Task 3 - Music Video Director Research

JOSEPH KAHN

I have chosen to research the notable American music video, advertising and feature film director Joseph Kahn.

Joseph Kahn is of Korean American ancestry, he was born 12th October 1972 in Jersey Village, a suburb of Houston Texas. There he was raised and educated and he graduated from Jersey Village High School in 1990.
Joseph Kahn began his directing career in his teens, shooting skateboarding videos of his friends. He also had a passionate interest in comic books, pop culture, television and movies.
He enrolled at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1990. While there he directed his first music video. He dropped out of university after one year to direct hip hop music videos.

His Career

Joseph Kahn’s career delveloped quickly after he dropped out of university,
Within two years he had made dozens of low budget videos where he developed his self-taught filmmaking skills, acting as his own cinematographer, editor, and production designer. This work launched him to the forefront of a new generation of emerging directors. He became highly sought after in the music video industry and in 1995 he moved to Los Angeles. His reputation and work grew as he directed a diverse range of music videos for many recording artists. His success continued as he collected multiple Music Video Production awards. He has won several MTV Video Music Awards, for Best Video of the Year (1998) for Brandy & Monica "The Boy is Mine", and (2004) Britney Spears "Toxic". In 2002 he won his first Grammy for Eminem's "Without Me" video which also won the MTV VMA's Best Video of the Year, as well as best director. His video for Muse "Knights of Cydonia" won the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival Audience Award. In 2009 he won two more MTV Video Music Awards, Britney Spears "Womanizer" won Best Pop Video and Eminem's "We Made You" won Best Hip Hop Video. Today he is credited with launching and expanding the careers of many of his artists.

His Work

Joseph Kahn has worked with diverse artists such as, Mariah Carey, Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, Lady GaGa Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Clarkson, Jamiroquai, Nelly, Destiny's Child, Eminem, Ashlee Simpson, Muse, Ciara, Monica, Courtney Love, Rob Zombie, Aerosmith, Backstreet Boys, U2, George Michael,The Chemical Brothers, Blink 182, TLC, Moby, KoRn, Faith Hill, BoA, Gwen Stefani, Brandy, Pussycat Dolls, Sun Ho, Busta Ryhmes, Garbage and many more.


In 1999, Joseph Kahn started his own production company, Supermega, which is now housed under HSI Productions. He has also directed many commercials for companys including: Bacardi, Coors Light, Budweiser, Miller, Vodafone,T-Mobile, British Telecom, Hewlett Packard, BMW, Renault, Mazda, NASCAR, Saab, Ford and PlayStation. He currently produces his work using Avid editing suites; these are portable systems which he and his assistant Chris Abel use at home or on location.

In 2004, he made his feature film debut when he directed the Warner Brothers action film Torque starring Ice Cube. In May 2007 it was announced that he would direct a $70 million adaptation of William Gibson's science fiction classic, Neuromancer for producer Peter Hoffman.
This is all of his contemporary music video in the last 5 years:

2005
· Joss Stone - "Spoiled"
· Rob Thomas - "Lonely No More"
· Jamiroquai - "Feels Just Like It Should"
· Backstreet Boys - "Incomplete"
· Kelly Clarkson - "Behind These Hazel Eyes"
· Alsou - "Always on My Mind"

2006
· Kelly Clarkson - "Walk Away"
· Shayne Ward - "No Promises"
· The Pink Spiders - "Little Razorblade"
· Muse - "Knights of Cydonia"
· Ciara featuring Chamillionaire - "Get Up"
· Janet Jackson - "So Excited"
· Gwen Stefani - "The Sweet Escape"

2007
· Kelly Clarkson - "Never Again"
· 50 Cent feat. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland - "Ayo Technology"

2008
· Ladytron - "Ghosts"
· Chris Brown - "Forever"
· Pussycat Dolls - "When I Grow Up"
· Britney Spears - "Womanizer"
· Pussycat Dolls - "I Hate This Part"

2009
· Lady GaGa - "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)"
· Lady GaGa - "LoveGame"
· BoA - "I Did It for Love"
· Katy Perry - "Waking Up in Vegas"
· Eminem - "We Made You"
· Kelly Clarkson - "Already Gone"
· Ester Dean feat. Chris Brown - "Drop It Low"
· Sun Ho - "Fancy Free"
· Chris Brown Featuring Lil Wayne and Swizz Beatz - "I Can Transform Ya"
· Chris Brown - "Crawl"

His Audiences response

His work has won him critical acclaim in just a few short years. He was voted by Variety as one of the top 10 directors to watch.

In 2004, he made his feature film debut with the Warner Brothers tongue in-cheek action film TORQUE. Starring Martin Henderson and Ice Cube, the guilty pleasure motorcycle movie was a modern riff on Roger Corman popcorn flicks.

Said Kevin Thomas of the Los Angles Times: "The irony is that for pure cinematic artistry it arguably outdistances some of the more prestigious current offerings. It is a very knowing venture, marking the feature debut of music video veteran Joseph Kahn."

References used

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kahn
http://www.josephkahn.com/biography/1103.xml
http://www.josephkahn.com/music/index.xml
http://www.avid.com/showcase/joseph-kahn-indie-filmmaker.asp