Bryan M. Ferguson (born 25 February 1987) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

and

music video director A music video director is the head, overseer or facilitator of music video production. The director conceives of videos' artistic and dramatic aspects while instructing the musical act, technical crew, actors, models, and dancers. They may or ...

, best known for his music videos for artists such as

Garbage Garbage, trash (American English), rubbish (British English), or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or ...

Alice Glass Margaret Osborn (born 25 August 1988), known professionally as Alice Glass, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is the co-founder and former frontwoman of the electronic band Crystal Castles. In 2014, she embarked on a solo career. She rel ...

Ladytron Ladytron are an electronic band formed in Liverpool in 1999. The group consists of Helen Marnie (lead vocals, synthesizers), Mira Aroyo (vocals, synthesizers), and Daniel Hunt (synthesizers, guitar, vocals). Reuben Wu (synthesizers) was a ...

Arab Strap Arab Strap are a Scottish indie rock band whose core members are Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, split in 2006 and reformed in 2016. The band signed to Rock Action Reco ...

and

Boy Harsher Boy Harsher is an American electronic music group formed in 2013 in Savannah, Georgia. Currently based in Northampton, Massachusetts, the band consists of vocalist Jae Matthews and producer Augustus Muller. The band has amassed a cult following ...

Music videos

After being recommended Ferguson's early short films,

Helen Marnie Helen Lindsay Marnie (born 21 February 1978) is a Scottish musician, known as the lead vocalist and one of the keyboardists and songwriters of the electronic band Ladytron. In 2012, she started a solo career as Marnie and released her debut so ...

head-hunted Ferguson to write and direct a short film to accompany the band's single " ''The Island''". The short film was controversial for fans for its disturbing ending but supported by the band for its social commentary on humanity. The film would later be invited to screen at the

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove ...

and

Leeds International Film Festival The Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF) is an annual film festival hosted in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest film festival in England outside of London. Founded in 1987, it is held in November in various venues throughou ...

in 2019. Ferguson would subsequently work with the band again for their song, "''Deadzone''". The video is notable for being inspired by J.G. Ballard's " ''Crash''". Following the release of Ladytron's "''The Island''", Ferguson would work with frequent collaborator

Sega Bodega Salvador Navarrete (born 16 February 1992), better known by his stage name Sega Bodega, is an Irish-Chilean music producer, singer, songwriter, DJ, and co-head/founder of the record label and collective Nuxxe. Sega Bodega is known for his futuri ...

for the first time on his multidisciplinary EP project titled "''self*care''". Ferguson was one of the six filmmakers invited to create their own interpretations of 'self care' for the track "''Hopeless!!!''". Other notable artists invited to create films for the project were

Brooke Candy Brooke Dyan Candy (born July 20, 1989) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and tattoo artist. Raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, she rose to prominence after starring in Grimes' music video for " Genesis" (2012). Following its success ...

and BEA1991. Ferguson would later direct music videos for

's singles, "''U Suck''" and "''Make U Stay''" featuring

Låpsley Holly Lapsley Fletcher (born 7 August 1996), known by the stage name Låpsley, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. Her debut album '' Long Way Home'' was released on 4 March 2016. Early life Låpsley was born in York. Her m ...

. On 11 December 2018 Ferguson's

vampiric A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

music video for

's "''Fate''" was released and was named one of ''The 20 best videos of 2018'' by

Filter Magazine ''Filter'' (stylized as ''FILTER''), an entertainment magazine on American music, was founded in the summer of 2002. It featured commentary, photos of musicians and filmmakers, actors, writers, and directors. The magazine also included reviews o ...

. After seeing his video for

Lil Peep Gustav Elijah Åhr (; November 1, 1996 – November 15, 2017), known professionally as Lil Peep, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He was a member of the hip-hop collective GothBoiClique, and is credited as being a leading figure of ...

's producer, Fish Narc approached Ferguson in 2020 to direct the videos for both his singles, "''So Long!''", featuring

Cold Hart GothBoiClique (also abbreviated as GBC) is an American emo rap collective based in Los Angeles, California. It was formed in 2012 by Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Cold Hart, and Horse Head. The group's name comes from a beat that Cold Hart sent t ...

and "''New Medication''" from the

GothBoiClique GothBoiClique (also abbreviated as GBC) is an American emo rap collective based in Los Angeles, California. It was formed in 2012 by Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Cold Hart, and Horse Head. The group's name comes from a beat that Cold Hart sent t ...

released album, "Wildfire". On 17 February 2021 Ferguson's controversial video for

's single "''Here Comes Comus!''" was released. The video was deemed too explicit for

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

by the band's label, Rock Action. The band's frontman,

Aidan Moffat Aidan John Moffat (born 10 April 1973) is a Scottish vocalist and musician, and member of the band Arab Strap. Early life Moffat was born and raised in Falkirk, Scotland. The first album he bought was ''Elvis Sings for Kids'' by Elvis Presley ...

