ABOUT THE CHALLENGE

For this year’s Music Video Challenge, Saatchi & Saatchi partnered with Genero.tv, bringing together fresh filmmaking talent and iconic music with songs by the legendary James Brown.

The 2012 Challenge was in celebration of the James Brown catalogue being re-released on iTunes in May, and the re-issuing of the classic James Brown Live at the Apollo album later this year.

THE BRIEF

Filmmakers were asked to choose one of the four iconic James Brown tracks, create a full length music video for it and upload it to Genero.tv before the deadline. Other than live footage, none of these songs had music videos, so this was a huge opportunity to be the director to make the official video for one of these tracks.

The competition closed for entries on July 16^th 2012, 23:59 GMT.

AWARDS AND JUDGING

The judging panel, to choose both the finalists and winner, consisted of members of the Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Creative Board, Genero.tv, BUG and Universal Music.

In addition, directors selected for this year’s Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase were invited to help judge the winner. These directors represent the hottest new filmmaking talent from around the world and you could be among them one day.

The Grand Prize for the overall winner will be a chance to work on a project in a key office in the Saatchi & Saatchi global network. In addition, Universal Music were looking for official videos for each of the songs, with each winner receiving US$4,000.

THE GODFATHER OF SOUL

James Brown changed the course of popular music, rocketing through the generations as “Mr Dynamite”, or “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business”, “Soul Brother Number One” or “Godfather of Soul”. As a singer, songwriter, bandleader and arranger, James Brown brought soul music to the masses, invented funk and set the standard for live performance: no other artist, pop or otherwise, put on a more exciting stage show. He was a force of nature.

James Brown had not just hits, but landmarks: Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, I Got You (I Feel Good), It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World, Sex Machine, Super Bad, and on and on. He had a hit on Billboard’s charts for more than 20 years running, a record he holds alone. When he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1986, he stood tall as the only artist of that inaugural bunch with a contemporary Top 5 single (Living In America).

Brown’s voice and rhythms, likely the most sampled of all time, are the foundation of hip-hop, leaving one conclusion: after six decades, the "Hardest Working Man in Show Business" continues to rule the world.