50 Best Music Video Directors (2019)
We all do love well produced music videos, right? So find a collection of the greatest music video directors right here on IMDb. I have added links to their Instagram pages (or Twitter / Wikipedia in case they are not on the gram).
Credit:
Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_video_director
Pigeons & Planes | https://pigeonsandplanes.com/in-depth/2017/11/25-music-video-directors-you-should-know/
Credit:
Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_video_director
Pigeons & Planes | https://pigeonsandplanes.com/in-depth/2017/11/25-music-video-directors-you-should-know/
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- 52 people
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Latest directed music video:
2018 | STOP TRYING TO BE GOD - Travis Scott featuring Kid Cudi, Stevie Wonder, James Blake, Philip Bailey
https://www.instagram.com/dave_meyers/- Director
- Art Department
- Producer
Nabil Elderkin is known for Gully (2019), Frank Ocean: Swim Good (2011) and Dua Lipa: Don't Start Now (2019).Latest directed music video:
2017 | SZA - Dove In The Wind featuring Kendrick Lamar
https://www.instagram.com/nabildo/- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Lacey Duke is known for Queen Sugar (2016).Latest directed music video:
2018 | Janelle Monáe - I Like That
https://www.instagram.com/laceyduke/- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Romain Gavras was born on 4 July 1981 in Paris, France. He is a director and actor, known for Athena (2022), Our Day Will Come (2010) and Sacrifice.Latest directed music video:
2016 | Gosh - Jamie xx
https://twitter.com/romain_gavras- Director
- Producer
- Cinematographer
Melina Matsoukas was born on 14 January 1981. She is a director and producer, known for Queen & Slim (2019), Insecure (2016) and Beyoncé: Formation (2016).Latest directed music video:
2016 | Formation – Beyoncé
https://www.instagram.com/msmelina/- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Eric Wareheim was born on 7 April 1976 in Audubon, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (2007), Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories (2013) and Master of None (2015).Latest directed music video:
2016 | Dripping – Blonde Redhead
https://www.instagram.com/ericwareheim/- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Spike Jonze made up one-third (along with Andy Jenkins and Mark Lewman) of the triumvirate of genius minds behind Dirt Magazine, the brother publication of the much lamented ground-breaking Sassy Magazine. These three uncommon characters were all editors for Grand Royal Magazine as well, under the direction of Mike D and Adam Horovitz and Adam Yauch before the sad demise of Grand Royal Records. Jonze was also responsible for directing the famous Beastie Boys: Sabotage (1994) short film as well as numerous other music videos for various artists.Latest directed music video:
2015 | Only One - Kanye West feat. Paul McCartney
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Jonze_videography- Director
- Producer
- Actor
Johan Renck is one of the most respected and sought after directors of commercials and music videos today, so much so that the French magazine CB News dubbed him "the number one director of commercials and music videos in the world".
His directing career started in 1992 when he joined the production company Mekano Film and Television in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1994 he left Mekano to join forces with childhood friend director Jonas Åkerlund. They established a new production company, Renck Åkerlund Films, which immediately became one of the leaders of its kind in Sweden. During the same time he worked with his music project, Stakka Bo, with big success and a lot of his time was occupied by the music career. In 1997 he started to work as a director full time and quickly became a well-known name worldwide and in 1999 he was working with Madonna and Nike among others.
Johan has worked non-stop all over the world and continues to work with many well known brands such as; Nike, Levi's, Mercedes, Dom Perignon, and H&M and artists like Kylie Minogue, New Order, Madonna, The Libertines and The Streets to mention a few. He has achieved prestigious nominations and awards for his work, such as MTV award nominations to his music videos to Madonna and Beyoncé and two Cannes Bronze Lions for the Nike commercial "Racing Marion". In 2005 he won an award for best video in MVPA and was nominated in several categories in CAD for his music video for The Streets. In Cannes he collected a Bronze Lion for the commercial Sagem and a Silver Lion for his campaign for "Karl Lagerfeld for H&M", this film also awarded Grand Prix in Eurobest and a Gold in Epica. In 2006, again he had several MVPA nominations, this time for his videos for Madonna: Hung Up (2005) and for Robbie Williams: Tripping (2005). In The Gunn Report Johan Renck was listed as the 25th most rewarded director of commercials. In 2007 Johans short film 'Cow', for SOS Live Earth, was nominated in Eurobest and in Epica Awards where it won the Bronze price.
Johan works within a variety of different media; films, commercials, music videos, theatre productions, art and music projects and still photography. He shoots stills for magazines like Italian Vogue and brands such as Diesel just to mention a few. Johan finished his feature film Downloading Nancy (2008), starring Maria Bello, Jason Patric, Rufus Sewell, and Amy Brenneman among others. The film has its world premiere in the 2008 Sundance Festival where it also competed in the Dramatic Competition picked out of thousands of submissions.
Johan is based in Stockholm where he runs RAF. In the US and in England he is represented by high profile production company RSA/Black Dog, in France by Soixante Quinze. He is also highly respected by David Unger at ICM for feature film projects.https://www.instagram.com/johanrenck/- Director
- Editor
Brthr is known for Grimes: Shinigami Eyes (2022), The Weeknd: Party Monster (2017) and Joji: Yukon (Interlude) (2022).https://www.instagram.com/_brthr_/- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Anderson was born in 1970. He was one of the first of the "video store" generation of film-makers. His father was the first man on his block to own a V.C.R., and from a very early age Anderson had an infinite number of titles available to him. While film-makers like Spielberg cut their teeth making 8 mm films, Anderson cut his teeth shooting films on video and editing them from V.C.R. to V.C.R.
