Ricky Gibb directs an ambitious project for James Smith, with a quartet of music videos woven together in a single narrative, to create an 11 minute short - now released as Common People, Full Film. 

Impressive in scale, and featuring a a dazzling display of performance, choreography and vibrant set pieces, Common People still feels intimate and relatable, and the narrative elements infused in the concept act as a great guide on the journey. 

"When James Smith and the team at RINSE approached me to pitch this project, it felt like a creative challenge unlike anything that had been brought to me before," says Gibb. "We discussed something cinematic, surreal, and humorous. Four promos, all woven together as one single long narrative film... Right up my street. I was in.

"Ahead of writing, I spent serious time listening to James’ (then unreleased) debut album, COMMON PEOPLE. Drawing from James’ lyrics, I put pen to paper on a narrative that harnessed the young songwriter’s notions of longing, melancholy, and awkward, fumbling love, albeit framed through a surreal and humorous lens. There was some back and forth. Some tracks got swapped out. There was a touch of jiggery and a peppering of pokery. A few sleepless nights. Maybe 57 budget rewrites. Maybe a year or so later, we had it.

"As a writer/director, driving a project like this from inception to delivery was exactly the challenge I needed at that point in my career. It forced me to grow and adapt faster than ever before. Navigating longer storytelling, a growing cast of key characters, and the intricacies that came with both really tested the limits of what was possible within the budget and time I had to play with.

"As always, the talent and grit of the individuals involved were the sole reasons a project like this ever got across the line at all. The production team at KODE worked around the clock to fight fires and keep us on track. Good friend and frequent collaborator Joshua Smith directed the movement of a cast of incredible talent, and I finally had the opportunity to collaborate with DoP Kai Blaimey, another friend in the industry whose work I’ve admired for a long time.

"Working on projects like this makes my soul sing, and I’m really keen for more. I really relish off these long-term collaboration with artists and long-form creative concepts."