, revealed scenes of full frontal male nudity and excessive drug taking were omitted during an interview on

Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...

. On 2 December 2021 a video directed by Ferguson was released for Ross From Friends' single "''Love Divide''". The music video was released by

Flying Lotus Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), better known as Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, DJ, filmmaker, and rapper. He has released seven critically acclaimed albums: ''1983'' (2006), ''Los Angeles'' (2008), '' Co ...

' label

Brainfeeder Brainfeeder is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Flying Lotus in 2008, focusing on electronic music and instrumental hip hop. It has signed artists such as Ras G, Samiyam, The Gaslamp Killer, Thundercat, ...

and depicts a business man looking for his face inside an office building where everyone's head is on backwards. On 8 December 2021 Ferguson's dramatic video for

' "''Fair Game''" was premiered via

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

. The video depicts a young woman in a leather straitjacket breaking free of chains while being tormented by a ghostly

. The track is written from the perspective of Glass' abuser based on her experiences while in the band

Crystal Castles Crystal Castles was a Canadian electronic music group formed in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, by songwriter-producer Ethan Kath and singer-songwriter Alice Glass. Crystal Castles was known for their chaotic live shows and lo-fi music, lo-fi melanc ...

. He would collaborate again with

on the gory music video for "''Love Is Violence''". The early

2000's File:2000s decade montage3.png, From top left, clockwise: The Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center on fire and the Statue of Liberty on the left during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001; the euro enters into European currency ...

inspired video depicts two teenagers who sensually pull out each other's entrails. On 1 September 2022

The Soft Moon Jose Luis Vasquez (May 30, 1979 – January 18, 2024), known professionally as the Soft Moon, was an American musician and record producer. Vasquez was the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and sole official member of the Soft Moo ...

released the single "''Monster''" accompanied with a provocative music video directed by Ferguson. The body-horror infused video depicts a man slowly transforming into a monstrous form. On October 21, 2022, a "

" music video for

single, " Witness to Your Love" directed by Ferguson was teased. The video premiered on October 28, the day of ''

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

'' release. On 10 November, 2022,

released her single "''Hotel Corridors''" with a video directed by Ferguson. The video was shot in the

Grand Central Hotel The Grand Central Hotel, later renamed the Broadway Central Hotel, was a hotel at 673 Broadway at West 3rd Street, in Manhattan, New York City, that was famous as the site of the murder of financier James Fisk in 1872 by Edward S. Stokes. ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

while it was vacant during the UK lockdown during the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 11 June, 2024, Ferguson's

monochromatic A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, mon ...

music video for

Molchat Doma Molchat Doma (, ) is a Belarusian post-punk band from Minsk, formed in 2017. Its current lineup is Egor Shkutko (vocals), Roman Komogortsev (guitar, synthesizer, drum machine), and Pavel Kozlov (bass guitar, synthesizer). Its style has been call ...

's single "''Son''" was premiered by

Sacred Bones Records Sacred Bones Records is an American independent record label founded in 2007 and based in Brooklyn, New York. The label has released recordings from artists including Zola Jesus, David Lynch, John Carpenter, Spellling, Blanck Mass, Crystal S ...

. On 27 August 2024, Ferguson's glitch music video for

Machine Girl Machine Girl (sometimes stylized as machin3gir1) is an American electronic music project created in 2012 by Matt Stephenson (also known as ''DJ Chaotic Ugly'') in Long Island, New York. In 2015, the project became a duo, with Stephenson recruit ...

's single "''Until I Die''" premiered. On 10 September 2024, Ferguson's music video for

TR/ST TR/ST (previously known as Trust) is the Canadian electronic music project of Robert Alfons. It was formed as a band in 2010 when Alfons met Maya Postepski of Austra, but Postepski left in 2012. The project has released five albums: '' TRST'' ...

's single "Performance" premiered by

Dais Records Dais Records is an American independent record label founded in August 2007 by musicians Gibby Miller and Ryan Martin, and based in Los Angeles, California, and Brooklyn, New York. History The label traces its origins to Ryan Martin's time a ...

Short films

In 2015 Ferguson won The Skinny Short Film Award for his no-budget

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

set film “''Caustic Gulp''”. He would gain notoriety within the Scottish short film circuit in 2016 with his follow up film, “''Flamingo''”. The mid-length film depicts two strangers and their fetish for self-amputation. The film caused multiple viewers to faint at the

Centre for Contemporary Arts The Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) is an arts centre in Glasgow, Scotland. It is substantially subsidised by Creative Scotland and operates from the former Third Eye Centre in a building purchased in the 1970s by the Scottish Arts Council. ...

during its premiere at the Glasgow Short Film Festival. In 2019, Ferguson released the short film, ''Satanic Panic '87''. An 1980s set

horror-comedy Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, paro ...

infusing

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

with a satanic aerobics tape. The film was made as part of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's ''Random Acts'' and subsequently broadcast during

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

Film4 Film4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, dedicated to broadcasting films. The standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesa ...

as part of their FilmFear season. The Skinny called it "the kind of imaginative, outsider art that Channel 4 has been championing since its inception."

