As one half of Swedish directing duo Zubicky & Tempelman, Philippe has already added work for Wranger to his reel less than two years since graduating from Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm as well as attracting attention from the taste-makers at Dazed & Confused.

As Philippe prepares to launch his new solo endeavor, moniker TBC, we spoke with him about his latest project for Saint Lou Lou – an erotically charged B&W promo that’s as pleasing to the eyes as it is the ears.

You studied at Beckmans in Stockholm – can you tell us a bit about their cross-disciplinary approach to training young creatives?

Beckmans is really what you make of it. It’s open-minded and you can mold the education so that it suits you. If you wanna do film you’re given the opportunity to make film and if you wanna do illustration you can do illustration. But you’re always thrown in the deep end and with high expectations to deliver. I studied visual communication and my old class mates work all over the world today and in diverse fields – you have everything from art directors and directors to fine artists, set designers and conceptual graphic designers. Beckmans also house Sweden’s best fashion education and a product and interior design program and you’re instantly paired up across the disciplines. It’s very inspiring… and it makes for great parties.

The short film for musician Kendal Johansson and designer Heidi Nilausen that you shot with fellow Beckmans student Kian Zubicky struck a note with viewers and earned attention from fashion press including Dazed. Were you surprised how well received that film was?

Yes. The film was made with high ambitions and lots of love but we never expected it to propeller out over the world. It was a door opener for us.

Looking back on that first film what advice would you give your younger self – what would you do differently?

Nothing. Naivety and carefreeness meant that we didn’t see any real restrictions or were afraid to ask stupid questions. And that was a recipe for success. So with that in mind, I’d keep my mouth shut.

You went straight from school to shooting for Wrangler – was that a bit of a head spinner?

The turnaround was so quick that I didn’t have time to reflect too much. We only had a week between we got the first call about the project to the shoot in NY. The treatment was literally written on the plane from Stockholm. It was a great first gig though.

You’ve worked on several interactive pieces too including an online promo for Lune. What’s the appeal of adding interaction to video?

I enjoy blending film with interactive experiences and to develop interactive concepts. I just finished an interactive project for Boots with Mother London and, as always, it’s a lot of trial and error but very satisfying when everything comes together in the end. I have had the pleasure of working with great digital production companies like Stink Digital and STOPP, companies that know and understand film and combine it with incredible technical skills.

And now your latest promo has amplified the sexy and upped the cinematography – tell us more!

I started to discuss the video for Maybe You with Saint Lou Lou in May and the brief was very open: “Black and white and the girls need to feature.” The process together with Saint Lou Lou was symbiotic and and we had already synced both the feel and a lot of other parameters for the video before I wrote the treatment.

I worked closely with DOP Mattias Montero who was a perfect match for what we wanted to do. He is an amazing photographer with a lot of commitment and energy, and one of his greatest strengths is that he sees no limitations. It was an extremely inspiering collaboration and much of the preparation was about watching movies together – everything from Persona to Possession. We wanted the video to be cinematic, both the photography and feel of the video as a whole.

Any other projects in the works?

Right now I am working on a project together with a Swedish fashion designer – we’re in a very early stage and our work can result in everything from a film to an exhibition. It’s inspiring and unusual to be able to venture into a project that open-minded and that feels exciting.

LINKS: https://www.socialclub.se