"Hello, Future" winner announced

Young Mexican director Alberto Gomez, a 23 year old who graduated from Vancouver Film School only 2 years ago, is the winner of the Saatchi & Saatchi, Vimeo and Moby ‘Hello, Future’ Music Video Challenge. Alberto’s film for the track ‘After’, from Moby’s new album ‘Destroyed’, beat almost 600 outstanding entries from young filmmaking talent all over the world. His promo was shown at the Grand Audi, Palais des Festivals, in Cannes on 23 June, as part of the 21st Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2011.

The brief was to interpret and bring to life the idea of ‘Hello, Future’ in the form of a music video for 1 of 3 tracks from ‘Destroyed’. Gomez will be offered the chance to work on a project in a key office in the Saatchi & Saatchi Global Network. Alberto explained his reasons for entering the Music Video Challenge: “As an independent filmmaker and being from Mexico, I wanted the recognition and the opportunity to show my work to the world. Besides the prize, I liked the idea of having my video shown in Cannes.”

Moby said: "A lot of my friends who are filmmakers, who do really experimental work, work in advertising, and sometimes it's really inspiring, and it's a vehicle for really remarkable filmmakers and artists to actually get their work seen by quite a large audience". Moby was so impressed by the quality of the 10 finalists’ videos, that he is planning to include them on a DVD release later in 2011, and there's a possibility some of the entries will become official promotional videos for a future single. The finalists were; Frank Beltrán, David Evan Bowers (The Manship Society), Brian McCann, Lindsay MacKay, Antonin Pevny, Oden Roberts, Martin Rodahl, Alexey Terehoff, and Roland Wittl.

As one of the leading video sharing sites, Vimeo provided an easy to use, high quality platform to showcase the The ‘Hello, Future’ Music Video Challenge. Contestants were able to upload their submissions to The ‘Hello, Future’ group and interact with Vimeo’s creative community. By being exposed to Vimeo’s global community of content creators, creative individuals and general consumers, The ‘Hello, Future’ Challenge was able to reach a worldwide audience.

Jeremy Boxer, Vimeo's Creative Director, Film and Video commented: “Vimeo wishes to congratulate Alberto Gomez on winning the ‘Hello, Future’ Music Video Challenge. We saw a tremendous amount of talent come out of this challenge and we want to thank all the participants who submitted their work. We look forward to seeing more great works from them. Alberto's stylish directing and lush art direction truly amazed us. He was able to create a music video that could stand up next to any professional music video that we have seen. We wish him all the best in the next exciting chapter of his career. This is one director to keep your eye on.”

The ‘Hello, Future’ Music Video Challenge was engineered for Saatchi & Saatchi by the team at BUG Music Videos who are behind the BFI’s smash hit music video shows of the same name. The BUG team, who also presented a special show at the BFI in June celebrating Moby’s music video oeuvre, and who are regular collaborators with Saatchi & Saatchi in the search for talent for the New Directors’ Showcase, brought Moby and Vimeo into the project to provide the perfect platform and content for the inspirational Music Video Challenge.

David Knight,Creative Director, BUGsaid: “Alberto Gomez’s video for Moby’s After is extraordinary – a tour de force. Not only is every image in the film beautifully art directed and styled, each one slowly draws you into an emotional story that intensifies the power of the track, and also manages to fulfil the competition brief to interpret ‘Hello, Future’ – the theme of this year’s New Directors’ Showcase.”

The video was shot in different parts of Monterrey in Mexico, and involved various set designs. Alberto’s girlfriend Victoria Velarde, was in charge of wardrobe, styling and makeup, and the shoot was a collaborative effort involving main actress Victoria Guajardo and some good friends. Alberto has given a bit of an insight into the narrative and production of his winning film, and his inspirations: “We wanted a very clean look with a lot of symbolism for both the story and the idea of ‘Hello, Future’; I think this was most important to achieve the results we wanted.”

The film has a strong, visually rich narrative, with art direction inspired by the look of ‘modern royalty today’. Alberto’s video was produced, shot and edited with a short timeline, on a small budget, with only 2 days to find all the locations, cast and props, and 5 days of shooting and one week of editing. Talking about the narrative Alberto explained: “We thought that ‘Hello, Future’ was about a big change, welcoming all, and overcoming our fears, almost like a celebration of ourselves. So we wanted a story that could be both visually appealing and interesting. It’s the story of a young princess who is orphaned and given the responsibility and duty of being Queen. At first she’s scared and sad, but later she blossoms into a beautiful, powerful Queen. Before entering the Music Video Challenge, Alberto was a member of the Vimeo community, and a subscriber to MobyGratis which provides free music to independent filmmakers. Talking about Vimeo, Alberto said: “I personally find it a perfect way of showing my work, and meeting other people who are involved in filmmaking. It's my favourite way to see new videos for the production, style and quality of them. I have made a lot of international contacts and friends there with different abilities and tastes because It helps you to get recognized in a professional way. “