Into the Library with Joseph Kahn
'The Creative Library' is LBB’s exciting new launch. It’s been months - years, probably - in the making and we reckon our re-tooled archive will change the way you work, whether you’re a company looking to store and share your work, or a marketer or creative looking for new partners or inspiration for your latest project.
Today, we are happy to introduce you to director Joseph Kahn’s creative work highlights. Born in Pusan, South Korea, Joseph’s family lived in Livorno, Italy, until he immigrated to the US when he was seven years old. Directing made its way into Joseph’s life during his teenage years, when he shot his first ever music videos for local musicians. This affinity led to an academic pursuit at New York University film school, which eventually brought him to his current career.
Now, Kahn has produced hundreds of award-winning commercials and music videos worth billions of views. However, going from NYU to becoming a multi-award-winning director wasn’t a straight line - after Joseph dropped out of the university, he took up the perhaps most dangerous side of directing, which you will find out more about below.
With multiple Grammys, MTV VMAs, Clios, Emmys and one Icon Award by the UK Music Video Awards behind his back, Joseph is doubtless one of the legends of the music video production scene. His work with Taylor Swift, Eminem, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Blink 182, Mariah Carey, is only the tip of the iceberg and his commercial work spans brands like Samsung, Rolls Royce, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Google, Johnny Walker and many, many more.
Looking at Joseph’s notoriously creative history, it becomes clear that we won’t be able to explore it wall to wall, but we surely can take a dip and, in his own words, find out about his ‘bests’ and his ‘firsts’. For this and more, keep reading.
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I once spent an hour on a maths test where another Asian guy finished in barely five minutes. That’s when I knew I would never be the best Asian at that. So, I switched to directing. This was before I knew about Akira Kurosawa, who is the cinema equivalent of that maths test genius. Had I known, my fragile ego would have switched careers to water polo.
After making the decision to take up directing, I enrolled at NYU. Later, I dropped out of its film school in the early ‘90s, only to direct low budget gangster rap music videos. It was dangerous work that no one wanted to do.
I’ve had gunshots on set. Murders around the corner. One set was raided by police. I once had a situation where I was scared the artist would kill me the next day, but the record company didn’t really care. I finished that video and it was a hit.
Meanwhile, I pretty much became a one man crew: director, producer, cinematographer, gaffer, editor, production designer, casting… Anything to get the job done.
This was back in the days of film stock and I had many sleepless nights wondering if I had exposed the film correctly. I always had a sense of relief when I walked into a telecine and there was actually an image on the film. Not to mention with no mobile phones when I started, I had to be prepared with the entire project in my head before being dropped onto location. The entire experience toughened me up. It’s still hard for me to relate to anyone who complains about these comfortable commercial shoots with catered lunches.
First Ever and Latest Projects
I had convinced gangster rappers to make a music video to a song I had no idea what they were rapping about. I just didn’t understand any of the slang, or the southern accents. I was actually still working at a movie theatre when they gave me the money to make that video. That night, they showed up at the theatre! They had no idea I was working there. I hid behind the popcorn counter and then I quit. At that moment, I became a full time director.
As a parallel to that, my latest project is in post production on a Lenny Kravitz video. Everything is different now. I actually have a budget, I work with an actual crew, digital cameras, digital editing, iPhones, zoom meetings, there’s a catered lunch, and the artist is not trying to kill me.
Britney Spears - Toxic
The project I believe upscaled my career the most, and is probably one of my most famous videos is Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’. It’s probably the definitive touchstone of 2000s pop and influenced a lot of videos and movies. Taylor Swift was a big fan of it which led to our collaboration over two of her albums, which then led to another round of pop culture imprinting.
Eminem - Without Me
This was perhaps my most challenging project. It was tricky because he was in full method-acting mode, having just wrapped ‘8 Mile’. He appeared on set as each character he was portraying. I looked into his eyes and saw that Marshall Mathers simply wasn’t there.
Directing 20 different humans is difficult, but when one of them is Osama Bin Laden only months after 911, I realised I was committing professional suicide. I thought I was probably going to end my career writing that sequence, but it ended up being cathartic for the audience. And funny.
Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do
Definitely the project I learned the most from. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to make a music video with an infinite amount of money, and Taylor Swift answered that with ‘Look What You Made Me Do’.
I could concoct any image I wanted, but now creative discipline has become the key. Untethered by production limitations, the choices I made were pure and original. I really got to explore why I want to watch music videos and what makes them vital subjectively. It really clarified techniques in lighting, editorial, and camera movement. That video defined where I was at as an artist up to that point.
Taylor Swift - Bad Blood
The initial idea Taylor Swift had was more of a film noir story, and I morphed it into a James Bond training scenario with science fiction tech. This was a difficult video to make in that Taylor was arranging guest stars on the fly.
As she kept securing new appearances over our five day shoot, I would have to create scenes in a way that locked together cohesively. For Head Mistress we didn’t have anyone so I shot all of Taylor’s part first, then we cast Cindy Crawford a week later and composited her in. When Cindy walked on camera, I actually felt intimidated. She is one of the greatest catwalkers in history and when you see it as I did - her walking straight at you - your body gets confused on a primal level, like a lioness stalking you. It was such a weird evolutionary reaction.
As she kept securing new appearances over our five day shoot, I would have to create scenes in a way that locked together cohesively. For Head Mistress we didn’t have anyone so I shot all of Taylor’s part first, then we cast Cindy Crawford a week later and composited her in. When Cindy walked on camera, I actually felt intimidated. She is one of the greatest catwalkers in history and when you see it as I did - her walking straight at you - your body gets confused on a primal level, like a lioness stalking you. It was such a weird evolutionary reaction.
Kylie Minogue - All the Lovers
In terms of enjoyable projects, Kylie Minogue’s ‘All the Lovers’ was a beautiful experience, mainly because of her. Such a genuinely wonderful person with a lovely smile all day long.
We shot it in downtown Los Angeles with a hundred people in their underwear, all swaying to that awesome song. I photographed it on a handheld Canon 5D SLR, so I felt like I could easily move anywhere I was inspired by. Even though it was a large production, it brought me back to my early days shooting rap videos. Me, a camera, Kylie, and a hundred naked people. It was just one of those moments where you go - “This job is amazing.”
Samsung - Hi Hey Hello
My absolute best piece of work that practically no one knows about is a commercial for Samsung called ‘Hi Hey Hello’. It’s a wish fulfilment fantasy of my college years where I didn’t get a single date and it’s as youthful, pure, and optimistic of a story as I’ve ever done. The agency gave me a ton of rope to hang myself creatively, and I took it and then some.
First, I added the framework where he stalks her with the twist she was stalking him all along. Then, I loaded this ad with all sorts of filmmaking ideas that integrate seamlessly. They’re pretty bold choices but so invisible. It would be impossible to rearrange the edit because it’s basically a spiritual one, where every shot locks together. It’s little seen and appreciated, but I’m thrilled it exists. The romantic in me is all over this video like no other.
