James Franco directing videos for REM

Even though many have criticized him and said he was hosting the Academy Awards in a haze with the detachment of a stoned model ignoring the desperate quirky sounds of his co-host, James Franco was chosen by Michael Stipe to make videos for some of the songs of R.E.M. 15th album ‘Collapse Into Now’, which is about to be released tomorrow in the US.

Franco will join English filmmaker and photographer Sam Taylor-Wood, filmmakers Jem Cohen, Albert Maysles, music video director and Corin Tucker’s husband, Lance Bangs (any relation with Lester??), director actor Tom Gilroy, writer photographer Sophie Calle, and other artists to create this series of short films, the Collapse Into Now Film project.

Stipe declared to NME he liked the opportunities the 21st century has provided for presenting work in a different way and said it was fun to curate the project and to see how these different artists interpreted the songs: ‘The thing that was surprising is how much they interlockingly work, like an album’.

James Franco was in charge of the tracks ‘That Someone is you’ and ‘Blue’.
I am always a little surprised that bands are still shooting videos, because where are we watching them these days? Oh yeah, Youtube!