Spike Jonze

From Freepedia

For the musician and bandleader, see Spike Jones.

Spike Jonze (born Adam Spiegel c. 1969 in Rockville, Maryland), is a Jewish-American director of videos, most notably offbeat music videos, and director and producer of films, most notably the 1999 black comedy Being John Malkovich and the 2002 film Adaptation (both written by Charlie Kaufman). He was a producer and co-creator of the Jackass television series on MTV and of Jackass: The Movie. He has acted in some videos and films, and has written as well.

Spike also was a co-founder and editor of Dirt magazine, as well as an editor for Grand Royal Magazine. Spike in the past shot skateboard videos, most notably Blind skateboard company's Video Days in 1991, and he is co-owner of Girl Skateboards.

On June 26, 1999 Spike married director Sofia Coppola. On December 5, 2003 Coppola filed for divorce citing "irreconcilable differences". Coppola has a lead role as a gymnast in Spike's music video for the Chemical Brothers song "Elektrobank". He was dating Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O.

He apparently split with Karen O in late Sept/early October 2005.

Contents 1 Alter egos 2 Filmography 2.1 Music videos 2.2 Video 2.3 Film 2.4 Television 3 External links

Alter egos

Spike Jonze also has several alter-egos, including Richard Koufey, Richard Coufey, Richard Couffe, and Spike Jones. The first name Spike has more commonly been used when referring to movie director Spike Lee, sometimes resulting in confusion.

Richard Koufey is leader of the Torrance Community Dance Group, an urban dance group that performs in the malls and streets of Torrance, California. Koufey was allegedly spotted by music video director Spike Jonze performing Fatboy Slim's hit single Rockafella Skank with a boombox on the street. Spike filmed him and showed the video to Fatboy, who loved it. Jonze filmed Koufey and his dance group performing Fatboy's next song Praise You outside a movie theater for "Praise You's" music video. The resulting video was a huge success and Koufey and his troupe were invited to New York City to perform it for the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. The video received the awards for Best Direction, Breakthrough, and Best Choreography. Koufey made a documentary about the experience, entitled Torrance Rises.

Filmography

Music videos

Alphabetical list of directed music videos.

• "100%" by Sonic Youth (1992)
• "All About Eve" by Marxman (1994)
• "Big Brat" by Phantom Planet (2003)
• "Buddy Holly" by Weezer (1994)
• "California" by Wax (1995)
• "Cannonball" by The Breeders (1993)
• "Car Song" by Elastica (1995)
• "Country At War" by X (1993)
• "Crush with Eyeliner" by R.E.M. (1995)
• "Da Funk" by Daft Punk (1997)
• "Daughter of the Kaos" by Luscious Jackson (1993)
• "Video Days" by Blind (1992)
• "Ditch Digger" by Rocket From the Crypt (1994)
• "Divine Hammer" by The Breeders (1994)
• "Drop" by The Pharcyde (1996)
• "Electrobank" by The Chemical Brothers (1997)
• "Electrolite" by R.E.M. (1997)
• "Feel the Pain" by Dinosaur Jr. (1994)
• "Freedom of '76" by Ween (1995)
• "Get Back" by Ludacris (2004)
• "Hang On" by Teenage Fanclub (1993)
• "High in High School" by Chainsaw Kittens (1993)
• "Home" by Sean Lennon (1998)
• "Island in the Sun" by Weezer (2000)
• "I Can't Stop Smiling" by Velocity Girl (1994)
• "If I Only Had a Brain" by MC 900 Ft. Jesus (1994)
• "It's All About the Benjamins (rock version)" by Puff Daddy (1997)
• "It's In Our Hands" by Björk (2002)
• "It's Oh So Quiet" by Björk (1995)
• "Liberty Calls" by Mike Watt (1997)
• "Old Timer" by That Dog (1994)
• "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim (1998)
• "Ricky's Theme" by the Beastie Boys (1994)
• "Root Down (version 2)" by the Beastie Boys (1998)
• "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys (1994) (also writer)
• "Shady Lane" by Pavement (1997)
• "Sky's the Limit" by Notorious B.I.G. (1997)
• "Sure Shot" by the Beastie Boys (1994)
• "The Diamond Sea" by Sonic Youth (1995)
• "The Rockefeller Skank (version 1)" by Fatboy Slim (1998)
• "Time For Livin'" by the Beastie Boys (1993)
• "Triumph Of A Heart" by Björk (2005)
• "Undone (The Sweater Song)" by Weezer (1994)
• "Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim (2000)
• "What's Up, Fatlip?" by Fatlip (2000)
• "Who Is Next?" by Wax (1995)
• "Wonderboy" by Tenacious D (2000)
• "Y Control" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2004)

Video

• Video Days (director) (1991)
• Ciao L.A. (director) (1994)
• Mouse (executive producer, director) (1996)
• An Intimate Look Inside the Acting Process with Ice Cube (director) (1999)
• What's Up, Fatlip? (director) (2003)
• The Work of Director Spike Jonze (director) (2003)
• Yeah Right! (executive producer, director) (2003)
• Corporate Ghost (actor, director) (2004)
• Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow (cinematographer) (2004)

Film

• Mi Vida Loca (actor) (1993)
• Pig! (actor) (1996)
• How They Get There (writer, director) (1997)
• The Game (actor) (1997)
• Amarillo by Morning (director) (1998)
• Free Tibet (cinematographer) (1998)
• Being John Malkovich (director) (1999)
• Three Kings (actor) (1999)
• Torrance Rises (actor, director, choreographer) (1999)
• Human Nature (producer) (2001)
• Adaptation (director) (2002)
• Jackass: The Movie (producer) (2002)
• Where the Wild Things Are (director) (pre-production) (2005)

Television

• Jackass (creator, executive producer) (2000)
• Sonic Youth Video Dose (actor) (2004)

External links

• Spike Jonze at the Internet Movie Database
• All Movie Guide entry for Spike Jonze
• Commercials at MJZ
• Spike Jonze unmasked
• DirectorsLabel.com co-founded with Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry