MADWOMAN

A glamorous spiral into heartbreak, delusion, and perfectly choreographed chaos

Directed by Warren Fu

words by Isabella Bazoni

In Madwoman, director Warren Fu turns Laufey’s heartbreak into something lush, theatrical, and slightly unhinged. Made for Laufey’s latest single, the video slips between fantasy and performance, following her through a series of romantic scenarios where jealousy, obsession, and insecurity play out like scenes from an old Hollywood dream.

Fu approaches the film with a real sense of play. Best known for creating iconic visuals alongside artists like Daft Punk, Dua Lipa, and The Weeknd, for Madwoman, he leans into glamour without losing the humour underneath it. The world of the film is polished and stylised, but there’s always something slightly exaggerated bubbling beneath the surface. The cast—including Alysa Liu, Lola Tung, Megan Skiendiel, and Hudson Williams—moves through the film almost like characters inside an elaborate fantasy sequence. Choreography, costume, and production design all feed into that heightened emotional logic, where every glance and gesture feels oversized in the best way possible.

What makes the video work so well is that it never takes itself too seriously. Underneath the elegance and spectacle, there’s a self-awareness running through the whole thing, allowing Fu to push the melodrama right to the edge without losing the emotional core of the song.

Madwoman brings together a really striking mix of talent from music, film, and sport. How did you approach directing such a diverse cast and shaping their performances into something that feels cohesive on screen?

My creative assistant, Elissa, and I always brainstorm ideas together at the start of every project. We tried to shape each cast member’s character into something that felt natural and fun for them to play, with specific quirks and little gags so their personalities would shine through. 

And let’s not forget Laufey’s song – it truly captures a specific tone that you immediately register on first listen. So everyone understood what we were doing: a stylized nod to classic Hollywood musicals with a cheeky wink to the camera. 

The world of the film feels highly stylised, but still emotionally grounded and narrative-driven. How did you work with your production designer and cinematographer to find that balance between a strong visual language and character-driven storytelling?

I was really inspired by Fellini’s 8½, especially the way he plays with depth in a frame. We designed shots where foreground and background action occur simultaneously, so we can tell a lot of story efficiently. That was important because there is such limited time for narrative in a music video. I composed everything closely with our cinematographer, Andrew Truong, and production designer, Evaline Huang, so every frame was not just visually striking but also doing narrative work. 

“We aimed to infuse some of that quirky, unorthodox movement style into the film, giving it a unique look and feel compared to other modern pop videos.”

Choreography plays such a key role in the energy and rhythm of the piece. At what stage did movement come into your creative process, and how closely were camera and choreography developed together?

I have a deep love for choreography and a decent grasp of basic 8-counts, so I started by blocking out a loose framework for specific parts of the song. I created a moving storyboard animatic using my iPhone and our office staff, coaching them into simple formations timed to the music. I sent this rough guide to our choreographer, Molly Long, who completely understood the vision and elevated it with actual dance moves. It was such a great collaborative exchange of ideas. Both of us are huge fans of Bob Fosse, and we aimed to infuse some of that quirky, unorthodox movement style into the film, giving it a unique look and feel compared to other modern pop videos.

There’s a strong sense of identity and transformation running throughout the video. How did costume, hair, and makeup help define each character and support that evolution?

Our goal was to create a candy-colored, perfect wonderland inspired by mid-century idealism. This influenced everything, from styling, costumes, hair, makeup, and set design, crafting a world so perfect it felt almost unreal. This heightened, flawless aesthetic underscored the theme of feeling out of place and going “mad.” As the sunshine begins to fade away, the facade falls apart, and Laufey sees the world for what it really is. All that to say… we just wanted these rising superstars to look stylish and cute together for the gram. 

“What I’m loving more these days is working with actors and creating environments where they can shine.”

The edit feels very tightly tuned to performance, style, and atmosphere. How did you and your editor approach pacing, particularly when balancing narrative beats with the flow of the track?

Once Elissa and I had the general story beats written out to specific parts of songs, the next step was to bring them to life with people. For example, I really pictured dreamy slow motion for the “day dream” choruses to contrast the more real-time, reality of the verses where she’s venting about her lover. So my editor, Jeff Bloom, and I shot the office staff to create a video animatic. We ingested that footage and cut it together, giving us a clear blueprint of the video's flow before we even got to the shoot. The cast watched the video animatic as well, so everyone understood the overall pacing and flow. This was crucial because we had no rehearsal days and had to shoot 70 shots in one day. Every shot was dialed in to be used exactly as planned, so the edit was really about executing that rhythm and structure we had already built in.

You’ve worked across film, music, and large-scale commercial projects. Where does Madwoman sit within your broader creative trajectory, and did it open up anything new for you in terms of process or approach? 

In some ways, it’s a culmination of where I’m headed. While I love visuals on an aesthetic level, what I’m loving more these days is working with actors and creating environments where they can shine. It’s also nice to experiment with narratives that don’t have super clear answers or resolutions, so that everyone can take something different from it. I think it all falls under the path of becoming a more experienced and seasoned storyteller. You learn something on every project.

