UK Music Video Awards 2017: Big winners are Alt-J, Kendrick Lamar, Young Thug, Bonobo and The Blaze

Last night (Thursday 26^th October, the people behind the best, most creative music videos of the year were honoured at the tenth annual UK Music Video Awards. Hosted by Adam Buxton, the ceremony took place at the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, London. The drinks were free flowing, as the talented creatives who do their work behind the scenes in the music biz got a much-deserved chance to let their hair down and enjoy their accolades. As the UK Music Video Awards editorial director, David Knight, said: “More than ever, music video is the place where musicians collaborate with filmmakers to create astonishing works of creativity. Music videos are more creative than ever, more diverse and eclectic than ever, better than ever.”

US director Ryan Staake’s video for Young Thug’s Wyclef Jean cleaned up, winning awards for Best Editing in a Video, Best International Urban Video, and the coveted Video of the Year. Staake’s triumphant video nearly didn’t happen when Young Thug didn’t turn up for the shoot. In the end, the director’s resourceful production and masterful editing delivered an unforgettable video, which would not have been possible if Young Thug had been a bit more punctual. But after all, he’s called Young Thug, not Young Reliable Guy.

Kendrick Lamar, another one of the most nominated musicians at this year’s Awards, took home Artist of the Year. Unfortunately, he couldn’t attend the ceremony, and instead accepted the award via personal video message. It was also a great night for British-made music videos, with Alt-J’s 3WW winning Best Cinematography and Best Alternative Video for director Young Replicant and DOP Dustin Lane. Meanwhile Bonobo’s No Reason was awarded Best Dance Video and Best Production Design for director Oscar Hudson and production designer Luke Moran Morris. Hudson, who won the Best New Director award in 2016 was also honoured with this year’s Best Director trophy.

In the pop categories, Dua Lipa’s New Rules came out on top among the UK videos, and Haim’s Want You Back took the International award with US director Jake Shreier collecting the trophy. Other international directors who took awards include Barcelona’s CANADA for Beck’s Up All Night, and France’s The Blaze, who directed their own video for Territory. British directing team The Sacred Egg won the UK Rock/Indie Video trophy for their work on Royal Blood’s Lights Out and Hector Dockrill took the UK Urban Video award for Ray Blk’s Patience.

The Best New Director and Best Newcomer for a Dance Video awards were both won by Matilda Finn for her work with Danny Brown, Bicep and Obongjayar. Best Commissioner was won by Polydor’s Semera Khan for a body of work that includes stand-out videos for the likes of Lana del Rey, Haim and Mick Jagger.

British animators had a great night too, with Bristol-based animation team Karni and Saul won the Best Animation category for their moving promo for Katie Melua’s Perfect World, and Chris Hopewell taking the award for Best International Rock/Indie Video for his video for Father John Misty’s Things it Would Have Been Helpful To Know Before the Revolution.

British director Jake Nava was presented with this year’s Icon Award, for the amazing work he’s produced with some of the brightest stars in pop, including (but nowhere near limited to) Beyoncé, Lana del Rey, Pink, Kelis, Mark Morrison, Kylie Minogue, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Arctic Monkeys, Emeli Sandé and Adele. Video tributes on the night came from Beyoncé, Kylie, Emeli Sande and Alicia Keys.

In the live music categories, previous Icon Award winner Jonas Akerlund triumphed with his live concert film for Rammstein: Paris, while in the short-form category French production team La Blogothèque took the prize for their film for Mura Masa and Damon Albarn’s Blu. The Best Interactive Video category was won for an unprecedented third time by French director Romain Chassaing for his work with Naïve New Beaters for Words Hurt. The Vevo MUST SEE Award was won by Sam Bailey for Marika Hackman’s My Lover Cindy fending off major competition from Jay-Z, Young Thug, Kendrick Lamar, Dua Lipa and Charli XCX.

Aidan Milan

Full list of winners

Best Pop Video – UK in association with Rushes
Dua Lipa – New Rules
Director: Henry Scholfield
Producer: Campbell Beaton
Prod Co: Caviar
Commissioners: Alex Burford / Kirdis Postelle for Warner Bros

Best Dance Video – UK
Bonobo – No Reason
Director: Oscar Hudson
Producer: Matt Posner
Prod Co: Pulse Films
Commissioner: John Moule for Ninja Tune

Best Rock/Indie Video – UK
Royal Blood – Lights Out
Directors: The Sacred Egg
Producers: Natalie Arnett / Tom Birmingham
Prod Co: Riff Raff Films
Commissioner: Jennifer Ivory for Warner Music UK

Best Alternative Video – UK
Alt-J – 3WW
Director: Young Replicant
Producer: Sarah Park
Prod Co: Pulse Films
Commissioner: Andrew Law for Infectious Music / BMG

Best Urban Video – UK in association with PPL
Ray BLK – Patience
Director: Hector Dockrill
Producer: Stephanie Paeplow
Prod Co: Pulse Films
Commissioner: Hal Hudson

Best Pop Video – International
HAIM – Want You Back
Director: Jake Schreier
Producers: Alex Fisch / Jackie Kelman Bisbee
Prod Co: Park Pictures
Commissioners: Semera Khan / Saul Levitz for Polydor Records / Columbia Records

Best Dance Video – International
The Blaze – Territory
Directors: Jonathan Alric & Guillaume Alric (The Blaze)
Producer: Roman Pichon Herrera
Prod Co: Iconoclast
Commissioner: Manu Barron for Animal63

Best Rock/Indie Video – International
Father John Misty – Things It Would Have Been Helpful To Know Before The Revolution
Director: Chris Hopewell
Producer: Rosie Lea Brind
Prod Co: Jacknife Films
Commissioner: Sub Pop / Bella Union

