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Director Will Wightman joins Blinkink
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New director joins the Blinkink family for global representation.
Director Will Wightman caught the attention of Blinkink at last year’s BFI Future Film Fest, taking home Best Director for his graduation piece Heart Failure. The film was also showcased at Cannes Lions and has been widely acclaimed for its unique narrative, electric expressionism and banging original soundtrack.
Last year Wightman joined Blinkink as a director’s assistant. Since then he’s directed his first commercial project for animal rights charity, PETA, released last week.
The talented 23 year old wrote and directed his debut short, Heart Failure during lockdown. He sees himself as an “uncompromisingly Gen-Z filmmaker”, wanting to provide a sympathetic look at his own generation. Other inspirations stem from a love for “the high energy storytelling language of music videos and commercials”, and you can see how this combination has been key in the development of his own unique style.
Heart Failure is a fresh take on dating today with an episodic plot that follows Frank and Lizzie from the first one night stand to the inevitable breakup. It's an 'EDM Musical' with an original soundtrack to justify the tagline: "This is a musical for the cinema...and the nightclub".
“I love dance music, I love the energy it brings and think it ultimately has a lot more emotional resonance than people give it credit for.”
The film is dynamic and undeniably engaging, kept meticulously on track by the beat-driven metronome that allows Wightman complete control over the emotional tempo. This is often used as a blueprint to guide his viewer through some exceptional visual comedy.
Music always plays a key role in Wightman’s work. He’s been producing for years and consistently incorporates it into his projects, giving each piece its own audiovisual identity. This was key in his latest project for PETA in their Shop To Save Lives campaign.
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Will wrote the lyrics, the music and directed which is an impressive feat for his first foray into directing commercials. It was also his first time working with puppets, which he took to with ease, adding yet another string to his bow as a multifaceted filmmaker. His work heralds a new generation of live action filmmaking which we’re proud to be a part of.
Osef Byrne, Executive Producer, Blinkink said: "We saw Heart Failure and fell in love. Will's the kind of live-action, mixed-media polymath we love to have in the studio. He’ll be working on music vids and commercials with Blinkink and programmes and film with our long form division Blink Industries. Super exciting."
James Bretton, Head of Blink Industries adds: "We’re so excited to have Will join the Blink family. We’re already cooking up some amazingly exciting projects with him at Industries and have been genuinely blown away by his brain and what it can do. He’s a disturbingly talented man."
