Spike Jonze

Spike Jonze is an American director, producer, screenwriter and actor, and was the man behind “Her” (2013) and “Where the Wild Things Are” (2009). He has also been behind advertisements, TV shows and more importantly Music Videos, making him pertinent to the work we are doing currently. He also was a co-creator of “Jackass”, meaning he’s very experienced in a variety of fields.

Jonze is most well known in music videos for his work with The Beastie Boys (“Sabotage”, “Ricky’s Theme”), Weezer (“Buddy Holly”, “Island in the Sun”), Fatboy Slim (“Praise You”, “Weapon of Choice”) and more recently Jay-Z and Kanye West (“Otis”) and Arcade Fire (“The Suburbs”).

His music videos are renowned for being “fun, cool, hilarious, ubiquitous and massively influential” – the video for “Praise You” in 1999, Jonze ‘invented’ flash-mobs, and “Weapon of Choice” featured Christopher Walken dancing in a manner most who know the actor would not expect from him.

Jonze's breakthrough video, for the song "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys, was an inspired take-off on 1970s cop shows. The video earned four MTV Video Music Awards, including one for Jonze (best director). Later that year, Jonze “cemented his reputation for innovation and creativity” with his memorable video for Weezer's "Buddy Holly," in which the alternative band performed their hit single in the middle of what appeared to be an episode of the 1970s sitcom Happy Days.