2. David Fincher
David Fincher, American film director, was born in Denver, Colorado in 1962. He is a film
producer, television director, television producer, and music video director. He started his first
major industry job at George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic, during which he worked on big
productions such as Return of the Jedi (1983) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(1984), Fincher led commercials and music videos for the likes of Aerosmith, Paula Abdul, and
Madonna. He is most famous for the award winning films he has made such as, ‘Gone Girl’, ‘The
Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’, ‘The Social Network’. He won critical acclaim for the movie “Seven”
and this made the relatively unknown Fincher one of Hollywood's hottest young directors. He has
also worked extensively with Madonna directing several of her music videos including ‘Express
Yourself’ ‘Oh Father’, ‘Vogue’ and Bad Girl’.
But long before making it big in Hollywood, David Fincher helped to shape the style of MTV –
directing music videos for some of the most iconic stars in the business. He earned back-to-back
MTV Video Music Awards for Best Direction in 1989 for ‘Express Yourself’ and in 1990 for ‘Vogue’.
In 1990. He is responsible for the video for the Grammy Award-winning track ‘Love Is Strong’ by
The Rolling Stones. As a music video director, Fincher also won a Grammy Award for Best Music
Video ‘Suit & Tie’ by Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z.
He is well known for the following quote which sums up how passionate he is about his job -
People will say, "There are a million ways to shoot a scene", but I don't think so. I think there're
two, maybe. And the other one is wrong.
3. Mark Romanek
Mark Romanek, American filmmaker, was born in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from Roy H. Park
School of Communications, Ithaca College with a degree in Cinema and Photography. His surname means
"Little Roman" in Polish and Czech.
He has directed films. music videos and advertisements. His music videos cover a wide range of artists
over a long period of time. Some of his most popular music videos are: ‘Hurt’ – Johnny Cash, ‘Scream’ –
Michael and Janet Jackson, “Rain” - Madonna and ‘Shake It Off’ – Taylor Swift. His work has earned him at
least 20 MTV music awards, and 3 Grammys for best short form music video, the most of any director.
It is said that Romanek was so deeply affected by Cash's cover of the Nine Inch Nails‘ song "Hurt", that
he offered to shoot the video for free. Upon doing so, he sent the video to Nine Inch Nails. Trent Reznor, lead
singer, was reportedly so awestruck emotionally on seeing the video interpretation, he had to leave the room
and recuperate, as he was moved to tears. The video itself features footage of a decrepit Cash at the flood
ravaged House of Cash Museum with footage from Cash's personal collection of himself in his youth.
Romanek got his start in 1985 directing a dramatic comedy called “Static” about a man who develops a
machine that allows you to see photos of heaven, but when no one believes him he decides to hijack a bus of
senior citizens in hopes to gain the world’s attention. After a few years writing screenplays, Romanek decided
to focus on music videos and signed on with Satellite Films, a division of Propaganda Films. His subsequent
work has come to be regarded as among the best , and he is known for his gritty style and vibrant, dirty colour
palette. One of his notable videos was for the Nine Inch Nails song ‘Closer’. Many people criticised the video
for being disturbing and creepy, as it featured beating hearts, miniature skeletons and a crucified capuchin
monkey. He won his first Grammy for the video ‘Scream’ with artists Michael and Janet Jackson. The afore
mentioned 2002 music video for Johnny Cash's cover of ‘Hurt’ –won him his 3rd Grammy. One of his most
recent successes was the major video for ‘Shake It Off’ with Taylor Swift. Swift said she wanted to work with
Romanek for years because, in her opinion, he’s directed some of the most iconic videos in history.
4. Jake Nava
Jake Nava, born in North London, graduated from The University of
Westminster, is the award winning director of music videos and TV
commercials. Nava collaborated with Beyoncé on ‘Crazy In Love’, ‘Single
Ladies’, - recently listed by the Times at position number 3 in The 25 Most
Influential Music Videos of all time- “If I were a boy” and “Beautiful liar”. Nava is
well known in the world of music videos, with top artists, such as Kayne West.
Lana Del Ray, Britney Spears and the Arctic Monkeys, not to mention Adele,
choosing him for their music videos. Entertainment Weekly named Nava the
fifth best music video director of 2011 for his work in the videos ‘Someone Like
You’ by Adele and ‘Monster’ by Kanye West.
Nava has also directed advertising campaigns for global companies such as,
Armani, Puma, Diet Coke, Guinness, Bacardi and HSBC. In 2011, he gained
another award for his Lucozade advertisement which was placed in the top 10
TV & Cinema Ads.
Nava's is well known for his views on the anti-gun campaign to reduce inner city
gun crime. For this he received three D&AD nominations and was able to use
his influence to reach a wide audience.
