CULVER CITY, Calif.—Noted music video director Joseph Kahn and his production company, Supermega, have linked with bicoastal HSI. Per the deal, Kahn and Supermega directors Hayley Cloake and Todd Kellstein gain worldwide representation for commercials and music videos via HSI, which in return gets a cut of Supermega’s profits. For the past two years, Kahn and Supermega had been affiliated with Palomar Pictures, which recently announced plans to close its doors (SHOOT, 3/14, p. 1).
"One of the reasons [for shifting companies] was because I knew Palomar was going through difficulty," Kahn told SHOOT. "I had a long discussion with Joni [Sighvatsson, CEO/chairman of Palomar], and then decided to look around."
Perhaps best known for strong visuals and inventive visual effects, Kahn said he was drawn to HSI because "it has the best track record of creating great commercial careers for music video directors. I’m always going to be interested in music videos, but I’m also interested in commercials," he related. "There are a lot more unknowns. I’d like to work with actors and dialogue and narrative filmmaking. It excites me."
Kahn’s spot credits to date include Target’s "Simple Soul" via Peterson Milla Hooks, Minneapolis, which featured the pop/R&B group Destiny’s Child. Earlier, he helmed a spec Visa spot, "Bates Motel," which was featured in SHOOT’s "The Best Work You May Never See" gallery (5/28/99, p. 15).
Over the past year, however, Kahn hasn’t been active on the commercial front because he’s been busy directing his first feature, Torque. He described the film, which stars Ice Cube, as "a fifty-million-dollar motorcycle chase movie-it’s thin on plot, but there are a lot of cool visuals."
"I’ve turned down movies for years," he noted. "In fact, I turned this one down twice, but then I started thinking about the challenge of making it interesting for an hour and a half. I like challenges."
At press time, Kahn was about to embark on his first job through HSI, a music video for TLC’s "Damaged." Meanwhile, Cloake is slated to helm a video for Daniel Bedingfield’s "If You’re Not the One."
Kahn recently won a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video for his direction of Eminem’s "Without Me." The clip also won Video of the Year, Best Direction, Best Rap Video and Best Male Performance at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards.
Kahn has directed clips for U2, Moby, Britney Spears, Destiny’s Child, Korn, George Michael, Janet Jackson, Papa Roach, Aerosmith, Sisqo, Elton John and the Backstreet Boys, among others. His most recent projects through Palomar were clips for Mariah Carey’s "Boy (I Need You)," Nelly and Justin Timberlake’s "Work It," as well as DMX’s "X Gon’ Give It 2 Ya." Prior to Palomar, Kahn had been repped by now defunct Holiday.
