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Music video director Dugan O’Neal had a very busy 2011. It was a good year as well, especially after he got an email a few days ago naming him number nine in Entertainment Weekly’s “10 Top Music Video Directors of 2011”.

“I was really surprised. It was really random, but it is definitely an honor,” he says. “It is also surreal to be on the same list with Spike Jonze.”

The Carmel Valley-native is the son of music photographer Tom O’Neal who shot a lot of greats like Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell and The Rolling Stones and photographed the cover of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s Deja Vu album.

“Dugan carried on where I left off (from photography),” he says. “My album covers never moved, but I always wanted them to. Nothing like that existed at that time, but Dugan took it to a whole new level. I was 10 years too early for MTV.”

Dugan studied under his father for many years He used that background as a still photographer in his video narratives and his style has been noticed. O’Neal was nominated for a Grammy award for a series of music videos he did for the indie-rock band TV On The Radio’s album Nine Types of Light.

“The TV On The Radio piece was one of my favorites,” he says. “Everything came together for that shoot.”

O’Neal does not feel comfortable shooting traditional, performance-type music videos, but rather he sees them as scenes from a movie.

“Narratives are a thing that happen naturally for me and I like telling stories,” he says.

His father agrees.

“I love the way his videos have a cinemagraphic look them, rather than movies. He takes it beyond just being a music video.”

View more of Dugan O'Neal's work on his website: www.duganoneal.com

Photo by Brice Matson