn’t. "Directors are responsible for the whole piece from start to finish— creating the concept, shooting it and editing it. It’s a really wonderful creative process."
She says she’s noticed a synergy between music videos and commercial work, one that plays well to the company’s bottom line. "We realized when we brought Brandon into the commercial realm that his music videos have a very commercial feel to them. They translate well. Also, music videos have very tight budgets, the same way a lot of commercials do. If you know how to work a music video budget, it’ll help you work with the tighter commercial budget. It’s such an easy transition from one to the other."
The Geek Factor
Dickerson’s love for experimenting with both technology and techniques is apparent in his work. Schwartz says he’ll often try out a new technique in a music video first and then bring what’s successful to his commercial work. Also, she points out that he’s very hands on, often shooting the videos himself. "A lot of the time he works in varying speeds just to create a certain effect," she says.
"I’m always looking for new ways to capture moving imagery," adds Dickerson. "I like to push the technologies to their limit. On a recent project for Thousand Foot Krutch’s video‘Move,’ I used a vintage hand-cranked 35mm camera [and] manipulated a 35mm digital still sequence. It was wild to combine the old technology with the modern technology to create an original look."
Dickerson’s music videos for Newsboys, Sixpence None The Richer, Thousand Foot Krutch and Switchfoot.
Lauren Schwartz, executive producer (above) and Brandon Dickerson, director (below).