Dazed ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a quarterly British lifestyle magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. ''Dazed'' is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for produ ...

called it "absolute carnage". In 2020 the film became one of four films invited to represent Scottish short film for Short Circuit's ''Screening In Scotland Film Tour'.'' The film screened at notable festivals such as

Show Me Shorts Show Me Shorts is an international short film festival held in Auckland and other venues across New Zealand. It screens a selection of short films from New Zealand and around the world in cinemas nationwide each spring. Each year approximately 8 ...

Cork International Film Festival Cork International Film Festival (CIFF), also known the Cork Film Festival (), is a film festival held annually in Cork City, Ireland. It was established in 1956 as part of An Tóstal, and is Ireland's oldest and largest film festival. It is typi ...

and

Galway Film Fleadh The Galway Film Fleadh (; Irish for "festival") is an international film festival founded in 1989 as part of the Galway Arts Festival. Describing itself as Ireland’s leading film festival, the event is held every July in Galway city in Ire ...

. The film can be streamed on Gunpowder and Sky's horror channel Alter and Arrow Film's streaming platform, Arrow Player. Ferguson released the short film, "''Insecticide''". A film he made during the first

lockdown A lockdown () is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison protocol that us ...

of 2020 as a response to the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

. Ferguson made the film entirely within 72 hours with his wife, using only what they had in their apartment then soundtracked by Alex Mackay of

Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogwa ...

. The film would later be available on Arrow Film's streaming platform, Arrow Player. On 6 July 2021 it was announced Ferguson had made a short film entitled "''Red Room''" based upon Helen McClory's

gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean ...

"''Bitterhall''". The film was commissioned by the

Edinburgh International Book Festival The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place during two weeks in August every year in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. Described as ''The largest festival of its kind in the world'', the festival hosts ...

and premiered in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Theatre at

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

. On 6 December 2021 the

London Short Film Festival The London Short Film Festival, founded in 2004, is a film festival held annually at various locations in London, in January. The festival celebrates short film production. Each year the festival appoints an international jury who award prizes wo ...

announced a retrospective of Ferguson's short film and music video work, entitled "''Irregular Atrocities - The Films of Bryan M. Ferguson''", as part of their 2022 festival programme.

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

commissioned Ferguson's short film, "''Earworm''", which was featured in the episode "''BUGS''" on the channel's long running show, "''

Off The Air In broadcasting, a dark television station or silent radio station is one that has gone off the air for an indefinite period of time. Usually unlike dead air (broadcasting only silence), a station that is dark or silent does not even transmit a ...

''" in September 2022. The film was subsequently selected as

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

Staff Pick by the curation team. On 19 October 2022 it was announced that Ferguson's film "''Red Room''" would be released theatrically across cinemas nationwide in

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

via the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

as part of their ''In Dreams Are Monsters'' season. The film was classified " 15" for ''strong threat and language'' by the

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organization, non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited ...

. On 17 October 2023, Ferguson released a

themed trailer for his forthcoming short film, "''Pumpkin Guts''", the film was scored by Ferguson's friend and collaborator, Luis Vasquez, known professionally as

. Vasquez died on January 18, 2024 while the film was in post-production. The film is currently on hiatus. Ferguson mentioned in an interview with The Herald that the film is dedicated to Vasquez. "''Pumpkin Guts''" premiered at

Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas, focused on fantasy, horror, sci-fi, action and cult films, the largest genre festival in the United States. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse. Lisa Dreyer ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

and

Beyond Fest Beyond Fest is the largest genre film festival in the United States, held annually in Los Angeles, California. Established in partnership with the American Cinematheque, Beyond Fest focuses on showcasing horror, science fiction, fantasy, and othe ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in September 2024. The film was launched online on Halloween via

Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...

who called the film, "Impressive". The film then went on to make

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

's Best Horror list, described by the publication as a "bite-sized jolt of horror", in December 2024 were it was announce the short is being expanded into a feature.

Feature films

On 23 July 2025, ''

'' revealed that Ferguson is among the filmmakers directing a segment for '' V/H/S/Halloween'', Shudder's upcoming 8th instalment in their horror anthology V/H/S franchise. The film will be released in October 2025. Ferguson announced in The Herald that his feature film debut would in fact be, ''Dysphonia''. The article states the film will move into production late 2024.

Retrospectives

Filmography

Short films

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Bryan British music video directors Scottish film directors 1987 births Living people