Duran Duran - Girls On Film

What this video is

Produced at the precise historical hinge point of music video's emergence as a commercial and artistic medium, 'Girls On Film' was filmed just twelve days after MTV's August 1, 1981 launch, before the network's content standards were fully established. Originally conceived for nightclub video jukeboxes and pay-TV, it represents a pre-broadcast-standards production philosophy that openly tested the limits of…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of New Wave and New Romantic pop, 'Girls On Film' is widely regarded as one of the earliest high-concept music videos and a key driver of the format's evolution. It demonstrated that a music video could operate as an independent media event — generating bans, press coverage,…

The director

Kevin Godley and Lol Creme were founding members of art-rock band 10cc before transitioning to music video direction as the duo Godley & Creme. They became one of the most sought-after video directors of the early MTV era, noted for formally ambitious and…