VISUAL AUTEURS is a series of interviews with some of today’s most exciting artists and filmmakers. Whether they are upcoming talents or established professionals, whether they do fashion films, music videos or art films, what we’re looking for are just great people, who do what they do with great passion and in a distinguished style.

SWELL, NY first came to my attention with the beautiful post production on fashion films by the likes of Guy Aroch, Annelise Phillips and Sharif Hamza. In the following interview Tarik Malak (CEO) and Tim Douglas (VP motion department) deliver some very interesting insight into SWELL’s other areas of action and talk about the future of fashion films.

Tarik, can you tell us a little bit about your personal background and how you came to found SWELL ?

Tarik Malak : I grew up in Paris… worked for a few years in Parisian advertising agencies dealing with mainly fashion brands in both strategic and creative positions. Then I co-founded La Boutique, which is a highly successful photo retouching lab (I recently sold my equity to my former co-owner). While with La Boutique, I worked with premium brands such as D&G, Redken, DVF, Swarovski and artists such as Craig McDean and Ryan McGinley. The last few years I’ve been doing quite a lot of research on new technologies and invested in a few tech startups… SWELL came about as a result of all that work and combines my extensive experience in fashion, communications and technology.
Fortunately I’ve been able to put together a killer team… we’ve got incredibly talented people like Tim Douglas (VP motion department) and Johnny Misheff (Communications manager).

How do your services differentiate from those of an average post production company?

TM : To be clear: we’re a strategic and creative agency. Video post-production is just one of the MANY opportunities for us to be creative and produce relevant content for publishers and brands. Our approach is fundamentally different from the average post production company because we’re participating in so many other areas.

“Elle McPherson for Love Magazine” by Sharif Hamza

What are some of your thoughts on the fashion film phenomenon? How will the fashion film evolve in the foreseeable future?

Timothy Douglas: I’m fairly certain the evolution of the fashion film is going to involve interactivity, or concerned with the dynamics of whatever emerging technologies are around the corner – that’s inevitable. I think the most significant leap these projects will take on will be in becoming more established as a format between brands, viewers and artists. Fashion films or ‘branded shorts’ are set to become a reputed genre of their own, recognized for their individual creative merits over other visual media.

What is your take on the “photographer-turns-film-director” movement?

TD : It’s an interesting phenomenon, especially as most of the fashion photographers I work with are far more prolific filmmakers than the majority of filmmakers I am working with. I think a large part of their success is that the media associated with fashion in the past has been so dire. When I think of what comprised fashion media in the past, especially for moving image, I think of the same old catwalk shows, boring interviews with models (the majority of whom are reluctant to speak on camera) and endless spiels from self-satisfied designers and their cronies. This was always contrasted by what was provided by print – incredibly high-end photography with an almost abstract creative sensibility. My feeling is that these photographer-turned-directors are meeting the requirements of the new digital market with this same sensibility, filling a massive creative void to which brands and viewers alike seem to be responding favorably. There is a definite propensity toward the technical and aesthetic qualities of filmmaking over absolute narrative, which drives a lot of filmmakers insane… but I find it quite encouraging to see and to work within a genre that isn’t afraid to push the boundaries a little. It’s refreshing and exhilarating, creatively speaking.

TM : One of the most interesting challenges for me was to accompany the photographers I’ve been working with for years on the shift to moving images. While establishing SWELL, I took special care while “curating” a group of photographers that for me were the most aware and up-to-speed with what’s going on in the industry.

“Rogue” by Guy Aroch

Post production is a massive game-changer for the effect a (fashion) film has on it’s audience. Having said that, most budgets for fashion films are rather small – yet. Do you feel, budgets have improved in the past 1-2 years?

TD: The budgets are steadily improving and I think there’s going to be a dramatic increase as the medium becomes more established. Because of the open premise that most fashion films have, I can foresee future productions being backed by multiple brands.

TM : Absolutely. Money is shifting in a big way to online communications, considering the way the world is consuming media right now.

Regarding post production, what are your thoughts on the technical aspects of modern filmmaking ?

TD: Technically, there are literally no bounds to the footage I receive. The 5/7D were a big deal for a while and they are very much the fall-back format for most directors, but I’ve found myself receiving more and more R3D and CINE footage recently. I personally miss the days of having standard formats as staying on top of all the new codecs and conforming options is a bit of a drag, because while the results can be encouraging, it requires loads of added testing and you’re always aware of a billion other possibilities.

Upcoming projects you want to share…?

TM : We can’t disclose anything unfortunately… but definitely trust us when we tell you our ideas are limitless and the projects are big and getting bigger! Keep your eyes out for dramatic changes to the way “a huge American fashion retailer” handles their Point of Sale…

What have you been reading/watching/listening this week?

TM : I’ve been watching the new HBO show Broadwalk Empire… I also get a huge daily dose of tech and fashion blogs…

“Dazed and Confused Presents…”, Mystery Project by Sharif Hamza

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