Merman’s advertising and branded division has offices in London, New York and Los Angeles, and is led by Partners and Executive Producers Siobhan Murphy and Spencer Dodd. The New York and Los Angeles office is under the directorship of joint Managing Partners Kira Carstensen, and Ellen Jacobson-Clarke. In addition to commercial content helmed by an award-winning roster of directors, Merman’s focus is to bring writers and creators from their TV and film family into scripting entertainment for brands in collaboration with agency partners.

Production Company

Merman

The renowned&nbsp;dancer, choreographer and director Parris Goebel has signed to Merman for director representation in the UK and US.Goebel, one of the world's most sought-after dancers and choreographers, with clients ranging from Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Karol G, Jennifer Lopez and Justin Bieber, has signed to direct commercials, branded entertainment and music videos with Merman, the production company based in London, Los Angeles and&nbsp;New York.&nbsp;It is the New Zealander's&nbsp;first representation anywhere for commercial directing, a&nbsp;major move by the international superstar into the world of creative advertising.Goebel was introduced to Merman through her most recent music videos, both produced by the company:&nbsp;Lady Gaga and Doechii's video for Runway, that was a tie-in and soundtrack feature for the film The Devil Wears Prada 2; and&nbsp;the Gold Lion-winning branded music video Abracadabra&nbsp;(Fan Edit) for Lady Gaga and Mastercard.Before that, Goebel's innovative work&nbsp;on high-profile music and fashion specials has been recognised with&nbsp;multiple Primetime Emmy Award nominations and wins in the category of Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming.&nbsp;Notable highlights include choreographing the 2020 Super Bowl LIV halftime show for Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, Rihanna's 2023 Super Bowl LVII performance featuring 280 dancers, and serving as artistic director for Vogue World: Paris in 2024.&nbsp;“Parris is a true artist who inspires and elevates all other artists around her, be it an iconic performer or a set designer” says Kira Carstensen, Global Managing Director of Merman. “She understands the power of movement - movement of performers, camera, set design, costume, lighting - and how together they create a holistic and emotional experience for an audience. We could not be more excited to bring her vision to our brand and agency partners.”Siobhan Murphy, Merman Partner/Executive Producer, adds:&nbsp;“Welcoming Parris Goebel to her first-ever production company home is nothing short of an honour. She is a creative force, who has redefined what movement, storytelling and staging can look like through her pioneering lens. We cannot wait to build partnerships with some of the world's most iconic brands that match the scale and vision of her creative ambition.”Parris Goebel adds:&nbsp;“Movement is how I express myself and share my stories. I see directing as an extension of that expression and my creativity, taking the same inspiration and spectacle that I bring to a Super Bowl halftime show or world stage tour to a different audience."I have always wanted to direct more in the advertising space, and help to build a brand’s image the same way I do for other artists and performers. And I’m so happy to do that with Merman. On our past projects, they understood and trusted my vision, and gave me the space and support to create it in the best way possible. I’m excited to see what else we can create together.”• Watch Parris Goebel's showreel at Merman <a href="https://hellomerman.com/branded/uk/directors/view/parris-goebel/" target="_blank">here</a>

