This document profiles several music video directors and provides examples of their work. It discusses Jonas Åkerlund, a Swedish director known for directing innovative videos that are like movie trailers, including for Madonna's "Ray of Light." It also mentions Chris Cunningham, a British artist who has primarily directed videos for electronic music. Spike Jonze is profiled as an American director known for his collaborations with musicians and movies like Being John Malkovich. Ben Winston is noted for his comedy sketches, and Ray Kay is a Norwegian director currently based in LA who has worked with stars like Cher, Britney Spears, and Justin Bieber.
2. Jonas Åkerlund
Jonas Åkerlund is a Swedish film and music video director, and drummer. He is best known
for directing music videos, which are often mock forms of movie trailers and short films. His
video for Madonna's song "Ray of Light" won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form, and
a record seven awards at 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, including the Video of the Year.
Some of Åkerlund’ work includes:
• "Magic" for Coldplay
• "Moves Like Jagger" for Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera
• "Telephone" for Lady Gaga feat. Beyoncé
• "Come Undone" for Robbie Williams
• "Beautiful Day" for U2
3. Chris Cunningham
Chris Cunningham is a British video artist. He was born in Reading, Berkshire in 1970 and grew up
in Lakenheath,Suffolk. Cunningham has primarily directed music videos for ambient
music and electronica acts such as Autechre and Aphex Twin. He has also created art installations and
directed short movies. He was approached to direct a movie version of
the cyberpunk novel Neuromancer, but nothing came of early discussions. In the 2000s, Cunningham
began doing music production work. He has also designed album artwork for a variety of musicians.
Some of Cunningham’s work includes:
• "Frozen" (1998) video for Madonna
• "Light Aircraft on Fire" (1996) video for The Auteurs
• "No More Talk" (1997) video for Dubstar
• "Something to Say" (1997) video for Jocasta
• "36 Degrees" (1996) video for Placebo
4. Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze is an American director, producer, screenwriter and actor, whose work includes music
videos, commercials, film and television. He started his feature film directing career with Being John
Malkovich (1999) and Adaptation (2002), both written by Charlie Kaufman, and then started movies with
screenplays of his own with Where the Wild Things Are (2009) and Her (2013).
Jonze is well known for his music video collaborations with Fatboy Slim, Weezer, Beastie Boys, and Björk. He was
a co-creator and executive producer of MTV's Jackass. He co-founded Directors Label, with filmmakers Chris
Cunningham and Michel Gondry, and the Palm Pictures company.
Some of Jonze’s work includes:
• “Suburbs” for Arcade Fire
• “Flashing Lights” for Kanye West
• “Get Back” for Ludacris
• “Weapon of choice” for Fatboy Slim
• “Da Funk” for Daft Punk
5. Ben Winston
Ben is best known for his directing and co-writing of the infamous Smithy Comic Relief sketches. He
has managed to get memorable comedic performances from everyone from David Beckham to Gordon
Brown, from Paul McCartney to Justin Bieber. Ben has a special talent of bringing out the best on every
set. The Smithy Saves Comic Relief was referred to by the Daily Mail as the “greatest sketch of all
time”. Ben also had the honour of directing the documentary and video for the Queen’s Jubilee song;
“Sing” as well as several other Top 10 hits.
Some of Winston’s work includes:
• “Best song ever” for One Direction
• “Sing” for Gary Barlow and the commonwealth band
• “Story of my life” for One Direction
• “Proud” for JLS
• “Midnight Memories” for One Direction
6. Ray Kay
Ray Kay is a Norwegian director and photographer who is currently based in Los Angeles. He is a music video and commercial
director. Ray Kay mostly directs music videos and has worked with artists such as Cher, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Justin
Bieber, Jessie J, Nelly Furtado, Beyoncé Knowles, Destiny's Child, Gloria Estefan, Steven Tyler, Enrique Iglesias, Adam
Lambert,Cheryl Cole, Alesha Dixon, Diddy, Willow Smith, Amerie, Sean Paul, Christina Milian, The-Dream, Backstreet
Boys, Melanie C, Ciara, Snoop Dogg and Ghostface. He also photographs fashion stills and album covers, and has directed
commercials for brands such as Pepsi, AT&T, Mango and KFC. His music videos have won several awards, including MTV Awards,
Much Music Awards and ZTV Awards. Ray Kay is my favourite music director, he has worked with some of the biggest music stars
in the World.
Some of Kay’s work includes:
• Austin Mahone feat Flo Rida - "Say You're Just a Friend"
• Jessie J - Domino
• Willow Smith - "Whip My Hair"
• Justin Bieber ft Ludacris - "Baby"
• Sean Kingston ft Justin Bieber - "Eenie Meenie"
• Enrique Iglesias & Ciara - "Takin' Back My Love"
• LMFAO - "I'm in Miami Bitch"
• "Fight For This Love“ for Cheryl Cole