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the madwoman — LAUFEY
the man — HUDSON WILLIAMS
the besties — ALYSA LIU, MEGAN SKIENDIEL, LOLA TUNG
the cover girls — HAVANA ROSE LIU, CHASE SUI WONDERS

directed by — WARREN FU
production company — PARTIZAN
in association with — GOLD HOUSE
creative director — JUNIA JONSDOTTIR
story by — WARREN FU, ELISSA NECHAMKIN
produced by — JASON BAUM, PEGAH FARAHMAND
executive producers — OSCAR TANG, CHRISTINE YI, MAIQI QIN, JULIE FONG
director of photography — ANDREW YUYI TRUONG
production designer — EVALINE WU HUANG
choreographer — MOLLY LONG
wardrobe stylist — LINDSEY HARTMAN
editor — JEFFREY BLOOM
colorist — DANTE PASQUINELLI
visual effects — FOREIGN XCHANGE
sound design — DILLON CAHILL
management — FOUNDATIONS
director of ip & operations — EMMA MACDONALD (VINGOLF)
creative marketing — BIANCA BHAGAT (AWAL)

makeup artist (laufey / megan skiendiel) — AUDUR JONSDOTTIR
makeup artist (alysa liu) — MELISSA HERNANDEZ
makeup artist (lola tung) — MISHA SHAHZADA
hair stylist (laufey / alysa liu / lola tung) — JENNY CHO
hair stylist (megan skiendiel) — DANIEL KIM
hair & makeup (hudson williams) — AIKA FLORES
manicurist — YOKO SAKAKURA
styling assistants — MINNIE GARCIA, ALEXA MEY
stylist (hudson williams) — ANASTASIA WALKER
stylist (dancers) — ELISE VELASCO

dancers — CALEB ABEA, BRAYLON BROWNER, ANDRÉS JIMENEZ, STAR HSIA, JAKE MCAULEY, SAMUEL MCWILLIAMS, ANDREW PARK, DAVYD WILLIAMS

production supervisor — RACHEL OTTENSTEIN
assistant production supervisor — URSULA BROWN
associate producer — ELISSA NECHAMKIN
1st assistant director — JEY WADA
2nd assistant director — DANNI DAVIS
2nd 2nd assistant director — CHAYUDA “CHAY” SITTHIPHAP

steadicam — JUN LI
a cam 1st ac — HANNAH LEE
a cam 2nd ac — FRED PORRAS
b cam 1st ac — NOAH RAMOS
drone — DYLAN GABRIEL

art director — CARINE TEOH
set designer — ALISA TIONG
prop master — CHUCK MCSORLEY
prop assistant — MELISSA MCSORLEY
picture car — ROBERT PYLE

chief lighting technician — KAZMO KIDA
assistant chief lighting technician — MAX SCHWARTZ
lighting technician — ALICE BECERRA, BRETT LOPES
board operator — DYLAN NOVICKY
driver — JACK SHAW

key grip — CHARLES TAE
best boy grip — MARK STEURER
grips — MATT COLE, MATT HAYCOX, GAITHER NARRON, ISAIAH SOTO
driver — ABEL SOTO

dancer costumer — SARAH WONG
tailor — YUMMI LIU
makeup assistants — KARISSA O’HANLON, TARA SEGAR
hair assistants — GRACE ARGUELLES, SAL ARGUETA, JINJU BAE, KELSEY HELLENBRAND
manicurist assistants — RICO NASHIMOTO, TOUKO NISHIMOTO

talent pa — CARMEN TRYGGVADOTTIR
bts photographer — NICOLE MAGO
bts videographer — BRIDGET CRAIG
bts social content — SAMMI SMITH
vtr — J.J. ROLDAN
audio playback — KAI MORRISON

location manager — CASEY SULLIVAN
site rep — ALEX BERECHET, RAFFAELLA CLEMENTE FLORES
lifeguard / medic — RICHARD FUNG
craft services — SYLVIA MARTINEZ, YESENIA ISAMAR REYES-CHAIDEZ

transportation captain — TERRANCE MARTIN
motorhome driver — RYAN LEFTWICH
pass van drivers — DARREN GOLDBERG, TERRENCE PETERS, RUBIN SALAZAR

head of production — ANI MIKIRDICHIAN
office pa — PARKER ANDERSON
production assistants — JOANNA CABALQUINTO, QUINCY COWHERD, JULIA LING KELLEHER, ANDY LEE, BEN MAY, LAWRENCE MEEKER, AARON MERITT, DION O’JOE, AVO OKSAZIAN, NASH OLDACH, MEGAN RUIZ, MAEVE SCHRODE, ANDREW SURINA, BRYAN URIBE, AUSTIN VILLAREAL

interns — JOHN CHRISTENSEN, BLAISE DUNHAM, DEXTER GLASSCO, PAYTON HERB, JORDYN NEUMANN, SENECA SCHWARTZ, ERIN STOTT