Alice Kong music video director

A 2017graduate of GOBELINS Paris'Bachelor of Photography and Video , Alice Kong is now adirector .Based inNew York, she has worked forHermès, Delvaux, Gucci, Cacharel, Sonia Rykiel...Recognizable by her pop, retro and colorful style ,she has alsodirected clips for Vendredi sur mer, Bon entendeur, Teers and Lewis Ofman...

A few months before graduating, I was contacted by Partizan, the production company that represents my work.I was spotted thanksto La Femme à la peau bleue, a music video I produced and partly directed at GOBELINS.

From 2017 to 2020, I exclusively directed music videos , and then I started directing commercials. Since 2020, I've been working mainly on this format.

Partizan has offices in Paris, London and Los Angeles. Initially, I worked exclusively with the French office, but in 2022 I started working more with London and Los Angeles.

The placement of directors on projects is done through a competitive process. The client selects 3 directors. Each will make a creative proposal based on a concept given by the agency, and the client will then select the one he prefers.

I really liked the Pointless clip I made for Duñe x Crayon feat Ichon and Les Fillesdésirs for Vendredi sur mer.

It can happen thatthebasic idea drifts on a project, for economic or logistical reasons... In my opinion, a clip is successful whentheresult is as close as possible to the original idea, which was the case with Pointless and Les Filles dudésir.

I'd say my aesthetic is both surrealist and maximalist. I work a lot with color, and the choice of palette is very importantto me. I tend to create very saturated images.

I also have favorite themes such as relationships, love, difference and extravagance.

My work is quite sensitive, in every sense of the word; I try toinvokeall the senses in my films.

It's a mix of what I've been spotting on screens for years. I've always drawn my inspirationfromthe Internet. I've built up a whole folderofscreenshots I've taken on the various networks. My inspiration comes from this constant consumptionofimages. Storing all these images allows me to germinate ideas behind the scenes in a fairly unconscious way.

When you're writing, it's easier to write about what you already know. Sometimes, after the release ofaclip, I notice a linkbetweenone of the characters and someone I know, but it's very unconscious.

In my opinion, the main challenge of a director's job is to come up with ideas on command. Creativity isa muscle like any other that can be worked. Storing all these images allows me to exercise my creativity and react quickly when I need to come up with an idea.

In an ideal world, yes. I always try to make a proposal that makes sense with film. Longchamp agreed to let me do a 35mm campaign, which is a rare opportunity in my career.

It's a purely artistic choice, so it's not always easy to convince brandstotake the risk, especially when there are large sums of money involved. But in my opinion, it's the best risk to take.

I thinkthis is the stage right after the writing, when all the details come together. I go back to the story and figureouthow the characters are going to dress, where the scenes are going to be set, how they're going to be lit, decorated...

I loveimaginingall those little details, how the character's room will be decorated, how he'll movearoundin space...

I'd like to refine my craft even further. There are a lot of things I'd like to improveinmy aesthetic, in my storytelling and in my way of working in general.

There's always a gap between the moment I write my story and the moment it's translated into images. I'd like to reduceit.

I'd also like to do more fiction, to release a few short films so that I can go on to make feature-length films.

I loved GOBELINS. I made my very first short film at school. It was a monologue performed by my best friend. Ishotthe whole thing in one day in one of the rooms on the top floor. It was a great experience.

More generally, I have very fond memories of the school. It was great to have a space to workin, surrounded by creative, funny and inspiring personalities. There was a lot of talent in my class, and it was great to be able to watch them work and exchange ideas. I have nothing but good memoriesofmy social life at school.

Making projects! When I shot the video for Vendredi sur mer, the label had invested a small sum, to which I contributed,and with that budget I was able to make the video that got me spotted and signed.

You shouldn't aim for perfection, for big resources and big teams. In some cases, working with small means and autonomy can be very rewarding.

In France, there's a lot of support for creative work, so you have to take advantage of it. It's always better to do lots of small projects with the means at hand than to focus on one big project that you don't yet have the means to complete.

Interview by Sophie Jean