New Director: Olivia Wilde

The video for US indie folk band Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros’ new song is a visually arresting and provocative film shot in New Orleans and, remarkably, filmed entirely on an iPhone 6s.

Created through Anonymous Content, the No Love Like Yours video is sometimes gritty, sometimes beautiful, but always captivating, and it would be entirely understandable to assume the director must be someone you’ve heard of before, with a wealth of directorial experience under their belt. Well, you’d be 50 per cent right.

You’ve doubtless heard of the actress Olivia Wilde? Well, you can now add ‘director’ to her CV. The star of films In Time and Rush and TV shows including Doll & Em and Vinyl, this is Wilde’s first music video shoot, and only her second directorial job.

But what drew Wilde from in front of the camera to behind it? “I’ve always been fascinated by music videos,” she explains. “They’re a chance to be truly experimental, in a medium that has become less and less so. A music video is so liberating to create, because it can be completely non-linear and impressionistic. The director’s only job is to create something that evokes emotion.

This is the first music video I’ve directed, though I’ve written and directed a short film [Free Hugs], and produced a few movies, so I’ve been itching to get behind the camera for a while now. The thing I appreciate about our industry is our ability to move fluidly from role to role, from director to actor to producer to writer, seamlessly.”

Inspiration for the video came from the fact that the album was recorded in New Orleans, a city Wilde loves deeply. “I wanted to tell a story that reflected that city’s history of resurrection,” she says. “It’s a place that views death differently than the rest of our country. They mourn death by celebrating life through music and dance.”

Further inspiration, as well as mentorship, came from fellow Anonymous director, Mark Romanek, who helped Wilde navigate her first promo shoot. “His body of work is unparalleled, and his wisdom is endless,” she says. “I was so lucky to be able to call him and say, ‘Mark, check out my treatment. Is it too weird?’ and he would reply, ‘No. Not weird enough.’”

Asked why she chose to shoot on an iPhone6, Wilde says she simply “enjoys a challenge” and wanted to see what the iPhone could lend to the shoot. “Luckily I had an incredible partner in my DP, Reed Morano,” she says, “who really cracked open the mystery of this new technology, and figured out how to make it do things no one had ever seen before.”

As for the future, Wilde seems intent on living a dual life both in front of and behind the lens, planning to continue her successful acting career while also taking up residence in the director’s chair again. “I can’t wait to direct a feature,” she states. “I’m slowly putting one together now. Before that I’ll direct a short this summer, and hopefully a few more videos, if I’m lucky.