Lucrecia on set for Personal Shopper with steady cam op Doug Walshe 

You’re originally from Buenos Aires, a city that’s renowned for its creativity, and we heard you were a bit of a rebel child… What was it like growing up in BA and how do you think your background/heritage has shaped your approach and aesthetic?

Buenos Aires has always been at the forefront for creativity, especially in the commercial world. Ad agencies over there have been piling up Cannes Lions for years, so I was very lucky to grow up there. Buenos Aires taught me to embrace colour, architecture and nature but most importantly, that no matter how hard / uncertain things get, we porteños [Buenos Aires locals] always find a way to make it work and we do it with a whole lot of passion. It must be something in the air! Maybe that’s why the city is named after its good air?

As for growing up, I never really liked anyone telling me what to do (looking back now, I feel sorry for my parents).  My mum recently told me a story that I’d completely forgotten, which I think sums it up – when I was 16, I decided I didn’t want to go to school full time anymore. Even though I had all my friends there, I felt like my time there was done, I’d learned everything I could and I was ready for new things. But I still had to graduate, so I said I was happy to go to a different school for half days, so I could have the afternoon to do other things. Always beating my own drum, following my own rules.  You should have seen my mum’s face though…

You then moved to London to study photography – what inspired you to make the move and was that a creatively fulfilling decision?

I was visiting a friend from school who was doing a Masters here and fell completely in love with London. I really can’t put it in words, it just felt like home to me. My decision to come was not so much driven by my career – which I was yet to discover – but more about being in a city where anything was possible, and if I worked really, really hard at something I could create a life I could only have dreamed of. FYI, I just got my ‘indefinite leave to remain’ – so you guys are stuck with me!

Lucrecia nails it with Bree Runway and cast

How did you transition from stills photography into moving image? Was directing something you’d always wanted to do?

By accident, really. A friend of mine, Kim Jarrett, was a director’s rep at OB Management at the time, and she sent me a text on a Monday morning saying, ‘Hey, have you ever thought about directing?’ I hadn’t. I hadn’t even had the thought until then. The rest is history!

And how much does your photographic background inform your directing approach?

Loads. From framing, composition, styling and textures to colour combinations and saturation, everything comes from my photography background. You should see my grade decks, I screengrab the scenes and sketch them over it exactly like I do when I give retouching notes on my images.

Even though you’re relatively new to directing, you’ve already developed a recognisable aesthetic: bold, dark narratives, grotesque characters and a hefty dollop of violence, which we see to great effect in your award-winning video, Hi, It’s Me, for Ashnikko. Is your work an outward manifestation of a dark interior?

Ha, good question! Yes. We all have dark and light [sides], but when I think of ideas my subconscious always tends to take me to the darker side of things. Maybe one day, though, I’m going to wake up and start pitching sunshine and rainbows to everyone.

Ashnikko, Stupid

Stupid is your second video for Ashnikko, and it carries a strong female empowerment message underneath all the gore. Can you unpack the creative concept and process for us?   

The lyrics are: ‘Stupid boy thinks that I need him’. So I thought to myself, what’s the least clichéd way of showing you don’t need a guy in a music video? Fucking kill his ass. I wanted to move away from the visual stereotypes of female artists when talking about not needing a guy. For example, girl walks into club, ex is with someone else, girl grabs another guy and dances on the dancefloor to make him jealous, ex gets jealous goes to her and begs forgiveness, girl is over it. She leaves with her friends. The end. That’s not empowering, is it? That’s just lame.

So, I wanted this video to be bold. A strong statement for a strong female artist like Ashnikko with a strong track. I couldn’t make something vanilla, because that wouldn’t be very ‘me’ and have you listened to the lyrics? ‘I know you think about me in the shower, PornHub in your browser, fantasising about the PUSSY POWER?’! I mean, yeah. The only way of doing justice to a song like that is to have a killer narrative and I think we got both.

Strong choreography and styling is another hallmark of your work. Are you the kind of director who plans things out meticulously in pre-production or do you prefer a more organic approach?

