Video director accuses This Providence of plagiarism

Music video director Andrew Bowser has posted a blog accusing This Providence of stealing his idea for the band’s video for "Keeping On Without You." The video debuted on mtvU earlier today.


Bowser claims that he submitted a treatment for the video that the band and/or their label (Fueled By Ramen) and management passed on, and that the video the band subsequently shot has a striking similarity to what he originally pitched.



Bowser says that several elements from his pitch were used including a "desert landscape setting," a "junkyard setting," "dirty and tired lead characters searching for each other," "old photographs of lead characters" and "the lead character waking up on his back surrounded by trash."



A comment in the blog reportedly from the video’s producer says that both Bowser’s treatment and the script the band went with "run parallel with the lyrics" and cites specific reasons for the artistic choices. He also went on to say, "Before you go out and start causing a ruckus, think of all the directors that submit hundreds of treatments for each video, there are bound to be similar treatments every time. As a word of advice, the last thing you want to do is approach the label and management and publicly announce this stuff yourself, you’ll just end up ostracized."



AP has reached out to the band for comment, but in the meantime, you can watch the video in question below.