Vimeo Staff Pick Mixtape: rubberband.

The New York City-based directing duo celebrate 15 years of the Staff Picks program with six of the best.

10:00 AM EST on January 26, 2024

Started in 2008, Vimeo’s Staff Pick program celebrates and awards creators who have challenged the status quo and ushered in a new vision for what video can do. Hand-selected by Vimeo’s curation team, the Staff Pick designation is a badge of honor for the creative community on Vimeo and spotlights the best short films on the internet. Generation Vimeo, Staff Pick’s 15-year anniversary campaign, invited 15 members of the Staff Picks community to curate video playlists, called Staff Pick Mixtapes, of their favorite Staff Picked Films – offering a special glimpse into the perspective of a community that celebrates the impact of boundary-pushing work and the power of video to inspire and enhance storytelling. In the latest Staff Pick Mixtape being shared exclusively on Talkhouse, directing duo rubberband. share their six favorite videos from the program.

Girl by Nick Roney
My parents got separated and then divorced when I was 21. This video was the complete encapsulation of how I felt.

Childish Gambino – “Sober” by Hiro Murai
This video has a concept you could write on the inside of your hand and it keeps you engaged the entire time.

Mount Kimbie – “Delta” by Frank Lebon
A bank robbery done for a few thousand pounds (probably). Such creativity from self-imposed limits.

Doechii – “Crazy” by C. Prinz
Full insanity pushed to 11. Complete empowerment.

Phoenix – “Trying to Be Cool” by CANADA
This video has always been so important to us. Representing the crossroads of technical complication and fun.

Flying Lotus – “Until the Quiet Comes” by Kahlil Joseph
One of the first public works from a master filmmaker. A true glimpse into a work very few of us get to see.

rubberband.

rubberband. is a directing duo comprised of Jason Filmore Sondock and Simon Davis, operating out of New York City. They met at NYU in 2011 and have been directing together under the moniker since the end of 2015. They’ve made a lot of stuff for a lot of people and brands and artists, and, sometimes, themselves. Their commitment to soulful, earnest filmmaking and forward thinking aesthetic design has led them into a physical approach to filmmaking, versus a completely intellectualized one.