It was light, camera action at the Euphoria Botanical Creative Space in South Pasadena, Los Angeles, as Avery Sadowski, a former Temple student, made his music video directing debut this fall with the video for rapper and Grammy-nominated songwriter Belly’s new single, Belly. Flower.”
And Sadowski’s journey there is worth a video of its own.
When the pandemic began, he was two semesters away from graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Temple’s School of Theatre, Film and Media Arts. Amid widespread uncertainty during lockdown, he took a break from university and entered a music video editing competition organized by hip-hop videographer and musician Jak Bannon, finishing second.
Music video director Edgar Esteves heard about his post and they met in the summer of 2020. Eventually, he flew Sadowski to Los Angeles to meet his production team and test his ability to shoot videos and work on projects. Then, in spring 2021, Esteves Sadowski signed to his production company Blank Square Productions.
“Directing and editing music videos has changed my life and made me famous in the industry,” Sadowski said. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to move to LA in the middle of a pandemic and find work because the industry was shut down. It was nerve wracking.
“What really kept me going was my passion for film and music. I never expected it to happen like this,” he added.
Today, Sadowski, known professionally as Avteur, resides in North Hollywood, Los Angeles. His pseudonym is derived from “auteur”, the term for a film director or producer who directs a production and gives it its unique style. He said he randomly chose the name when he thought of usernames for Instagram that were easy to remember.
Avery Sadowski, known professionally as Avteur, made a cameo appearance in the music video for Belly’s new single “Flowers.” (Photo courtesy of Avery Sadowski)
“Avteur was the first name I discovered. It was the shortest name I found, reflecting my essence as a director and my ambition, but also elegant and easy to find,” Sadowski said.
A native of Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, in the Fall 2019 semester, he attended Temple’s Los Angeles Study Away Program, a semester-long residency program in Los Angeles that provides students with career resources, networking opportunities, social activities, and the opportunity for academic courses related to the entertainment industry and to complete internships in their professional fields of interest.
Sadowski said the program has played an important role in preparing for a successful career in Los Angeles, even during a pandemic.
“Everything I learned about directing and acting from my professor Lou Pepe at Temple has fundamentally changed the way I approach directing and working with actors,” he said.
“I also learned a lot about the industry in the program. It’s the foundation of my knowledge of how to navigate LA, how to talk to people and network with others in the industry, and how to put myself in a position to be successful, whether in person or via the web. “
“I still work by those principles I learned in LA to this day,” he added.
Sadowski got his big music video break while directing the video for “Flowers” after being put in touch with Belly’s creative director Alan Zadeh, who is also vice president of creative and business development at talent management firm SALXCO. He learned that Belly was a fan of his previous independent projects, some of which were filmed in Philadelphia.
In “Flowers” (the title is a single from Belly’s latest album See You Next Wednesday), Sadowski takes the viewer on a journey through a colorful, psychedelic landscape as Belly contemplates his untimely death and asks for flowers, a tribute to him Awards and Legacy, before his death.
“I wanted to astound the audience and instill a sense of dread with a relatively simple story about Belly’s encounter with two women whose malicious intentions are slowly revealed as the video progresses,” Sadowski explained.
“I love mystery, horror, and sci-fi, so I often try to combine the three into one narrative through the lens of my psychedelic style, defined by lighting, sound design, transitions, editing, and visual effects, to create the most immersive experience possible.” possible to promote,” he added.
He said directing Belly’s new music video was his proudest moment because many other projects had failed for him over the past year. However, he continued to believe that a career in Hollywood was possible even during a pandemic as long as he believed in himself and kept going.
“Never stop evolving as a creative and entrepreneur,” he said. “The business and entrepreneurial aspects of being creative are just as important to your success as your talent.”
“Manifest your success daily: imagine where you will be, however many years you think it will take to get where you want to be, and things will work out,” he added added.
Learn more about Temple’s LA Study Away Program, watch the Flowers video and follow Avery Sadowski aka Avteur on Instagram.
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