Anyone reading this question that knows me will be laughing. I’m SUPER meticulous, down to the exact millisecond – e.g. ‘at 0:05, she extends her hand’. Planning, going over shots a billion times, challenging yourself constantly… it’s the only way I know how to direct. Having an organic approach works brilliantly for other type of directors that maybe are more visually-led and don’t have narrative as their centre piece. But for me, no. I have to plan. All my biggest influences plan loads and only through planning can you see their magic.

Steven Wilson, Personal Shopper 

Your video, Personal Shopper for Steven Wilson, is a nightmarish comment on consumerism and takes the idea of ‘selling your soul’ to gruesome physical lengths. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the film and how you brought it to life?

I was inspired by the lyrics and pacing of the track. The track is a social criticism of consumerism and how we fill our lives with unnecessary goods to feel important, special or loved. But the truth is, the feeling of unhappiness won’t go away with the next pair of sick trainers. Those feelings will only go away when we look within, and if we don’t… well, then we’re going to end up with a lot of stuff around us, but still pretty empty.

Luckily the track being six minutes gave me enough time to develop an interesting narrative. I wanted to create a fictional world in which people buy goods and the transaction would not only be money but also a part of their body, alluding to the concept of the more you look for answers outside, the more you disappear on the inside.

It was brought to life thanks to my talented production team Luke Tierney and Joseph Goldman. It was a true production and logistical nightmare and they pulled it off. I’m forever grateful of the amount of work they did for it. A two-day shoot with an ambitious shot list in a super-busy London shopping centre with a very modest budget, and to top it off, the day we started shooting was the school break, so it was busy as hell.

BTS, Bree Runway, ATM

Your latest video for Bree Runway with Missy Elliot completely blew our socks off. Everyone seems to love it. What was it like working with Bree and Missy?

Thank you! Yeah the response has been crazy, I was quite surprised! When you release a video you never know how people will respond to it, you just hope some people get it. And a lot certainly did, Cardi B loved it so much she shared it twice!

Working with them was really great. I had more contact with Bree because we had a few rehearsals so that gave me a chance to get to know her in person. She’s a power house: full of energy, confidence and talent. But mostly she was really trusting with her song and let me run with it. As for Missy, I met and talked to her team closely but sadly didn’t have a chance to meet her as she had to shoot in the US. However I was really grateful that she understood my vision for her section of the track and think that shows in the video. Her part fits effortlessly into the whole concept even though she was in Atlanta and we were in UK.

Where does an idea like that come from – was it in the original brief?

The original brief was the aftermath of a party: full of empty champagne bottles, money all over the floor. A luxurious chaos in which Bree and her friends are enjoying the success of their own empire.  For me, the idea of Bree and her friends enjoying their own success was very appealing so I started exploring the money empire idea in combination with ATMs like in the lyrics.  Because of the track’s melody and pacing I wanted to create a Chicago / Moulin Rouge narrative. In it Bree and her friends control everyone and everything and what’s easier to control than a machine? So it all grew from there.

Lucrecia directing on set for Bree Runway’s ATM – click on pic to view video

How was it shooting between lockdowns? Any major challenges for the production?

I shot quite a lot during lockdown and never had a problem – I’m one of the lucky ones! But on this particular production national lockdown hit us the same day we were meant to shoot. We were meant to film ATM on Wednesday and on Sunday the Government announced we were moving back into full lockdown as of that Wednesday. Out of panic, the location dropped us. Somehow we managed to convince the location to let us shoot as productions could go ahead – phew!

My production team managed to hide the stress of it all from me but then my AD walked in for a run-through of the shot list and the first thing he said was ‘did you hear we lost the location?’ You should have seen the producers’ faces (Luke Tierney and Joseph Goldman) Lol. I laugh now 😉  In the end, they managed to resolve it so all the credit goes to them.

You’re signed to FRIEND in London and we hear you’ve just signed to Landia in Buenos Aires. Will you be flitting back and forth?

Yes! I always wanted to be with a production company in my hometown, and with Landia I’ve found that place. Excited to do great things with them in Buenos Aires and Sao Pablo. As for flitting back and forth, too soon to tell but I hope so!

What other projects do you have in the pipeline?

 I have a few photoshoots and music videos in the pipeline. Same as always… just casually taking over the world. #latingang

Interview by Selena Schleh

@lucrecia.taormina

lucreciataormina.com

FRIEND