The Work That Made Me: Philippe André
Philippe André is an international award-winning director of music videos, commercials, and branded content. Connecting with audiences through an intimate and authentic lens, Philippe’s films effortlessly balance memorable performances, original art direction, and stunning special effects. After attending film school in Paris, Philippe began directing video commissions for the Museum of Modern Art and The Centre Pompidou. He has directed music videos for artists such as Placebo, All Saints, Morcheeba, Faithless, Dido, Youssou N’dour, Hooverphonic, and Ute Lemper; which have screened at the American Cinémathèque in Hollywood and taken home awards from Victoire de la Musique (Paris), the Cad’s, Brit’s and Mobo’s (UK). His commercial portfolio includes work for Marks and Spencer, Lycra, Apple, Adidas, BMW, Samsung, Playstation, and Toyota, among others. This work has garnered numerous accolades including Cannes Lions, London International Advertising Awards, New York Film Festival Awards, and D&AD Pencils.
My first professional project…
This is a very funny story and actually a very good one. When I left the Museum of Modern Art, I was working for a small company making graphic design titles for television. They asked me if I wanted to direct something, so I said, yes, why not? So, they told me it was with somebody very famous, and again, I was like, why not! That’s how I ended up directing a commercial with Catherine Deneuve. It wasn’t an actual commercial, but a program like they sometimes put on planes - when you have a small video with a celebrity presenting a perfume or something like that. And it was her! I had to film her for my first official job, and I was petrified.
By chance, I had a good DoP, and I did it fairly naturally, somehow. First of all, what I thought to be very interesting was that she was super late and had a huge entourage. I was not used to that. When she arrived, the camera was not in its correct spot, yet she knew exactly what her position was just by looking at the lights. We did a few takes, and she was asking her entourage, “how was that?”, and these guys are all saying, “oh, you’re so marvelous.” Then, after take number 10, she looked at me for the first time and asked me, “what do you think?” So, I said, “maybe we should do this and then that,” etc. and that’s really when I began to feel like a director.
The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Long story. From the beginning, my parents listened to a lot of music. So, it was a natural journey for me to go into music. When I finished baccalaureate - or high school - at the same time I was following a programme at the Conservatory of Music to become a conductor. I was studying music a lot, and some of my teachers inspired me to film. So, I entered film school because I wanted to make music for film.
After I graduated from film school, my music teacher introduced me to the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. I started working there, making some videos for artists and exhibitions, and I trained myself on how to make these little documentaries. I was with the Museum of Modern Art for three or four years. That led to working with different companies to make short TV items and music videos. So, my journey in this industry really stemmed from music and then art.
One of my thesis topics in film school was about the rhythmic connection between film and music. I tried to find a film to illustrate all the connections you can find concerning rhythm - linking the editing and the music together. I used Alexandre Nevski by Serguei Eisenstein, a wonderful Russian film from the late 30's, with music by the great classical composer Prokofiev.
I took all of the music sheets from the orchestra and all the editing, and I described all the connections between them. And yeah, it has always been something very interesting for me. So, to this day, editing is very natural for me. Not simple, but natural. To investigate editing options and find the best music and faster - it has always been something I connect with immediately.
The creative work (film/album/game/ad/album/book/poem etc) that I keep revisiting…
It’s hard to say because I like to challenge myself to go in very different directions. So, at some point, I was very much into contemporary music - dodecaphonic music - which is beyond classical music (when you use all the 12 notes at the same time). It’s music only a few people listen to anymore because it’s too intense, almost never played on radio or online and you need a proper education to have access to it. Like a new language.
The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
What pushed me to go into music videos and visual stuff was the work Chris Cunningham was doing for Björk and Aphex Twin - all of his early 2000s pieces. It has to be that. It was genius. I mean, it was so good. Some work Michel Gondry did was so creative. Jonathan Glazer - these guys are all amazing.
The creative project that changed my career…
That would be the Peugeot ad I did, The Toys commercial. That was a game changer because, first of all, the bid was enormous for me. I was known within the industry, but not very well known. I had in front of me David Fincher, Noam Murro, Fredrik Bond... I mean, the pitch was practically already lost. I worked hard with the production company in Paris, made a great pitch, and won the job. My idea was to do everything real, not rely on post-production. Build all the cars and put them on the street then let the actors drive them, while controlling nothing. Film it like it was a documentary, giving the impression it is all real. The agency loved the idea. The production company hated it and loved it at the same time! But we won it this way, and we did it this way.
The work that I’m proudest of…
It’s maybe tacky to say it, but it’s always whatever the last one I did was. Recently, I did the Skeletons commercial for KIA. It’s a nice little piece, and it was exciting because it was my first job with Reverie. We worked very hard, and the competition was strong. It's a good balance between a bit of spirit and good cinematic value. Very nice production value, too. It's a refreshing ad when you watch it; it's not pretentious. It has a little of everything, and I love that.
The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that still makes me jealous…
I mean, back in the day, what Frank Budgen was doing. I love everything he did. He was a great commercial director. He passed away years ago, but he did so many great ads. Some commercials by Jonathan Glazer. Again, back in 2000-2010, you had some great commercials. What Tony Kaye was doing - you can love him or hate him - but the work was just so spectacular. For some reason, you don't see that so much anymore.
The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
I sometimes miss the game that occurs between a commercial and its audience. I love when a film talks to people's emotions, their mind and their curiosity. Some films lately feel lazy or too simple. I feel like it's sometimes just bad and the creative work does not respect the audience.
The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
It’s not a very new one, but one I enjoyed making very much was the Feminist Collective Against Rape PSA called Laura. It was a really heavy topic - focused on a woman who was raped by her ex-husband. The agency approached me with a one-page written testimony by the woman, and they wanted to make just a black screen with the lines of – that's it. So, when they asked me to do that, I said, “Why are you asking me? You can do that yourself. And I think there is so much more to show with this sort of testimony. Let me try something” So, I wrote a script for them with an actress as the character who lived through this horrible experience. It was a great experience to go through the process and to serve this powerful message. I mean, that's the best feeling, when you can do something you feel proud about and, at the same time, it's a beautiful piece. I love it. For me, it was very risky because I had never done anything like that before. I did not want it to be too heavy or too on the nose. So I made it more subtle to make sure people could feel the emotion. That's proper storytelling. And I love to tell stories.
