Who is on the 2025 UK Music Video Awards jury and key nominees

2025 UK Music Video Awards returns on 30 October 2025 at Magazine London, spotlighting the very best in musical visual art from both the UK and around the world. The event will crown works released between August 2024 and August 2025, bringing together a breadth of creative voices, from established names to emerging directors. This edition introduces fresh categories like Best Low Budget Video and Best Casting in a Video, while jazz entries have been merged into the R&B/Soul track. Leading the nominations is FKA twigs with nine nods, including six for Eusexua, followed by A$AP Rocky, Little Simz, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, Wolf Alice, and others. The jury panel comprises film, production, casting, and agency professionals such as Aarti Mahtani, Adam Watts, Ade Macalinao, Aidan Gibbons, Ailsa Chaplin and more. The judging process involves two rounds of juror evaluation and secret ballots. As noted by the editorial team at The WP Times, this edition may mark a turning point in how music videos tread the line between art cinema and commercial pop spectacle.

Historical Trajectory: UKMVA from 2008 to 2025

Since its founding in 2008, the UK Music Video Awards has steadily evolved from a niche British ceremony into a globally recognized platform for music video excellence. In its inaugural edition on 14 October 2008, hosted in Leicester Square, the awards honored Björk’s Wanderlust as Video of the Year. Over the next decade, the UKMVAs expanded categories from genre distinctions to include craft and technical fields (e.g. editing, cinematography, VFX, styling). The ceremony’s venue changed periodically — from Leicester Square to the Roundhouse and other London locations — before landing at Magazine London, where it has been held since 2022. Icon Awards over the years have celebrated iconic music video directors such as Jonathan Glazer, Michel Gondry, Joseph Kahn, Jamie Thraves, Julien Temple, and Dom&Nic. In recent years, the UKMVAs have emphasized nurturing emerging talent via “new director” categories and newcomer video designations. The entry window typically opens in early summer, and nominations are released in late September, building momentum toward the autumn ceremony. Over time, the awards have become a bellwether for visual trends in music — from effects-heavy spectacles to low-budget cinematic experiments. The 2025 edition, with its new categories and nomination spread, may crystallize the UKMVA’s dual mission: celebrating both established spectacle and under-recognized innovation.

Venue, Logistics, and Ticketing for 2025

Magazine London (address: 11 Ordnance Crescent, SE10 0JH) occupies a converted industrial warehouse space on the Greenwich Peninsula, offering sweeping river views and flexible staging capacity. The venue is located near North Greenwich tube station (Jubilee line).
For 2025, doors are scheduled to open at 6:30 pm for a welcome reception, followed by supper at 7:15 pm. The formal awards program will begin at 8:00 pm, with the afterparty launching around 10:30 pm. Bar service will likely conclude at 00:30 am.
Tickets are currently listed at £250 + VAT per individual seat. Optionally, patrons can purchase full tables (10–12 attendees) to secure group seating.
Production teams must coordinate load-in, rigging, lighting, video runs, technical rehearsals, and press logistics in advance. Given London traffic constraints, early arrival (often midday) is expected.
Backstage, the layout will include designated green rooms, press zones, artist corridors, and technical hubs. Security protocols will be tight, especially for high-profile nominees and guests.
Dress code is declared as “anything goes”—a nod to creative freedom—though many attendees are expected to adopt bold, fashion-forward looks.
Media accreditation is essential and typically processed weeks before the event. Press must submit credentials (editorial background, circulation, social reach) to gain red carpet and interview access.
For international guests, nearby hotel clusters in Canary Wharf, Greenwich, and the Docklands area offer strategic proximity to Magazine London.

Jury, Judging Process & Power Players

The 2025 jury comprises a mix of producers, casting directors, creative executives, post-production professionals, and agency stakeholders. Names include Aarti Mahtani, Adam Watts, Adam Barnett, Ade Macalinao, Aidan Gibbons, Ailsa Chaplin, Aisling Knight, Akila Gray, among others. Many of these jurors serve or have served in prior editions, maintaining institutional continuity.
The judging proceeds in two rounds. In Round 1, jurors view entries online and submit a “top six” vote in each category. These results are collated, and up to 15 top-scoring entries proceed to Round 2. In Round 2, roughly 10 jurors per category review shortlisted works in deliberation sessions, then cast secret ballots. Individual and company awards (director, new director, producer, executive producer, creative commissioner, production company) are voted on by jurors across all categories. Jury members also discuss, debate, and champion works, especially when genre, style, or cross-category disagreements arise.
The criteria extend beyond pure aesthetics: originality, narrative cohesion, technical execution (camera, editing, VFX), casting and performances, innovation under constraints, and “wow factor.”
Juries often weigh the ambition of a piece relative to its scale—small-budget works can outperform blockbuster videos if they show ingenuity, whereas flashy spectacles may be penalized for lack of substance.
Conflicts of interest are typically disclosed—jurors recuse themselves from categories where they have direct affiliations to submissions.
In the final decision stage, ties are rare but resolved by a small steering committee or coordinating jury lead.
This two-tiered system ensures scrutiny from both breadth (many jurors early) and depth (focused panels later), striving for fairness across genres and technical domains.

