Demons-224x139There's nothing new about brands partnering with creative talent to give a mutual boost to their respective profiles, but what's slightly different about the new six-part video collaboration from Noisey and Belvedere Vodka is their approach of pairing non-traditional music video directors with musicians. The first product of this alliance to stalk its way online is Black Swan choreographer Benjamin Millepied's Demons for Canadian electronic duo Zeds Dead:


Despite being predominantly known for his work in the world of dance -- he was recently appointed Director of the Paris Opera Ballet -- Millepied is no stranger to the role of film director with well-regarded shorts Time Doesn't Stand Still and Partita under his belt, along with a series of films for composer Philip Glass and a couple promos for IO Echo (Eye Father and Stalemate) although those projects displayed a much more languid pace. As he reflects in the interview below (which of course includes a conspicuous bottle of Belvedere least we forget the origin of the collaboration), a previous love of Drum n Bass and memories of the individualistic dance styles it produced in clubs, inspired much of the choreography seen in the kinetic Dubstep promo.

The dancers in Demons are clearly at the top of their game and the wave effects restrained enough to be subtle enhancements as opposed to distractions, so it seems churlish to compare Millepied's promo to Thriller -- indisputably the most influential music video of all time -- but then again, I don't think they're doing themselves any favours by name checking John Landis' seminal work in the promo's YouTube description.

As the first entry in a series of six, has Demons whet your appetite for the remaining non-promo director crossovers to follow?

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