AUSTIN LYNN AUSTIN

I spent about 15 of my years working on music. I found my creative life in music and I still enjoy the pleasure of creating it (for fun) and having it be a part of my world. I select most of the tracks or composers I use for my productions. A lot of the time, when a project is in its kickoff stages, I reference music first. I’m inspired and guided by it in many ways and, once in a while, I find myself in the position of Music Supervisor on other productions. I have worked so closely with the M.A.C Cosmetics creative team over the last year that it seemed natural for me to jump in and get the music together for them on their Spring Colour Forecast videos.

Once again, I enlisted my team of composers over at Singing Serpent. We have worked together for a long time now and, this last year alone, I have commissioned them on over a dozen projects, including, Dsquared2, Flirt With Fall, Artists In Action etc. I was sure they would be the right match for this dynamic and would give me the flexibility needed to meet M.A.C’s requirements. Rocking.

Video - We Are Plus
Music Supervision - Austin Lynn Austin / Kovarova

Composers @ Singing Serpent -
PINK - Brent Asbury
CORAL - Kenseth Thibideau
GOLD - Brandon O’Connell

It was a great way to end last year’s run with this video. Congratulations, Marilyn.

Now playing: Green Pink Caviar at MoMA, New York

11 W 53rd Street
New York, NY 10019
Ongoing

The first week of November brings us to shooting another Artists In Action series for our favorite makeup company. Once again, we are going to the Tribeca Skyline Studios and setting up a four-camera shoot. The angle I took on this was to create an environment where the makeup artist gets to do what they do best and capture it with four cameras operated by some of the best indie film shooters in town. We have enlisted the talents of up-and-coming dps/filmmakers - Kai Leung, Julian King, Chris Teague and Bob Boothe. With the right environment and the right talent, all should run as smooth and with the best result as the last time we did this. I’m looking forward to it.

Another season has arrived. Last year’s Halloween Fantasticals video for M.A.C was such a success with their audience that we set out to make another one this year. Once again, I enlisted the musical talents of Omar Ajluni and went for a tribal score to match the sequential stills and frequent frames. M.A.C’s audience has fully embraced the piece and, hopefully, we inspired several to get their makeup kits out and have some fun this year.

M.A.C says: Spooky-kooky to ga-ga gorgeous, the top looks of Halloween are here as five M∙A∙C Senior Artists demonstrate how monstrously fun and devilishly doable our looks can be!

This project was like a jam session, a riff on graphics and stills. My motion graphics artist and I were playing the juxtaposed computers like instruments or turntables.

M.A.C had just finished shooting the stills in the UK with Miles Aldridge. Toni Lakis at M.A.C set this in motion with a cool direction she wanted to go in and gave me the freedom to take it there. A great starting point was the track by Mika from Klein Records in Vienna. It had the right tempo and spoke the right language.

M.A.C - Fall ‘09 as seen by New York artists Marilyn Minter, Richard Phillips, and Maira Kalman.

I embarked on this project at the end of last year and it’s great to finally have it go public. It gave me an intimate insight into some really wonderful New York artists. Their passion, techniques and points of view inspired me. Marilyn’s quest for the magic moment, Richard’s creative zone and Maira’s feel for color, texture and humor will resonate with me for a long time.

So many projects have come and gone this year but this is one I will remember. For me it was about creativity, process, color and New York City. I felt ‘right at home’ documenting creative minds that live for their work.

This project was also the seed of my collaboration with Marilyn Minter.

M.A.C says:

M∙A∙C takes you behind the scenes to visit the three top contemporary artists as they create the dynamic images for the Fall ‘09 Make-up Art Cosmetics colour collection. See what happens when M∙A∙C makeup and these art world luminaries get together. Art is in M∙A∙C’s DNA, so this season we celebrated artists in every shade and stripe by inviting three of the art worlds leading luminaries to create images for our Fall ‘09 Make-Up Art Cosmetics collection. See these artists as they work with M∙A∙C colour. Richard Phillips with his trademark approach to hyper-glamour, digitally retouches an image with supersaturated M∙A∙C colour and finishes. Illustrator, Maira Kalman, makes bold with shades, giving us a playfully eccentric, brighter-than-bright take on life, while Marilyn Minter’s attitude towards seduction and sexiness meets its match in M∙A∙C pigments and glitter.

A couple of years ago, a good friend (producer/director) was putting together this web series and looking for a DP. I was cutting a documentary for him at the time and I offered to step in if he was unable to find anybody. He didn’t and I was on board. I hadn’t shot drama for quite a while but it was a great time and now it’s on the Sundance Channel. Thanks Stuart.

The queen of pop MADONNA is using the video Marilyn Minter and I made for her Sticky and Sweet European tour! The video is featured on several massive screens during her show opening / Candy Shop performance. The tour kicked off in London yesterday, July 4th, and will run into September. If you are in Europe and have a chance to check it out, remember that I shot those lips. It’s not every day that things like this happen and it is cool to know that when that hot diva arrives on stage each night for the next couple months, she will be surrounded by our video. Totally cool.

THANKS MADONNA.

2009 has been a slamming busy time.

I have burnt through 15 projects in the last 5 months. It’s as if the economy tanked and my stock went up. All of the projects have been wonderfully creative and I have had the opportunity to work with some very talented people. This period has really pushed me to explore the depths of my creativity. I have had to harness the ability to ‘turn it on’ when needed and it’s a delight to see the results.

I have been very fortunate to work with some great people over at M.A.C Cosmetics; several of the recent projects have come from them. I’m really grateful for the amount of creative freedom they allow me and it’s a pleasure to collaborate with the people that work there.

We have been creating a fascinating project that is currently in the final stages of post production. The video, Makeup Arts Cosmetics, will represent M.A.C’s Fall 2009 collection. M.A.C commissioned Marilyn Minter, Richard Phillips and Maira Kalman to create works of art inspired by their collection and asked me to document the artists’ process organically and with an artistic eye.

Every time I finished shooting a segment of this piece, I got a deep reminder of where I am. So much of this project is really about New York, the artworks created for the collection were made here, the artists are here and have history here. This was one of those could-happen-only-in-New-York projects. And as it gets closer to completion, I’m able to contemplate about all that has gone on this year.

As we edge slowly towards midyear, I’m daydreaming of what is to come in the second half. Lets go!

Big props go to friends and colleagues for their support and collaboration: Cindy Carrandi, James Gager, Toni Lakis, Loann Lam, Jason Naylor, Tom Alphers, Clive Booth, Berry Behrendt, Sonja Roberts, Charles Parker, Jason Lehr, Noah Workman, Patrick Rousseau, Omar Jon Ajluni, Christian Gibbs, Liz Godoy, Vava, Marco Testa and, of course, Marilyn Minter, Richard Phillips and Maira Kalman.

Recent project titles -
Rose Romance
Style Warriors
Artists Representation
Senior Artists
M.A.C In Mode
Makeup Arts Cosmetics / Artist Collaboration
Green Pink Caviar
They Are Like Us But Better
Heike Jarick
Metamorphosis
Roksanda Ilincic
Dsquared2
Style Black
Holiday
M.A.C Pro HD