New Director: Savannah Setten

Frankie Wade: UTOPIA

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Director Savannah Setten

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Credits

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Director Savannah Setten
Editor Joseph Bicknell
Producer Rohan Scully
Director of Photography Aaron Reid
Artist Frankie Wade

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When most people go out, their fear is usually that they’ll probably end up embarrassing themselves by either dancing madly until the early hours or drinking too much.

But Savannah Setten must be the exception to the rule; when she met Frankie Wade, London-based actor, model and spoken word poet, at a dodgy nightclub a few years back, they “bonded over semi-slurred mutterings about not doing what [they] loved in life”.

Fast forward two years and they’re back in touch, having resumed their initial conversation and realised that they can actually help each other out. When Wade approached Setten and suggested she visually reimagine his poem Utopia – about a youngster who resists conforming to what’s expected of him – Setten was blown away. “I actually couldn’t believe it when I first heard it… The way he manipulates words and [adds] references within his poetry is incredible,” she says.

Using just her friend’s words as inspiration, Setten listened over and over again to the poem, jotting down emotions and visions as they came to her, including one sequence of a red-headed model walking through smoke, which actually came from a dream Setten had. “I wanted the video to be saturated in that same level of emotion that I could feel in his words,” she explains.

The project was entirely self-funded, and required calling in favours from family and friends to star in the video. Shot in one day on the Pepys estate in Deptford, the London neighbourhood where Wade lives, the job had its complications, including holding up traffic, keeping morale high and working within a small team. But Setten admits it was all worthwhile, especially because the motivation to do something different was real. “We wanted to address the struggles and views of a lot of young people who aren’t encouraged to pursue what they love and [in turn] inspire them.”

Setten is using the poetic promo as a springboard to hopefully kickstart her career. Following its release, the fledgling director contacted RSA Films and was then invited into their offices to discuss her future behind the camera. Getting signed would be a dream come true for Setten, who spent much of her university years carefully studying promos, looking for techniques and inspiration.

Now she’s hoping to continue building on this self-led training and further develop her own style by learning to listen to her creative inklings and nurture her passions. “I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned is to revel in discomfort. There’s so much to be gained when you push yourself,” she concludes.

Moral of the story: when in doubt, always go clubbing. You never know what may come of it.