Grammy-winning hip hop/funk artist Secret Agent 23 Skidoo is achieving the seemingly impossible: making music for kids that can actually be enjoyed by the whole family. But it’s not just enjoyable, it’s BUMPIN: great beats, incredible sci-fi stories, and a respect for the intelligence of all listeners, no matter their age. It’s the kind of music all kids should be raised on. Put simply: I love what 23 Skidoo — known as Cactus to his friends — is doing. I was excited to work with him the moment we met.
I’ve had the pleasure to direct two videos for Cactus. The first was “Secret Superhero.” The concept is simple: it’s photo day at school, only the students are all your favorite superheroes as kids (can you guess who is who?). We follow the photographers and specifically their son, who tagged along and seems to be discovering some superpowers of his own…
Made with no budget, the shoot was a ton of fun but a lot of work. We only had a short day at an LA-based elementary school, and I needed to prepare more than two dozen kids to come in and nail their parts as quickly as possible. To do so, I sent videos to each of them showing exactly what they needed to learn, acted out by me and the adult actors, so they could practice ahead of time. Whether this was an excellent strategy or the kids were just smart, savvy and ready-to-go performers, they all did a great job and the day was a success.
We had a fantastic time shooting that video. Cactus and I have a shared love for all things funk and all things sci-fi, so many long conversations went down about everything BUT the video itself. A couple years later, Cactus reached out to do another for his track “Makeshift Spaceship” and I was more than excited to jump into it. The concept this time: extraterrestrial boomboxes are falling from the sky, bringing funk to Planet Earth. In this story, the ‘makeshift spaceship’ is the boombox itself, bumping Skidoo tracks across the galaxy. One of these boomboxes has been intercepted by the US government (Area 51?) and is having some weird and wild effects on the scientists and military men studying it.
Again the budget was low, but we pushed it as far as it go. We brought in an incredible breakdance team to play our scientists, found a beautiful warehouse near downtown LA and set about shooting. Our secret weapon was the incredible Will Roberts, who not only had the perfect look for our disgruntled General, but the dance moves to make his transformation magical.
