Video: Emma Zander Drops Music Video For 'Not A Fairytale'

The Los Angeles based, alternative pop singer, songwriter and storyteller Emma Zander has released her cinematic, ethereal music video for her latest track, ‘Not A Fairytale.' 

Starring herself and actor Connor G. Floyd (The Young and the Restless), the short film-esque masterpiece, directed by Kimberly Aboltin, looks back at a complicated romance in the rearview mirror through a suspenseful, dreamy lens. 

From the dopamine-highs to the devastating mascara-stained lows, “Not a Fairytale” tells the melancholic tale of how the most toxic relationships can be the most intoxicating. The reflective track, produced by Jon Lundin of Point North, follows a pair who meet and fall quickly, madly in love. And while everything appears to be picture perfect, the relationship is actually full of cracks, secrets, and lies… 

The emotional video flashes through 8mm footage fantasies of what could've been. The dream life. The house. The wedding. The babies. But in the end, we're left wondering what was real and what was merely imagined. 

Outside of romanticizing the magical moments, the video begins and ends with a tragic cliffhanger – leaving viewers to hypothesize the ending. Was it ever really a fairytale – or was she lying to herself to preserve the fantasy? 

"I wanted to leave the ending open for interpretation -- so that anyone who watched it would walk away with their own idea of what went down” Emma admits. “Everyone I talk to has a different idea of what happened to the characters -- and it's in line with the message of the song, because it's all about how love warps our sense of reality."

Made with a small crew, a shoe-string budget, and a grueling 22 hour shoot day, this video was truly a labor of love. Zander's team shot the video on an anamorphic lens, the same camera used in La La Land, to give it a cinematic, retro feel. 

"I self produced this video on a shoe-string budget, using every resource I had to make it happen and make sure it looked as cinematic as possible. We had a small team who worked for a nearly 24 hour day, and I'm so proud of the result -- it feels like La La Land. Its own little short film” shares Emma. 

Emma is no stranger to eye-catching theatrics. She self-produced, styled and art directed her music video for "Bad Dream" feat. Jacob Elordi which premiered on Entertainment Tonight: Euphoria's Jacob Elordi Gets Steamy With Emma Zander In Her Bad Dream Music Video. 

A multi-hyphenate artist, Zander also works as a ghostwriter for directors. This year alone, Emma has written treatments and scripts for Megan Thee Stallion, Imagine Dragons, Cardi B, David Guetta and more. With a passion for filmmaking and visual storytelling, she loves working with top directors and helping them realize their vision.

Born and raised in New York, Emma moved to the West Coast to pursue music after graduating from NYU Tisch School of the Arts' prestigious Musical Theatre program. Her introspective songwriting and ethereal vocals have garnered major attention in the EDM world, as she performed at and even wrote the theme song for Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas.

As a featured vocalist and top-line writer, Zander has appeared on Bryce Vine's rap track, “Bella”, hailing over 30 million+ streams and counting, and Corporate Slackrs' song “Wasted Love” (out on Tiësto's Musical Freedom). But it's her own edgy pop records and self-produced videos that not only solidify her identity as an artist, but a powerhouse female voice of her generation. 

Her music has also been featured on Netflix, as she penned the theme song for the reality show Temptation Island, and her single ‘Beautiful Regret' was recently featured in the latest season of the popular show Sex/Life. 

About Emma Zander 

Fusing ethereal pop and retro-inspired folk, Emma Zander's unique brand of storytelling will lure you in with every soulful note. Classically trained at NYU Tisch, Zander has been featured on MTV, Live Nation's Ones to Watch, Entertainment Tonight, Refinery29 and more. A true hippy soul, Zander strives to find meaning within the depths of our darkness – mining a spiritual perspective that's equal parts playful, sensual and deep.

In 2022, Zander was enlisted to record a reimagined version of Papa Roach's iconic ‘Last Resort' for indie film ‘I'm Totally Fine,' which was endorsed and released by Papa Roach themselves. Zander's creativity doesn't end with music — she's nabbed roles on Netflix's 13 Reasons Why and America Ferrera-produced Gentefied (Netflix). 

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