Introducing... Chris Sweeney, a new Spike Jonze

Director Chris Sweeney, 27, has just got Will Young pregnant. In the video for his new single 'Hopes & Fears', Will waddles to antenatal classes, works on his pelvic floor and gorges on jelly and cheese sandwiches.

'The song was about transformation, and I knew that a pregnant Will would be a good way to cause a stir.' It did. A leaked still from the video made the cover of a magazine.

Chris started directing at MTV where he began as an intern, straight out of Bournemouth University. His job took him to São Paulo, Berlin, Hawaii, Texas and Ibiza, and he made his first video (for The Cribs) in his spare time.

'We recreated the TV show The Word. I roped in all my friends to be extras and convinced Terry Christian, who used to present it, to take part.' Since then Chris has made videos for Sophie Ellis-Bextor and the Mercury Prize-nominated Friendly Fires, as well as two short films for Yves Saint Laurent, with actors Simon Woods and Jack Huston, which were shown at consecutive Paris Fashion Weeks on 15ft screens.

He splits his time between his home in London Fields and editing suites in Soho, having grown up in Southfields with his father Frank, who photographed the likes of Jean Shrimpton and shot covers for Vanity Fair in the 1960s, his mother, a stylist, and his elder sister, also a photographer.

Are you musical?
No, I'm really bad at singing. I'm tone deaf actually. It's odd because my dad's a good pianist. He used to play with Dudley Moore at parties in New York when he was working there in the 1960s.

What is on your iPod?
Right now I'm listening to two great bands, Grizzly Bear and The xx. And lots of Ace of Base.

What are your biggest influences? Films such as Noah Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale and bad 1980s dance videos.

What are you doing next?
A video with Marina & the Diamonds. She's amazing, the next Kate Bush. And I'm collecting ideas for a feature film by eavesdropping on conversations while pretending to listen to my iPod.

Who would you most like to work with?
I'd like to shoot a video on the moon with Kanye West. I think he'd be into that.

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