“Best Music Video”

★★★★★

“We’d have no problem in saying that everything about this music video works and works perfectly!”

Holler From The Holler” examines the biographical story of Wilson, a ‘traumatized but strong’ thirteen-year-old, white, boy. Our film takes place somewhere in the 1990s, and draws heavy inspiration from the film ‘GUMMO (1997)’.

Wow! Just wow! What an incredible film to accompany a truly superb track from Stephen Wilson Jr. (which we’ll get to later). Director Tim Cofield takes us back to the early 2000s when music videos really mattered and leaves us with an incredible music video that really amplifies the song, making us want more. The concept for the music video is powerful and directed with total precision, Cofield knows what he wants and gets it in every frame. It’s packed full of energy and emotion, telling a compelling story fitting with the song.

‘Holler From The Holler’ reminds us of other great music videos like ‘Jeremy’ from Pearl Jam, whereby it works as a stand alone film as well as being a music video. The video takes its story straight from the song and holds up, something that is not easy when you have such depth to capture. The trust between director and artist here is apparent as it seems they were both fully onboard with the music video they were going to make.

The look and feel of the video is high end and looks well produced. The colour grade and heavy grain gives the video depth and visually stands out by creating a truly cinematic look which elevates the quality of the production. The locations are stunning and used to great effect which will make many other filmmakers jealous!

The casting of John McDonald as the ‘Wilson’ was the perfect choice. Not only does McDonald look great on camera, but he’s also able to hold up against the other actors and carry the video. Considering a lot of the scenes are him on his own, he’s able to deliver a range of emotions throughout. Also, it’s worth reminding that all the dialogue has of course been taken out to focus on the music/lyrics, so to be able to perform and connect with an audience without it is very impressive. We wouldn’t be surprised to see McDonald in big films in the future, we certainly hope so.

As for the track itself from Stephen Wilson Jr. which is nothing short of superb. It has a raw power to it that’s full of depth and meaning that you can’t help but connect with. Whether you’re into rock or not, this will get your head banging (or at least your foot tapping). It’s great to see that such artists are still around and putting out original music like this. The whole band perform great on camera and aren’t overused in scenes for the sake of ego, if anything it makes you want to find out more about them. What’s most important here is the story they’re telling.

We’d have no problem in saying that everything about this music video works and works perfectly! It’s a well crafted music video, not just in its production but also in its ability to match the energy and quality of the track. Both the song and the video are working in perfect balance here to create a compelling story. Expect to watch and listen to this on repeat for a while…

— APEX Film Awards