Fake credits alert!
So I just stumbled onto this page and it raised a TON of red flags for me: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192543/ For context, I've been working with music videos since 1998 and have extensive knowledge on the topic. But I'd never heard this name before. And while I'm sure I don't know every DP who ever worked in the 80s, the credits I see listed on his page make me extremely dubious because I do have DP credits for many of these and they do NOT match. My sources, I should add, are solid. So, to give you a few examples: - The Police "Every breath you take" ==> Daniel Pearl DP'ed this one *alone* and even won the 1984 Video Music Award for "best cinematography". My first source for this was MTV's website, back in the 90s, but that page sadly doesn't seem to have been archived by the Wayback Machine. The information was however confirmed by Daniel Pearl himself and numerous other sources online. In fact, here's a little test you could do... Search for the video title and artist name along with Daniel Pearl's name, then do the same search and replace Pearl's name with Cupcupin's. Compare. I think you'll see my point. In fact, here are the links for those two searches so you only have to click: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22every+breath+you+take%22+%22the+police%22+%22daniel+pearl%22 https://www.google.com/search?q=%22every+breath+you+take%22+%22the+police%22+%22edmund+cupcupin%22 - Duran Duran "New Moon on Monday" ==> There is an 'alternate movie' cut of this video (the content is the same, just with more footage) that includes extensive credits at the end. And guess what? Nic Knowland is the sole DP credited. No mention at all of anyone named Cupcupin! I just double checked to make sure. Feel free to check it out as well, here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzkp2blk5D0 Credits start at the 16:39 mark. DP is credited (as 'lighting cameraman') at the 16:55 mark. - Howard Jones "Things can only get better" ==> This is another Nic Knowland job. Source for this one is director Nigel Dick's own website (I'd wager he knows who he worked with!) It's the last entry on this page: https://www.nigeldick.com/films/productions-1985/ That's all I checked so far, don't have time to do more right now, but I'll be looking into this guy more closely in the near future. I mean, even the guy's name sounds fake--which I grant you doesn't mean anything, but added to all the inconsistencies it's all raising tons of red flags for me. I'll reach out to Daniel Pearl and Paul Flattery (who would both have worked with him according to these credits) and ask if they've ever heard of him. A few people have tried to trick me before into adding fake credits into my website, and I suspect this is what happened here. I suggest you do some research on your end as well, try to double check with some of the people he claims to have worked with. But keep in mind some of those credits might be real. Typically people like this have done some work but try to make it look like they either did more than they have or did more prestigious stuff... I mean look at all the classic videos he's listed! It's insane. I guarantee you at least half of these are fake.
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Maya
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