In 1965, he secured a job in London as assistant scenic designer to Nick Pemberton, creating sets for the television series
Z-Cars, ''
Dr. Finlay's Casebook, and Emergency Ward 10''. He shared an apartment with
Storm Thorgerson where they conceived the idea of
Hipgnosis, and in 1968 they produced their first album cover, for
Pink Floyd's
A Saucerful of Secrets. A studio was acquired at 6 Denmark Street in Soho and Hipgnosis thrived as one of the best-known photo design companies of the era. By the early 1980s, Hipgnosis had diversified into advertising, designing and producing campaigns for
Peugeot,
Kronenbourg 1664,
Levi Jeans,
Volvo,
Gillette,
Stella Artois,
Rank Xerox and
The Beatles. Progressing from photo design to moving pictures, Powell, Thorgerson and
Peter Christopherson started Greenback Films in 1982, shooting music videos for many of their existing and new clients including "
Big Log" for
Robert Plant, "
Wherever I Lay My Hat" for
Paul Young, "
Owner of a Lonely Heart" for
Yes and "
Blue Light" for
David Gilmour. The trio wrote, produced and directed three feature films:
Incident at Channel Q starring
Al Corley (
Sony),
Train of Thought with
Yumi Matsutoya (
Toshiba EMI) and
Now Voyager starring
Michael Hordern and
Barry Gibb (
Universal). Greenback Films closed in 1984. Aubrey Powell formed Aubrey Powell Productions in 1985 with
Peter Christopherson and producer Fiz Oliver, shooting music videos, long-form music-based films and television commercials. Credits include
Coca-Cola (with
Robert Plant),
Miller Lite (with
Randy Quaid and
The Who),
Budweiser,
Nissan,
Pan Am,
Grolsch,
Bristol & West (with
Joan Collins) and Le Jardin de
Max Factor (with
Jane Seymour). Since 1982 Aubrey Powell has been involved in film-making, first as a producer and writer and then as director. In 2011 he directed a documentary
The Bull Runners of Pamplona which took two years to make, and was shot in HD and 3D. The film won the Best Documentary Film 2012 at the
New Jersey Film Festival. In 2012 he directed
Eric Idle,
Russell Brand,
Eddie Izzard,
Billy Connolly,
Tracey Ullman and
Jane Leeves in a film of the
Eric Idle play
What About Dick? In 1989, Powell was made creative director for
The Paul McCartney World Tour, designing the stage set, video wall and filmed images. During his tenure he directed the documentary
From Rio to Liverpool for
Channel 4 and the feature movie
Get Back, co-directed with
Richard Lester. For
Paul McCartney's 1993
The New World Tour he again designed the visual staging, and directed another documentary ''Movin' On'', and for
Fox Network directed McCartney's
Live in the New World concert, winning the
CableACE Award and a nomination for the
Golden Rose of Montreux. Since 1994, when he created Hipgnosis Ltd, Aubrey Powell has directed documentaries, live multi-camera shoots and corporate films, like
No Quarter by Page & Plant. In 2013, Powell featured on
BBC Radio 2's
Sounds of the Seventies with
Johnny Walker. He spoke of his career designing album artwork for notable bands, and discussed the major impact on record sleeve design caused by the
Sex Pistols. He returned to album cover designing for Pink Floyd for
The Division Bells 20th Anniversary box set as well as supervising the artwork for the final Pink Floyd album
The Endless River and overseeing the cover for Pink Floyd member
David Gilmour's solo album
Rattle That Lock. Powell also edited the 2019 reissue of Pink Floyd's 1989 concert film,
Delicate Sound of Thunder. ==References==