| RT! | |
|---|---|
| Born | Randall Thorne Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Occupation | Music video director |
| Years active | 2004 - present |
Randall Thorne (born in Calgary, Alberta), better known by his pseudonym RT!, is a Canadian music video & commercial director of Trinidadian and Barbadian heritage. He has directed over 120 music videos for various Canadian and international music artists and is the most awarded music video director in Canada. He co-owns the production company The NE Inc. and is its Executive Director.
Throughout his career he has shot music videos for a wide range of musicians including Simple Plan, Kardinal Offishall, Shawn Desman, Belly, Ginuwine, Xzibit, Mariana's Trench, Sean Paul, Danny Fernandes, Candy Coated Killahz, Snoop Dogg, Neverending White Lights, K.Maro, Massari, Joel Plaskett, Talib Kweli, Keisha Chante. He has also directed commercials for NIKE, SONY, RIM for their recent Blackberry Torch launch, and Nickelodeon for the short musical campaign for the 10th season of Degrassi.
Outside of the film medium, RT! has also worked in television serving as a Story Producer on SunTV’s Multi-ethnic profile series ECHO for its entire run and as an Assistant Producer for MuchMoreMusic. He is a regular industry expert on a variety of television programming, appearing on Etalk, ET Canada, MTV Live, and MuchMusic.
In addition to his industry experience, he serves on the board of directors of The Remix Project, a non profit cultural incubator with the mission of targeting underprivileged youth and empowering them with media based training. In the Fall of 2009, the Remix Project partnered with Team Seven Productions and Temple Street Productions to create CITYLIFE, a new educational initiative that aimed to create short films from the voices of inner city youth. RT! is the Director of Programs for CITYLIFE which included running workshops as well as serving as a directing mentor to the participants.
Early in his career RT! noticed that many video outlets and stations weren't crediting the directors of videos. To try to ensure that the audience would know that he directed a video, RT! tagged the beginning of each of his videos with a trademark film strip. This became a branding tool for him that helped increase awareness of his work.
Over the course of nine years RT! has been awarded 12 International music video awards, including Director of the Year, two years consecutively at the MuchMusic Video Awards. He has been nominated every year since the beginning of his career at the awards and 6 years consecutively in the Director of the Year category. Including the MMVA he has been nominated for more than forty film and television industry awards.
The following is a list of his awards: