A geek’s guide to Spike Jonze

Spike Jonze is someone who may have fallen under your radar until now. But Spike is something of a veteran when it comes to creative entrepreneurialism. His influence pops up in the most unusual places from furniture adverts to political documentaries, transcending formats, genres, subcultures and expectations.

From working in the Rockville BMX store in Maryland when he was growing up and starting the Club Homeboy BMX collective to co-founding The Girl Distribution company responsible for brands like Lakai Limited Footwear, Royal Trucks, Fourstar Clothing, Chocolate Skateboards, Skate Mental, Ruby Clothing and Crailtap, he has continued to push the boundaries of street culture.

But Spike didn't stop there. After dipping his quill in the publishing ink pot with magazines like Dirt and Grand Royal, he embarked on an epic journey into video production creating groundbreaking skateboard and music videos for numerous artists including Bjork, Weezer and The Pharcyde.

But Spike didn't stop there. He added more paints to his palette with feature films and TV programmes; he helped found Jackass, became artistic director of VBS.TV, directed numerous television commercials, and wrote, produced, acted in and directed huge films for Hollywood like Being John Malkovich and now Where The Wild Things Are.

Here are just some of the wonderful things from Spike's wild world so far.

Print:

Club Homeboy (founder)
Freestylin' (editor)
Dirt Magazine (founder)
Transworld Skateboarding (photographer)
Grand Royal Magazine (editor)
Where The Wild Things Are screenplay (writer)
Sonny (Nieves, 2009) (editor)

Music Videos:

'Hush' by Wax (1992)
'High in High School' by Chainsaw Kittens (1992)
'100%' by Sonic Youth (1992)
'Cannonball' by The Breeders (1993)
'Country at War' by X (1993)
'Daughters of the Kaos' by Luscious Jackson (1993)
'Hang On' by Teenage Fanclub (1993)
'Time for Livin'' by Beastie Boys (1993)
'All About Eve' by Marxman (1994)
'Buddy Holly' by Weezer (1994)
'Ditch Digger' by Rocket from the Crypt (1994)
'Divine Hammer' by The Breeders (1994)
'Feel the Pain' by Dinosaur Jr. (1994)
'I Can't Stop Smiling' by Velocity Girl (1994)
'If I Only Had a Brain' by MC 900 Ft. Jesus (1994)
'Old Timer' by that dog. (1994)
'Ricky's Theme' by Beastie Boys (1994)
'Sabotage' by Beastie Boys (1994)
'Sure Shot' by Beastie Boys (1994)
'Undone (The Sweater Song)' by Weezer (1994)
'California' by Wax (1995)
'Car Song' by Elastica (1995)
'Crush with Eyeliner' by R.E.M. (1995)
'Freedom of '76' by Ween (1995)
'It's Oh So Quiet' by Björk (1995)
'The Diamond Sea' by Sonic Youth (1995)
'Who Is Next?' by Wax (1995)
'Drop' by The Pharcyde (1996)
'Da Funk' by Daft Punk (1997)
'Electrolite' by R.E.M. (1997)
'Elektrobank' by The Chemical Brothers (1997)
'It's All About the Benjamins (Rock Remix)' by Puff Daddy (1997)
'Liberty Calls' by Mike Watt (1997)
'Shady Lane' by Pavement (1997)
'Sky's the Limit' by The Notorious B.I.G. (1997)
'Home' by Sean Lennon (1998)
'Praise You' by Fatboy Slim (1998)
'Root Down' (version 2) by Beastie Boys (1998)
'The Rockafeller Skank' (version 1) by Fatboy Slim (1998)
'Weapon of Choice' by Fatboy Slim (2000)
'What's Up, Fatlip?' by Fatlip (2000)
'Wonderboy' by Tenacious D (as Marcus Von Bueler) (2000)
'Island in the Sun' (Version 2) by Weezer (2002)
'Guess I'm Doing Fine' by Beck (2002)
'It's in Our Hands' by Björk (2002)
'Big Brat' by Phantom Planet (2003)
'Get Back' by Ludacris (2004)
'Y Control' by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2004)
'Triumph of a Heart' by Björk (2005)
'Blessed Evening' by Foetus (2005) (cinematographer only, directed by Karen O)
'Flashing Lights' by Kanye West (2008)
'Heaven' by UNKLE (2009)
'Ridin'' by Righchus (2009)
'See You in My Nightmares' by Kanye West (2009)
'25' by AsDSSka (2009)

Skate Videos:

Rubbish Heap (1989)
Video Days (1991)
Goldfish (1993)
Mouse (1996)
Yeah Right! (2003)
Hot Chocolate! (2004)
The Krooked Chronicles (2006)
Fully Flared (2007)

Feature Films:

Free Tibet (Cinematographer) (1998)
Being John Malkovich (Director) (1999)
Human Nature (Producer) (2001)
Adaptation (Director) (2002)
Jackass: The Movie (Producer) (2002)
Jackass: Number Two (Producer) (2006)
Synecdoche, New York (Producer) (2008)
Where The Wild Things Are (Director) (2009)

Documentaries and Short Films:

Ciao L.A. (1994)
The Nine Lives of Paco (1996)
Mark Paints (1995)
How They Get There (1997)
Amarillo by Morning (1998)
An Intimate Look Inside the Acting Process with Ice Cube (1999)
Al Gore Documentary (2000)
Chocolate Tour (2000)
What’s Up, Fatlip? (2003)
The Mystery of Dalarö (2004)
Heavy Metal in Baghdad (2007)
We Were Once A Fairytale (2009)
Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak (2009)
Maurice at the world’s fair (2009)
The Creature Within (2009)

Commercials:

‘Car, Twister and Parachute’ for Lee Jeans
‘The Morning After’ for Nike
‘Casting Call’ for Miller Beer
‘Crazy Legs’ for Levi's
‘Doctors’ for Levi's
‘Y2K Jogger’ for Nike
‘Red Lamp’ for IKEA
‘Hello Tomorrow’ for Adidas
'Pardon Our Dust' for Gap
'Sumo' for Softbank
‘I’m Here’ for Absolut Vodka
‘Mystery of Dalaro’ for Volvo

Acting Roles:

Mi Vida Loca (1993)
Pig! (1996)
The Game (1997)
Torrance Rises (1999)
Three Kings (1999)
Keep Your Eyes Open (2003)
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (2009)

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