Q&A: Director X talks ‘Hotline Bling’ memes, feature film debut

TORONTO – Director X has seen your “Hotline Bling” memes — and he loves them.

The Toronto-based director, who was born Julien Christian Lutz, helmed Drake’s “Hotline Bling” music video, which caused a sensation with countless online parodies of the rapper’s slow body-roll dancing.

Director X spoke with The Canadian Press about “Hotline Bling,” his career as a music video director, and how it has helped with his foray into filmmaking, starting with “Across the Line,” in theatres Friday.

On “Hotline Bling” and his favourite meme:

“The lightsaber one is mean! That’s the greatest one…. Someone said the pizza one where he’s spreading anchovies, but no — the lightsaber is the next level.

“What a weird moment,” he adds. “It was something completely new, only possible through our technology…. For those of us that do culture and also study culture and take note of moments in the culture — it was more than just a thing that happened. That was a first.”

On directing Rihanna’s recent “Work” video, in which she and Drake are dancing in Toronto’s the Real Jerk restaurant:

“As a Toronto kid, starting that video, the first shot is the restaurant, there’s this satisfying kind of like, ‘Yeah.’ Then as a West Indian, I got Red Stripe and Carib in the video … all my cultural nods.

“There was a lot of familiarity. Drake is from Toronto, he walked on set and saw all these kids he knew…. Rihanna’s first video was shot in Toronto, a bunch of those kids were in her first-ever music video that she shot here. There’s a guy that she dances with in the video — he’s in Rihanna’s first video.”

On going from directing music videos to feature films:

“There’s a prejudice within the film and television community that music video directors and commercial directors don’t understand story. Sometimes you have to barrel through prejudice…. Once you jump past that and get into the benefits, it is a visual medium. You’re going to learn the technical side of filmmaking without having to worry about actors and motivating actors and getting performances right.”

— This interview has been edited and condensed.