Palm Hails Music Vid Pioneers

Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry and Chris Cunningham are arguably three of the most innovative music-video directors to come along in the past 10 years.

Palm Pictures has tapped them to create a new DVD series that will compile the work of directors who helped redefine music videos and filmmaking. Called the Directors Label, the series represents a new music DVD subgenre.

The series will launch in September with the release of "Vol. 1: The Work of Spike Jonze."

"Vol. 2: The Work of Chris Cunningham" and "Vol. 3: The Work of Michel Gondry" are tentatively set for release in October or November.

Palm will release a fourth Directors Label compilation volume featuring the work of Mark Romanek at a date to be determined.

Each DVD volume will contain hand-picked work from the directors, including their music videos, previously unreleased material and commentary from the spotlighted subject and artists (Billboard, Feb. 8). The DVD series will be released in Japan on Asmik Ace/Palm Pictures.

"From the beginning, we felt that this should be more than a collection of music videos," Palm producer Richard Brown says. "These directors have influenced pop culture."

Last year, Palm took an initial step in the music-video director compilation field by releasing "Hype Williams —The Videos, Vol. 1."

The Directors Label DVD series is more ambitious. Each volume will feature a double-sided DVD and elaborate packaging that includes a 50-page booklet.

Each booklet will contain photographs, as well as the director's story boards, treatments and drawings. The cover art will be thematically related to other releases in the series.

With a suggested retail price of $19.95, Palm is positioning each DVD volume in the series as "a dream come true for fans of these directors," Palm GM Paul DeGooyer says.

Collectively, the directors are responsible for numerous award-winning clips. They have also branched out into feature films.

Jonze's most recognizable music videos include Weezer's "Buddy Holly," Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" and Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." His work is often defined by his quirky sense of humor.

Cunningham has built a reputation for being extremely selective in directing music videos; his videography is smaller than that of most of his peers. Best-known for Madonna's "Frozen" video, Cunningham often brings a dark and edgy vision to his work, which includes videos for Aphex Twin and Portishead.

Gondry revels in making avant-garde videos that push boundaries in special effects and cinematography. Björk has worked with Gondry more than any other director. He has also directed multiple videos for the White Stripes, the Rolling Stones and the Chemical Brothers.

The three recently sat down with Billboard for an exclusive joint interview.

According to Jonze, the key to making a great video is "working with an artist who's supportive and wants to do something interesting."

It was that supportive relationship between the directors and their artists that made the difference in the DVDs, Palm's DeGooyer says.

Artist commentaries are rarely found on compilation DVDs of music videos.

DeGooyer says record labels were willing to license their artists' videos for the series because "they realized that [the] series would enhance the value of these videos," regardless of "whether or not these labels have plans to compile the music videos themselves.

"Everybody agreed to a favored nations royalty rate on the masters and publishing side," DeGooyer continues. "We were able to make the case with the labels that the Directors Label series wouldn't directly compete with their own artist compilations."

Several of the artists featured on the Jonze DVD are expected to attend and possibly perform at a Directors Label launch party in Los Angeles. The party date will be timed around the release of the Jonze DVD.

There will be a similar but smaller launch party in New York.

According to DeGooyer, the marketing for the DVD series will focus on media publicity and reaching out to fans using the Internet. EMI, which has a lot of content on the DVDs, will partner with Palm on radio giveaways.

The Jonze volume includes such short films as "What's Up Fatlip" (a documentary on former Pharcyde member Fatlip) and "Torrance Rises," a mockumentary about the fictional Torrance Community Dance Group that starred in Jonze's "Praise You" video for Fatboy Slim.

Cunningham's compilation DVD will feature a selection of commercials he has directed and previously unreleased versions of his art films "Flex" and "Monkey Drummer."

Cunningham says that while he frequently has ideas for videos, "I came up with those ideas while listening to classical music or some old track. Those ideas are so specific to that music that I find it harder to come up with ideas for new songs."

The Gondry volume will include his rarely seen short films "La Lettre" and "Drumb and Drumber."

Gondry says that working with record companies "has become easier because we [Jonze, Gondry and Cunningham] have become more appreciated. Any director who gets more appreciation from the artists will find it easier to work with the record companies."



More of Billboard's interview with Jonze, Cunningham and Gondry may be found online at billboard.com.