Selected Film

Adrian Sutherland - Magic Hits

"I had a dream last night Everything went right Kinda took me by surprise Kinda blew upon my mind..." So begin the lyrics of Magic Hits, featured in the poignant and magical split-screen music video. Captured in three places – Attawapiskat ON, Toronto ON, and Nashville TN – Sutherland walks ‘alongside’ the legendary artists who lent their talents to his remarkable debut album When The Magic Hits, recorded remotely during the pandemic with each player delivering from their own location. Magic Hits is the album's title track, and the third video from Sutherland in 2021 – no small feat considering he was isolated in Canada's remote North since March 2020. All of Adrian's videos have been made by the same creative team: director, animator and editor Justin Stephenson (Toronto), and producer and production manager RoseAnna Schick (Winnipeg), with Sutherland (Attawapiskat) as executive producer. ABOUT THE PRODUCTION For the Nashville unit, a Google search netted Fool’s Pajamas Productions and three ambitious young videographers tasked with capturing footage from the home studio of Colin Linden. Producer of Magic Hits, Linden performs guitars and harmonies on the song, with wife Janice Powers on B3 organ. Random street scenes were also captured in Nashville. In Toronto, Brian Gregory Creative, another Google search find who previously shot footage for Politician Man, also came on board. He captured footage of Gary Craig on drums in his home studio, and John Dymond on bass at Blue Sound and Music. Random street scenes in Toronto were captured, including Adrian’s image on the giant Spotify billboard in Yonge-Dundas Square – coincidentally on display the day Gregory was scheduled to shoot. In Attawapiskat, Adrian’s visuals were captured on Adrian’s own iPhone 12 with his brother Andrew Sutherland shooting. Andrew arrived unexpectedly into the community right about the time Adrian needed someone to shoot footage – and he happens to have an eye for videography. Andrew captured Adrian’s vocals in three different locations, along with footage on the streets of Attawapiskat. Video batches were delivered digitally to Stephenson, who thoughtfully pieced it all together in his Toronto editing suite with a little help from editor and animator Kash Tahen, and a little creative input from Schick and Sutherland. The rest, as they say, just might be magic…

Duration: 00:04:30
Country of Origin: Canada
Language: English


Director(s): Justin Stephenson


Writer(s):


Producer(s): RoseAnna Schick


Key Cast: Adrian Sutherland


Other Credits: Executive Producer: Adrian Sutherland; Editor: Kash Tahen; Cinematographer - Toronto: Brian Gregory; Cinematographer - Nashville: Fool's Pajamas Productions; Musicians: Colin Linden, Janice Powers, John Dymond, Gary Craig