The annual UK Music Video Awards has opened for entries for the seventh year, almost 50 years to the day since the release of the film which is considered the forerunner to the music video: Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night on July 6th 1964. To celebrate the milestone, the UKMVAs are enthusiastically extending the breadth of its reach to the US market, continuing the search for the best of both established and up-and-coming music video talent internationally.
The UKMVAs has grown to become an event of international standing, celebrating the best creative work in music videos made over the past 12 months – from big-budget pop video productions, to low budget gems. The MVAs primarily honor the creative people behind the art form – from directors and producers, to cameramen, art directors, editors, animators and more – and are recognized by a robust panel of judges from within the industry.
Last year, some of the freshest and most exciting directing talent from the US received awards, including Andrew Thomas Huang who collected the Best New Director trophy on the strength of his effects-rich videos for Bjork and Sigur Rós, Prettybird director Melina Matsoukas for Solange Knowles’ “Losing You,” along with directing duo Ian & Cooper for the stunning “Back to Me” for British R&B newcomer Joel Compass, and LAMAR+NIK for Lushlife’s “Magnolia,” which saw them pick up the Best International Urban Video award.
This year’s UKMVAs, which will be held at the Southbank Centre in London on Monday November 10th , offers more opportunities than ever for individual directors, producers, and commissioners of music videos to gain international recognition for their work, as an additional fleet of awards are opened up for submissions for the first time. Awards for the Best Director, New Director, Producer and Commissioner will now be available to enter, for professionals who can demonstrate an impressive body of work made in the year from August 1st 2013 to July 31st 2014. This year also sees the debut of a brand new award for Best Video Artist for a band or individual who has delivered an outstanding set of 3 or more videos in the past year.
Previous UKMVA recipients include Romain Gavras, Eran Creevy, Daniel Wolfe, Keith Schofield, Shynola, David Wilson, Daniels, Canada, Martin de Thurah, Fleur & Manu and Megaforce. The show also honors directors who have made an outstanding achievement in the genre with the Icon Award. Previous winners include Jonathan Glazer, Dawn Shadforth, Hammer & Tongs, Jonas Åkerlund, Jamie Thraves and Julien Temple, who received last year’s Icon Award from another icon, The Kinks’ Ray Davies.
The UK Music Video Awards 2014 is now open and accepting entries in over 30 separate categories, including genre-led awards, as well as specific technical and craft awards. All categories are open to international entries, including the technical categories and individual awards. Entries can be made via the UKMVA website www.ukmva.com and the deadline is August 6th – so get to it!