Spotlights: Key Nominees & Headliners

Leading nomination counts indicate who the night may favor — but surprises are always possible. In 2025:

• FKA twigs dominates with nine nominations, six for Eusexua, plus entries for Childlike Things, Striptease, Perfect Stranger, and a collaboration with Travis Scott.
• A$AP Rocky garners five nods for Tailor Swif.
• Little Simz, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, and Wolf Alice each tally four nominations across multiple videos.

In Best Cinematography, leading names include Daniel Landin BSC (for Eusexua), Christopher Ripley (for Manchild), Rina Yang BSC (for Flood), Jake Gabbay, Norm Li, and Denys Lushchyk.
The Best New Director field features Fa & Fon, India Rose Harris, Jake Erland, Luna Carmoon, Alex Acy, and Melchior Leroux. For Best Production Company and Creative Commissioner, competitors include Division, Iconoclast, Object & Animal, ProdCo, Stink Films, Freenjoy, as well as commissioners like Jake Crossland, Kat Cattaneo, Michael Lewin, John Moule. Below is a sample of major categories and top nominees:

Competition is dense in all categories, but the overlap in nominations (e.g. FKA twigs being present in both genre and craft categories) suggests she is a strong contender for Video of the Year, Best Director, and multiple craft awards.

Strategic Advice for Entrants & Observers

If you're a filmmaker, label, or artist considering entering or following the awards, here are insights to sharpen strategy:

1. Match ambition to scale — a mid-tier visual with a bold concept can outperform a big-budget but banal piece.
2. Enter across categories — don’t restrict to genre; also target craft (editing, color, direction).
3. Cast intentionally — with Best Casting in a Video now introduced, talented or unexpected casting can sway jurors.
4. Low-cost creativity matters — the new Best Low Budget award offers a chance for underfunded projects to shine.
5. Build media momentum — cultivate buzz, behind-the-scenes stories, teasers for press to amplify your entry.
6. Know past winners — studying jury preferences, past winners’ styles and genres offers insight into trending aesthetics.
7. Align with production capacity — make sure postproduction, VFX, grade, and delivery workflows are high standard.
8. Plan release timing — submissions open mid-year; leave buffer for mastering and delivery quality control.
9. Network on the night — the awards and afterparty offer crucial industry exposure for directors, producers, and stylists.

Observing patterns: breakout entries often come from directors who angle for both narrative and technical punch, or unexpected visual motifs. Wildcards may come from fresh voices in low-budget or newcomer categories rising to prominence.

Night-of Forecast, Highlights & What Could Surprise

London evenings in late October tend toward crisp chill—guests may layer statement coats over flashy outfits. The red carpet will host fashion, cameras, interviews, and influencer presence keyed to social media traction.
The hosts may emerge from the music-video or creative community; identities, as yet unannounced, could be revealed in the days leading to the show. Expect well-known directors, media personalities, or cross-discipline artists.
Segmented programming may include: a tribute montage to past Icon Awards, world premieres of high-profile videos, behind-the-scenes reels, or surprise short film components.
The Icon Award recipient remains under wraps, but past honorees set precedent toward visionary, boundary-pushing legacies.
Major awards (Video of the Year, Best Director, Production Company) likely conclude the show. Craft awards may be interspersed, maintaining momentum and pacing.
Following the awards, the afterparty will function as a networking hub—labels, directors, crew, press and stylists mix, sometimes with surprise live acts or DJ sets.
Unexpected upsets may emerge: a video with fewer nominations might scoop a major category, or a technical category juror favorite could gain cross-genre attention.
Streaming or delayed broadcasts may reach global audiences, though the UKMVAs prioritize in-person prestige and exclusivity.
Post-event coverage—editorial breakdowns, winner analyses, red carpet fashion recaps—will frame narratives of trends, snubs, and standout visuals for 2025.

Why 2025 Could Become a Pivotal Year

Multiple structural changes suggest 2025 can serve as a pivot in the UKMVA’s evolution. The Best Low Budget Video and Best Casting additions broaden the spotlight to underrecognized roles and creators.
Merging jazz into R&B/Soul hints at further genre fluidity and recognition of hybrid aesthetics.
FKA twigs’ multiple nominations across genre and craft categories may reflect a trend: artists now conceive video campaigns as visions rather than single promos.
Technical innovations—AI-assisted effects, real-time rendering, hybrid animation, VR/AR experiments—may more decisively influence winners in craft categories.
Holding the event again at Magazine London underscores stability and allows production teams to refine layout, sightlines, stage dynamics.
The increasingly global nomination slate (international videos competing alongside UK acts) affirms the UKMVA’s ambition as a global benchmark.
If a low-budget entrant or new director triumphs over high-budget video giants, 2025 may be looked back on as the moment when democratized creativity was validated.
All told, the 2025 edition could recalibrate expectations of what qualifies as “awardable” in the music video discipline.

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