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Concordia’s Beast-ie boys 

By Anna Sarkissian

These days, communications grad Ben Steiger Levine has his hands full directing the new ad campaign for Sprite – one of the year’s biggest international contracts – to the point where he barely has time to celebrate his recent Grammy nomination for best music video.

On Jan. 30, his video for the song “Mr. Hurricane” by local indie band Beast, will go up against the Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Depeche Mode and Oren Lavie. The visually lush video, in which a swarm of bees come to life in the form of a man, was produced by Sach Baylin-Stern and features visual effects by Joshua Sherrett.

Steiger Levine has directed a number of groundbreaking videos over the years for bands like The Most Serene Republic, Plants and Animals and So Called.

Baylin-Stern, who studied psychology at Concordia, is proud of their accomplishments and has high hopes for the Grammys, regardless of whether they win or lose. He joked about rubbing shoulders with country-pop singer Taylor Swift backstage.

“We’re there not because of who were are, we’re unknown. We’re there because of the incredible quality of the work. I think a lot of big contracts can come out of this,” he said, mentioning the possibility of one day working with heavy hitters like Kanye West and Madonna.

“I don’t want to toot my own horn, but by the age of 27, I’ve been nominated for a Grammy, which for music video producers and directors is the pinnacle of success,” he added.

Baylin-Stern is working with fellow Concordia grads Jérémie Saindon and Christophe Collette to launch a film and music video production house, Antler Films. They will be collaborating with a who’s who of Canadian talent, including several alumni: video director and interactive developer Thibaut Duverneix, and photographers and directors Carlos and Jason Sanchez. Sherrett and Dave Pawsey, who are both 3D visual effect artists and directors, are also part of their team.

Next up, they will be developing several short and long form film projects and videos for international clients.

Watch “Mr. Hurricane” online. The Grammys air Jan. 31 at 8 p.m. on CBS.