Young Irish filmmaker Daniel Dalton has emerged as the winner of the Hot Press HTC Take One competition to make a video for Dublin band Dirty Epics.

The four-piece, fronted by Sarah Jane Wai O'Flynn, teamed up with HTC and Hot Press to run a public competition for emerging Irish film-makers to create the video for the band’s new single, 'Those Pretty Things'. The competition had a special twist, in that the video had to be shot entirely on a mobile phone, the HTC One, with a total budget of €1,000. The single, “Those Pretty Things”, was produced by Declan Gaffney (U2) and Matt Paul (Amy Winehouse, Noisettes).

The winning video can be viewed at [link]hotpress.com/htctakeone[/link]

"The overall quality of the entries for the Hot Press HTC Take One competition was really impressive," Niall Stokes, Editor, Hot Press said. "It was a great idea to link up with Dirty Epics, who are a band with a very strong visual identity, especially with Sarah Jane Wai O'Flynn out front.

"Really we should think of the two finalists, Daniel Dalton and Susan Gleeson, as winners. They both produced truly excellent videos for 'Those Pretty Things', shot exclusively on the HTC One – in a way which underlines just how powerful a piece of kit it is.

"In particular, congratulations to Daniel, whose excellent piece of work is now the band's official video for the single. The video is superbly shot and tells its story of female empowerment very well indeed. What is really encouraging about our experience delivering Take One is that, in the long run, I suspect we'll be hearing a lot more not just from Daniel and Susan but from other entrants as well."

"This competition was all about demonstrating the ‘democratisation of media production’ which is a fancy way of saying that we can all become filmmakers with the technology in your pocket," Lorcan Kennedy, Marketing Manager, HTC Ireland added. "Daniel and Susan both shot incredible videos and have shown that our phones can enable anyone’s creative vision.

"I think that the results speak for themselves – and I’d urge people to check out the quality of the winning video at [link]hotpress.com/htctakeone[/link]. I’d like to thank the two finalists and the band for their hard work and I hope that the winning video goes on to get the airplay it deserves for the winner Daniel and for Dirty Epics. It’s an amazing video for an amazing band and I wish Dirty Epics every success with their new single, 'Those Pretty Things'."

Dirty Epics are managed by Nadine King of U2’s Principle Management.

Dirty epics thosepretty things from takeone on Vimeo.

Dirty Epics
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Dirty Epics burst onto the Irish music scene into 2008 with an album, Straight In No Kissing, that was brimming with energy, emotion and punk rock attitude. They quickly grew a reputation for bold and brazen live performances of tracks written about loves, lust and the roller-coaster of everyday life.
“Our aim is to create music that pulses and thumps and buzzes in your brain and your heart, that gives you strength and belief”.

Their new album, One Way Mirror, produced by Declan Gaffney (U2) and Matt Paul (Amy Winehouse, Noisettes), is an offering of songs about the light and dark of the human condition – from blind faith and the first flourishes of love to the depths of depravity. The songs form a story of two young lovers who meet by a stolen kiss, and who run away to seek adventure together in the big city. Their wide eyed experience is tainted as they encounter forces that wish to corrupt mind and body. Will they survive unscathed?
– See more at: [link]dirtyepics.com[/link]

Daniel Dalton
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Daniel, from Dublin, originally studied Visual Communication at NCAD. In 2011 he started a cinematography course in Ballyfermott College of Further Education, where he met friends with the same passion for making films. They have won a number of awards and continue to work on projects together.