Creative director Thierry Albert joins Iconoclast

One of the world’s leading commercial production agencies Iconoclast, has signed creative director Thierry Albert aka Albert Albert, for global representation for commercials, music videos and other creative media. 

After a hugely successful career in the advertising industry, creating award-winning work for clients including Adidas, Instagram and Heineken, Albert is making the move to directing music videos and commercials, with a focus on pushing the form to new limits.

His partnership with Iconoclast begins with the release of an innovative music video for Tense, by up and coming electro artist Thom Draft. Creating the video involved throwing out all the old ways of doing things and using just one tool: a phone. “I’m thrilled to be joining Iconoclast,” says Albert. “As the name says, they’re always changing the way things are done, which I find incredibly exciting. Together we want to experiment, and push the boundaries of music videos and commercials.

The first time Albert heard Tense, he fell in love with the grittiness of the track and immediately thought of L. , a teenager whose life is full of tension, pain and misery because she’s being bullied. Then one day her sadness and fury can’t be contained anymore, causing her middle finger to burst into a permanent flame, live on social media, a red-hot-F-you to the world. This bizarre superpower makes L. a celebrity. But online fame never lasts long, and soon L. is replaced by the next big thing, returning to a life of being bullied, with dramatic consequences. Only this time it’s not just girls at school doing the bullying, it’s anyone with access to social media.

From the very start, this music video was written and thought through for a generation who breathe, live and die on their phone. Everything happens from the POV of a phone, and the entire music video was shot exclusively on phones.

“There were no fancy cameras, no film crew, no cheating. Everything was shot by the cast on their phones. You are living what L. is living. And it’s tense,” elaborates Albert. “To live the true experience of L. 's story and Thom Draft’s track, the music promo HAS to be watched on a phone."

"When Thierry presented his concept for Tense, we knew we were in for something special,” says Horace de Gunzbourg, Producer at Iconoclast.

"We’ve never produced a video like this. The setup was so light that anything was possible, whether it be quirky locations or new scenes… Thierry's buzzing mind was across it all, and everything came together perfectly. The promo's META concept, blurring the lines between fiction and reality, makes for a unique video. We’re thrilled with its release and proud to announce our collaboration with Thierry.”

Albert sees this video as just the beginning. “L. 's world could be expanded beyond the video, she could go on to be a star in her own right, with her own advertising campaign or TV show about bullied teenage superheroes all done via their phones. The opportunities are endless.”

Albert has spent his whole career challenging the status quo. In his 20 years in the advertising industry, he masterminded campaigns for Adidas, Instagram, KFC and Heineken, including the groundbreaking Breast Gallery for Adidas and the launch of Instagram Stories. His work has won multiple awards at Cannes Lions and D&AD. As a music video director, he’s made promos for, among others, Pet Shop Boys, Duke Dumont and Format: B, amassing over 50 million views on YouTube.