Best Alternative Video – International
Beck – Up All Night
Directors: CANADA
Producer: Laura Serra
Prod Co: Canada
Commissioner: Kevin Kloecker for Capitol Records

Best Urban Video – International
Young Thug – Wyclef Jean
Director: Ryan Staake
Head of Production: Kevin Staake
Exec Producers: Ryen Bartlett / Nathan Scherrer
Producer: Jeff Kopchia
Prod Co: Pomp&Clout / Freenjoy
Commissioner: Emmanuelle Cuny Diop For Atlantic Records / 300 Entertainment

Best Pop Video – Newcomer in association with giffgaff
Charlotte Cardin – Like It Doesn’t Hurt
Director: Kristof Brandl
Producers: Vlad Cojocaru / Jakob Preischl
Prod Co: Colossale / Bwgtbld
Commissioners: Alex Auray / Jason Brando for Cult Nation

Best Dance Video – Newcomer in association with giffgaff
Obongjayar – Endless
Director: Matilda Finn
Producer: Nick Hayes
Prod Co: Friend
Commissioner: Theo Lalic

Best Rock/Indie Video – Newcomer in association with giffgaff
Lemon Twigs – I Want To Prove To You
Director: Nick Roney
Producer: Andreas Attai
Prod Co: Agile Films
Commissioner: Gabe Spierer for 4AD

Best Alternative Video – Newcomer in association with giffgaff
Bonnie Banane – L’Appétit
Director: William Laboury
Producer: Theo Gall
Prod Co: Division
Commissioner Jules De Chateleux for DIVISION 

Best Urban Video – Newcomer in association with giffgaff
Oscar Worldpeace – Tate Modern, Wary, Pearls
Director: Taz Tron Delix
Producer: Kiran Mandla
Prod Co: COMPULSORY

Vevo MUST SEE Award
Marika Hackman – My Lover Cindy
Director: Sam Bailey
Producers: Lucy Bradley / Katie Lambert
Prod Co: Agile Films
Commissioner: Connie Meade for AMF Records

Best Interactive Video in association with The Mill
Naïve New Beaters – Words Hurt
Director: Romain Chassaing
Producers: Nicolas Tiry / Edouard Chassaing
Prod Co: Solab
Record Co: Capitol Music France

Best Production Design in a Video
Bonobo – No Reason
Production designer: Luke Moran Morris
Director: Oscar Hudson
Producer: Matt Posner
Prod Co: Pulse Films
Record Co: Ninja Tune

Best Styling in a Video in association with i-D
The Blaze – Territory
Stylist: Juliette Alleaume
Directors: Jonathan Alric / Guillaume Alric (The Blaze)
Producer: Roman Pichon Herrera
Prod Co: Iconoclast
Record Co: Animal63

Best Choreography in a Video
Kanye West – Fade
Choreographers: Guapo, Jae Blaze, Derek ‘Bentley’ Watkins
Director: Eli Linnetz
Producer: Kathleen Heffernan
Prod Co: Iconoclast
Record Co: Good Music

Best Cinematography in a Video in association with Panalux
Alt-J – 3WW
DOP: Dustin Lane
Director: Young Replicant
Producer: Sarah Park
Prod Co: Pulse Films
Record Co: Infectious Music / BMG

Best Colour Grading in a Video in association with CHEAT
Mick Jagger – Gotta Get A Grip
Colourist: Mark Gethin at MPC LA
Director: Saam Farahmand
Producer: Amalia Rosen-Rawlings
Prod Co: Black Sheep Studios
Record Co: Polydor Records

Best Editing in a Video in association with Cut+Run
Young Thug – Wyclef Jean
Editors: Ryan Staake & Eric Degliomini
Exec Producers: Ryen Bartlett / Nathan Scherrer
Director: Ryan Staake
Producer: Jeff Kopchia
Prod Co: Pomp&Clout / Freenjoy
Record Co: Atlantic Records / 300 Entertainment

Best Visual Effects in a Video
Leningrad – Kolshik
VFX: CGF
Director: Ilya Naishuller
Producers: Dimitry Mouraviev / Ekaterina Kononenko
Prod Co: Fancy Shot / Versus Pictures / Great Guns

Best Animation in a Video
Katie Melua – Perfect World
Animators: Karni & Saul
Directors: Karni & Saul
Prod Co: Sulky Bunny
Record Co: Dramatico

Best Live Session
Mura Masa ft Damon Albarn – Blu (Live)
Director: Colin Solal Cardo
Producer: Christophe “Chryde” Abric
Prod Co: La Blogothèque
Commissioners: Emily Tedrake / Semera Khan for Polydor Records

Best Live Concert
Rammstein – Paris
Director: Jonas Akerlund
Producer: Svana Gisla
Prod Co: Black Dog Films
Commissioner: Rammstein

Best Commissioner
Semera Khan

Best Producer in association with WPA
Nathan Scherrer

Best Production Company
Pulse Films

Best New Director in association with Time Based Arts
Matilda Finn

Best Director in association with Locomotion
Oscar Hudson

Best Artist
Kendrick Lamar

The Icon Award
Jake Nava

Video of the Year in association with Promo News
Young Thug – Wyclef Jean
Director: Ryan Staake
Head of Production: Kevin Staake
Exec Producers: Ryen Bartlett / Nathan Scherrer
Producer: Jeff Kopchia
Prod Co: Pomp&Clout / Freenjoy
Commissioner: Emmanuelle Cuny Diop For Atlantic Records / 300 Entertainment