Spotted on Eurweb:
Anne Marsen discovered Pharrell Williams‘ “24 Hours of Happy” video on social media and through text messages from friends.
Then, she became aware of the familiarity with his video and an indie film she made.
Marsen made the 71 minute, kickstarted video titled, “Girl Walk // All Day” in 2011.
Spin got the exclusive with Marsen about her thoughts on the video.
“I hadn’t heard of the video,” she said over the phone from her new home in Los Angeles, “and then I checked it out and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’”
Williams’ “24 Hours of Happy” video — like Marsen’s “All Day” video with her dancing all over New York City – is of people dancing in similar fashion in public spaces.
Dance moves, clothing, settings and characters are similar in the videos.
Marsen and director of the dance film Jacob Krupnick doesn’t seem mad at Williams, but hope to someday achieve that level of success and get some recognition.
“Jacob and I were saying, we agree, it’s a great thing that dance is getting recognition as a long-form kind of thing, because we want to be making more projects that we’re dreaming up now that are in this form,” said Marsen. “Yet at the same time we feel like we’re not getting the recognition for this.”
A rep for Williams said the We Are From LA team and Williams weren’t aware of Marsen’s video and said their video was created with “Despicable Me 2” in mind.
But Krupnick does see the similarity and thinks it’s a good thing.
“I feel deeply inspired by Pharrell’s music,” he said over the phone. “I’d be thrilled to collaborate on a project with him. And I think, based on the video that Anne has made, on some level it’s also safe to say that Pharrell — aware or not — was inspired by the film we made.”