Parris Goebel

Parris Goebel joins Merman for UK and US representation

Legendary pop video director Vaughan Arnell returns to the medium and reunites with Take That - who he first worked with three decades ago - proceeding&nbsp;to subvert all expectations with the veteran 'boy band': he&nbsp;turns them into a rock 'n roll power trio, and then into animated versions of themselves.In the video for Sweet July, Take That&nbsp;stride onto a film stage to perform, as an old-school&nbsp;rock combo: Gary on vocals, Mark on guitar, Howard&nbsp;on drums.&nbsp;If that's the first surprise, the second is when their animated performance becomes properly animated - in several different animation styles, each one a bit more 'rock 'n roll' than the last.A minute into the video, the performance becomes an animated rendition of the performance, in the style of a black and white comic book. And that's just the start as its followed by further transformations into other comic book&nbsp;styles and textures.[imgtoken data:1]Drawing inspiration from some iconic music videos - including Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer and a-ha's Take On Me - alongside four decades of comic-book illustration, Arnell worked with&nbsp;independent artist-led VFX studio Rohtau to make this happen in the video. Three artists, based in different parts of Europe, developed each animation style under the auspices of&nbsp;Rohtau's Jordi Bares. The traditional methods of animation were then turbo-charged in their delivery by&nbsp;AI-assisted workflows.Rohtau worked closely alongside Arnell and the Merman team throughout the live action shoot of the band's performance.&nbsp;Once an edit of the live action footage was completed, the film was divided into individual sequences and assigned to the specialist artists.&nbsp;French comic-book specialist Sébastien Daniel handled the water-ink, darker ink, and colour comic-book sections, maintaining both the timeline and the visual flow; Hungary-based Zed Zara brought his expertise in textured, gritty comic-book imagery and added depth; and Linus Konetschnigin from Switzerland drew on his background in comic books, collage, paper craft, and stop-motion to help shape the more tactile, layered sections.[imgtoken data:2]Take That are so instantly recognisable, preserving their likeness while embracing bold graphic styles was central to the creative process.&nbsp;And some of the most exciting moments came from happy accidents including the large studio doors opening to cast beautiful shadows that translated into rich line-art textures across the floor."The video was inspired by the iconic videos of INXS, Peter Gabriel and a-ha - but we wanted to re-interpret that style through a contemporary AI lens," explains Arnell."Rohtau were incredible at bringing the idea to life. We had three artists from across Europe each creating different sections of the film, all coordinated by Jordi at Rohtau, so it became this genuinely collaborative process."There were hand-drawn sketches, illustrations and painted elements, all blended with different AI platforms. It ended up feeling like a real fusion of traditional craft and modern mixed-media techniques, and we were thrilled with how it all came together."

United Kingdom

Vaughan Arnell

Other Kind

Will Bex

Take That 'Sweet July' by Vaughan Arnell

Take That - Sweet July (Official Video)

Lady Gaga and Doechii vogue through a blockbuster production&nbsp;for the superstar collab tie-in to the much anticipated The Devil Wears Prada 2.The extravagant music video directed by longtime Gaga collaborator Parris Goebel, features Doechii in a&nbsp;bedazzled bondage suit, Gaga dressed as a teapot, and an enormous high-heeled shoe.Faaabulous&nbsp;darling...&nbsp;

United States

Lady Gaga & Doechii 'Runway' by Parris Goebel

Lady Gaga, Doechii - RUNWAY (Official Music Video)

A video that was inspired by a comment on the couch of The Graham Norton Show on TV, can also lay claim to be the most thoroughly entertaining Taylor Swift video for a considerable time.The seeds of the video are indeed almost certainly unique. Taylor Swift appeared on the BBC's top chatshow at the time of the release of new album The Life Of A Showgirl last October - together with actors Domhnall Gleeson,&nbsp;Cillian Murphy, Greta Lee and Jodie Turner-Smith, and singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi.&nbsp;And all her fellow&nbsp;guests on the show are in the video - including Norton.But spurred by a comment by Gleeson at the end of the show, its appropriate that he's the important casting decision that the tireless multi-tasking superstar made here. In the nominally 1980s-set comedy he and Taylor&nbsp;are everyday nerds, fixated on objects who do not love them back - until 'Opalite' magically brings them together.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1]Taylor Swift has written on Instagram: "When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall made a light hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos. I was instantly struck with an *idea*."And so a week later, he received an email script I'd written for the Opalite video, where he was playing the starring role. I had this thought that it would be wild if all of our fellow guests on the Graham Norton show that night, including Graham himself, could be a part of it too."Like all of her recent videos, the biggest pop star in the world is the director of this one. It's definitely one of her best efforts. The Opalite device - a spray that answers your dreams - is a bit heavy-handed, but&nbsp;the casting of Domhnall Gleeson as her love interest is a real winner. They have chemistry - and the various cameos of the rest of the Norton guests is undoubtedly a nice touch.And Taylor seals the deal at the end with a lovely dance with Domhnall in coordinated tracksuits on stage at The Mildmay Club in Stoke Newington. Their&nbsp;unimpressed audience looks like it was cast from longest serving members of this active working men's club. Hand-picked by Taylor herself? Well, she does everything else...&nbsp;&nbsp;

