Polydor Talk

Earlier this week we had a lecture by two video commissioners who work with the record label Polydor.  Operating under the parent company; Universal Music Group, Polydor has been around for the past 104 years originally being founded in Germany. Polydor currently represents artists such as 'The Who', 'Ellie Goulding, 'Years &Years' and 'Lana Del Rey'. From this seminar we were able to learn directly from professionals currently working in the media industry.

They began by giving us an insight of the process they have to go by. As commissioners, they oversea the entire process when creating a new music video. Some artists approach them with briefs where as others are very open to ideas. They begin by estimating a realistic budget range, usually determined by how big that artist(s) already is, as for performers such as Lana Del Rey and The 1975 usually have a much higher budget

After the budget stage, briefs are sent out to around 5-10 directors from their data base to see who would like to work on the project, usually the video references all follow a similar structure. Directors occasionally can 'fight' and compete over a job. Polydor also approaches new directors regularly, as they are constantly looking for new talents. Treatments are created along with mood boards to help gain a more detailed picture of the idea. This is vital to show a director to see if it falls into their style of film making

One thing we were taught, was the importance of Shot lists. This is because when Polydor work on a project it is a 'team effort' and communication is vital for the entire team. We were also given the advice to 'be passionate and love it' if you are wanting to work in this industry.