CREATOR INTERVIEW SERIES : JASON BOTKIN : PART 2
(interview continued from part 1)
Though SGF is located in LA and the roster of directors are all American, a great deal of the productions are for UK based artists and labels. How did this come to be?
When we first started the company Paul and I went to London to meet with labels and to look for a partner company or a rep. We met Alexa Haywood who was one of the first independent reps in the UK. She was repping FM Rocks, Stink. Another story that cracks me up - just before I went to London, I called Craig Fanning at FM Rocks to see if he would recommend Alexa. He basically told me that the UK market is a money pit and not to bother, again, cut to …
Alexa is an amazing rep, she helped me build my company from nothing. Our first video was for a band named, The Glitterati. After that one British job followed the next, before we knew it we were big in Britain. For the first few years we were basically a UK music video production company in Los Angeles. USA / UK video markets are pretty different, it was difficult to crossover to American videos with UK bands on the reels. There were certain videos that we did that have worked well in both markets and we’ve used those over the years to make the transition. I’m really pleased now with the spread we have in both markets, I can’t imagine relying on just one.
Is it a viable expectation for a director to make videos for a living?
Well, I guess that depends on how you want your DVD retrospective to look. It’s near impossible to make a living if your not willing to bend to market pressures every once in awhile. There are a handful of directors out there that can do less than hip, big budget acts and still bring some level of sophistication and artistic integrity to the project. I think Paul and Charles have been pretty successful walking that line. I would say that if your goal is to get into commercials you shouldn’t expect to make a living in videos first. With a few exceptions, I think career music video directors have a much harder time getting into commercials. To give you a better idea - I have one director out of five that makes his living off videos.
Do you currently have any plans for feature film work or any other creative endeavors in the pipeline?
Sure, I’m actually developing a feature comedy about daytime TV actors. I’ll keep ya updated.
What projects are you most proud of and why?
I’m notoriously critical of the work that comes out of SGF. It’s really hard to make a great video, I can only count on a single hand the videos we’ve done that I think measure up. I’ve always been proud of Charles’ Duncan James video. That was a super cheesy song / artist (no offense Virgin) that was made into something much greater by the video. Josh & Xander’s Jakob Dylan video was definitely a highlight last year. Paul’s first FFAF and Skye videos have always been dear to my heart. I was proud of Vince’s Editors video and Keith’s video for BPA wasn’t too shabby either. I have been fortunate to work with such amazing directors, beats the hell out of rolling burritos.