Director looks always for the fun factor
Director Spike Jonze attributes his success to working and playing with the right individuals, writes Maria Giovanna Vagenas
It's November 2013 and a man is awkwardly making the rounds at the Rome Film Festival, looking somewhat out of place.
The man is director Spike Jonze and although he looks like a 44-year-old who hasn't left his teenage years behind, this facade conceals a complex, beguiling personality who has created some of the most original, offbeat and entertaining films of the past decade and a half.
Born Adam Spiegel in the US state of Maryland, this all-rounder who took his new name from satirist and bandleader Spike Jones has done it all: from skateboarding to writing, photography to film directing, producing to acting. Gifted with huge talent and an extraordinary versatility he has turned his hobbies into art and business, combining his passion for music, skateboarding and BMX freestyle biking with his love for the image - photography first, then videos and movies.
I was fortunate in terms of meeting the people that I met, and working with
In Rome, where his latest film, Her, had its European premiere, Jonze struck up a rapport with the audience - quite a change considering that just a few years ago he would cancel press conferences, release false information about himself, and play practical jokes on journalists. Direct, spontaneous and sprightly, he humorously dismissed complex, academic questions and adopted a straightforward approach.
"I belong to the first generation that grew up having video cameras," he says. "I guess I came up making skate videos, taking photos, writing short stories and articles, then me and my friends started a few magazines like Homeboy and Dirt.
"When I was 20 years old, I had no plans to be a filmmaker. To me it was always about just making things with whatever medium. That was the idea, and it was always exciting to figure out with whom of my friends I was going to make it."
Jonze has a creative and quirky group of friends who have allowed him to be the linchpin of a range of bold projects. He has produced skate videos (his Video Days for the Blind skate company in 1991 earned cult status), some of the most original commercials of the past two decades (including ads for Adidas, Ikea and Gap), and groundbreaking music videos (for his friends Björk, Sonic Youth, Fatboy Slim, Weezer and the Beastie Boys, to name a few). "Looking back, I was fortunate in terms of meeting the people that I met, and working with the people that I worked with," he says with a boyish smile. "Me and my friends have always tried to make ourselves laugh, or to come up with things that affect us, I suppose. To have fun in the first place is the best way to connect with people."