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift 'Opalite' by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift - Opalite (Official Music Video)

And then there were two. Depeche Mode's return following the death of bandmember Andrew Fletcher last year is particularly emotional for their famously devoted fans. For such an important moment Anton Corbijn's video for Ghosts Again could not be more appropriate.For a song at the poppier end of the band's range - like their early stuff&nbsp;- Corbijn references his own classic work with the band, that mix of symbolism and iconography to bring another element to that unmistakeable photographic look.&nbsp;At the same time, Corbijn does not shy away from the fact that the remaining bandmembers, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore, are now older men. Just as the song reflects on mortality, their faces now display their age, all the&nbsp;years of experience emphasised - again echoing Corbijn's greatest photographs of music icons like Miles Davis and Johnny Cash.&nbsp;Beyond the simple, symbolic and very cinematic device&nbsp;of the chess match that nods to The Seventh Seal, this is really all about those faces. It pays homage to the band and to emotion felt by their fans.&nbsp;A great addition to one of the great collaborations between artist and director in music videos.[imgtoken data:1][imgtoken data:2]

Anton Corbijn

Rock

Depeche Mode 'Ghosts Again' by Anton Corbijn

Depeche Mode - Ghosts Again (Official Video)

Renowned&nbsp;ballet dancer Sergei Polunin performs a stunning contemporary dance to Depeche Mode’s song In Your Room, captured by legendary director/photographer and longtime collaborator of the band,&nbsp;Anton Corbijn.It's not a conventional&nbsp;music video, but a unique promo&nbsp;of Corbijn's forthcoming feature documentary Dancer 2&nbsp;- the&nbsp;sequel to the&nbsp;the critically-acclaimed 2016 film&nbsp;Dancer.&nbsp;The first film&nbsp;charted Polunin’s meteoric rise to become the Royal Ballet’s youngest-ever principal dancer, and his self-inflicted fall from grace. Corbijn's new film pick ups from where Dancer left off, exploring Polunin’s return to ballet.Corbijn frames a powerful solo performance by Polunin to the 1993 song, choreographed by Ross Freddie Ray, against the vast windswept dunes of&nbsp;Terschelling&nbsp;in The Netherlands,&nbsp;Corbijn's home country. The performance&nbsp;evokes Polunin’s well-documented struggles within the confines of the ballet world and in his personal life, following his infamous rejection of the ballet establishment while at the height of his powers.Filmed in November last year, the film is effectively a prelude for the film to come, which is now moving into production.[imgtoken data:1]&nbsp;

The Quarry

Synth Pop

Sergei Polunin/Depeche Mode 'In Your Room' by Anton Corbijn

Depeche-Mode--'In-Your-Room'-by-Anton-Corbijn

Zak Emerson has created a fascinatingly visceral video for electronica artist&nbsp;Ben Chatwin, using photography in such a stylised way it starts to resemble CGI. In fact, what we are watching is largely in-camera:&nbsp;a human figure that is largely hidden by the viscous liquid that covers them.This alluring figure, suspended in mid-air, is dripping in a latex-like, black lava,&nbsp;an almost alien&nbsp;form emerging in&nbsp;a dark, mysterious world.&nbsp;As the body contorts and ripples so does the increasingly intense electronic sounds of artist Ben Chatwin. It&rsquo;s&nbsp;an intense,&nbsp;immersive experience.&nbsp;Emerson has impressively wedded&nbsp;the hauntingly-acoustic sounds of Ben Chatwin with a&nbsp;powerful portrayal of birth, life and spirit.

Merman

Production Company

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