The biggest names in the music industry know him on a first name basis, from Eminem to Britney Spears, from U2 to Katy Perry, from Lady Gaga to Taylor Swift. This month alone, he’s won an Emmy and four MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year. He’s been named one of the most important filmmakers of our generation. What made Joseph Kahn the success he is today?
“I think as a kid I just didn’t have a lot of friends, to be honest with you,” he chuckles. “My mom would drop me off at a movie theater and that would be my social life.”
Sitting down with Joseph is like chatting with an old friend from college. He’s personable and honest, especially when reminiscing about his adolescence.
“I was sort of this geeky Asian kid in the middle of Texas in the early 1980s.” To avoid awkward interactions and relationships, Kahn turned to film as an escape. When he wasn’t spending his afternoons in movie theaters, he would work on history projects late into the night with MTV music videos on a loop in the background.
“I remember watching it so many times that it occurred to me that I could probably do these videos better than what’s on TV,” he said. When MTV announced a Madonna Music Video contest, Joseph decided to peek out of his shell and ask the high school cheerleading team to star in his video. Weeks after the production, girls on the team would still remember his name and greet him with a smile in the hallways: “And this light came on over my head. ‘Okay… you better start doing this for a living.’”
Despite his determination, Joseph’s chances of becoming a music video director looked pretty bleak at 20 years old. Due to crippling student debt, he was forced to drop out of NYU’s Film program after his third semester. He visited every record company in New York and was rejected by each of them. Kahn’s only option was to return home taking jobs in movie theaters and counting cans at grocery stores.
After he finally had enough saved to start his own production company, the only artists and record labels willing to hire him were independent gangster rappers from the ghettos of Houston. Obviously, they weren’t looking for stylistic art films from Spike Jonze. They needed something relevant, entertaining, and provocative. “It beat into me the idea, ‘Okay. It’s not about me. It’s about the song. It’s about his story. I’m a video director and I’m here to promote his album,’” said Kahn.
For this reason, Kahn can work with any artist, in any genre and still deliver exactly what they want: “I have no ego… It doesn’t have to be about me. Whatever artist I’m doing, it’s their video and I’m literally there to become part of the process.” By surrendering himself to collaboration, Kahn has the freedom to have variety in his work. It’s probably why you’d never guess that Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” and Sisqo’s “Thong Song” share the same music video director.
His message to students is one not heard often enough: Hard work alone is not the secret to success. Instead of building relationships as a teenager, Kahn often found himself trying to perfect his craft. “All that complicated icky stuff I was trying to ignore at 19 was an important part of growing up and becoming a better filmmaker," he said. "It’s not just cameras. It’s not just movement. It’s not just how you edit. It’s literally like how are you’re seeing the world as a human being.”
There are times where you’ll be single, frustrated, broke, lost and ready to give up. But it turns out the difficult stuff is crucial to carving out our own stories. Artists like Joseph Kahn remind us: “Live life. Experience the world. Get into those relationships and learn off them. By the time you get older, you’ll want to have something to say.”
Check out his work at: josephkahn.com