Part of Anderson's artistic D.N.A. comes from his father, who hosted a late night horror show in Cleveland. His father knew a number of oddball celebrities such as Robert Ridgely, an actor who often appeared in Mel Brooks' films and would later play "The Colonel" in Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997). Anderson was also very much shaped by growing up in "The Valley", specifically the suburban San Fernando Valley of greater Los Angeles. The Valley may have been immortalized in the 1980s for its mall-hopping "Valley Girls", but for Anderson it was a slightly seedy part of suburban America. You were close to Hollywood, yet you weren't there. Would-bes and burn-outs populated the area. Anderson's experiences growing up in "The Valley" have no doubt shaped his artistic self, especially since three of his four theatrical features are set in the Valley.
Anderson got into film-making at a young age. His most significant amateur film was The Dirk Diggler Story (1988), a sort of mock-documentary a la This Is Spinal Tap (1984), about a once-great pornography star named Dirk Diggler. After enrolling in N.Y.U.'s film program for two days, Anderson got his tuition back and made his own short film, Cigarettes & Coffee (1993). He also worked as a production assistant on numerous commercials and music videos before he got the chance to make his first feature, something he liked to call Sydney, but would later become known to the public as Hard Eight (1996). The film was developed and financed through The Sundance Lab, not unlike Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992). Anderson cast three actors whom he would continue working with in the future: Altman veteran Philip Baker Hall, the husky and lovable John C. Reilly and, in a small part, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who so far has been featured in all four of Anderson's films. The film deals with a guardian angel type (played by Hall) who takes down-on-his-luck Reilly under his wing. The deliberately paced film featured a number of Anderson trademarks: wonderful use of source light, long takes and top-notch acting. Yet the film was reedited (and retitled) by Rysher Entertainment against Anderson's wishes. It was admired by critics, but didn't catch on at the box office. Still, it was enough for Anderson to eventually get his next movie financed. "Boogie Nights" was, in a sense, a remake of "The Dirk Diggler Story", but Anderson threw away the satirical approach and instead painted a broad canvas about a makeshift family of pornographers. The film was often joyous in its look at the 1970s and the days when pornography was still shot on film, still shown in theatres, and its actors could at least delude themselves into believing that they were movie stars. Yet "Boogie Nights" did not flinch at the dark side, showing a murder and suicide, literally in one (almost) uninterrupted shot, and also showing the lives of these people deteriorate, while also showing how their lives recovered.
Anderson not only worked with Hall, Reilly and Hoffman again, he also worked with Julianne Moore, Melora Walters, William H. Macy and Luis Guzmán. Collectively, Anderson had something that was rare in U.S. cinema: a stock company of top-notch actors. Aside from the above mentioned, Anderson also drew terrific performances from Burt Reynolds and Mark Wahlberg, two actors whose careers were not exactly going full-blast at the time of "Boogie Nights", but who found themselves to be that much more employable afterwards.
The success of "Boogie Nights" gave Anderson the chance to really go for broke in Magnolia (1999), a massive mosaic that could dwarf Altman's Nashville (1975) in its number of characters.
Anderson was awarded a "Best Director" award at Cannes for Punch-Drunk Love (2002).https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Thomas_Anderson- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Tyler, The Creator is an American musician in all aspects, including producing, directing music videos as well as writing and performing as an artist. He was born in Los Angeles, California, as Tyler Okonma to a single mother. In 2008 Tyler, The Creator founded the hip-hop collective Odd Future, a controversial, alternate group. At such a young age Tyler, The Creator became a hit in 2011 with his first single Yonkers, which was a track from his upcoming album, Goblin. Odd Future are now a popular group with the younger generations, with their own television show 'Loiter Squad', all with thanks to Tyler Okonma's odd imagination.https://www.instagram.com/feliciathegoat/- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Emily Kai Bock is known for A Funeral for Lightning (2016), The Giver (2014) and Arcade Fire: Afterlife (2013).https://www.instagram.com/emilykaibock/- Matthew Dillon Cohen is known for Gus Dapperton: Prune, You Talk Funny (2017), Zach Bryan: Nine Ball (2024) and Zach Bryan: Boys of Faith (2023).https://www.instagram.com/itsbongoboy/
- Director
- Editor
- Cinematographer
Cole Bennett was born on 14 May 1996 in Plano, Illinois, USA. He is a director and editor, known for The Culture: A Chicago Hip Hop Documentary (2016), Jack Harlow & Dave: Stop Giving Me Advice (2023) and Blink-182: Edging (2022).https://www.instagram.com/_colebennett_/- Director
- Actor
- Editor
Austin Vesely is known for Slice (2018), Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment: Sunday Candy (2015) and Easy (2016).https://www.instagram.com/austinvesely/- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Grant Singer was born on 23 July 1985. He is a director and producer, known for The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk: Starboy (2016), The Weeknd: Can't Feel My Face (2015) and Lorde: Green Light (2017).https://twitter.com/grant_singer- Director
- Editor
- Writer
Jesse Kanda is known for Arca - Now You Know (2014), Björk: Mouth Mantra (2015) and Björk: Arisen My Senses (2017).https://www.instagram.com/truekanda/- Director
- Writer
- Actress
Floria Sigismondi is a photographer and director. Apart from her art exhibitions she is best known for directing music videos. Her trademark dilating, jittery camerawork, noticeable as early as her video for Marilyn Manson's "The Beautiful People", has been replicated by a great number of directors since. Her parents, Lina and Domenico Sigismondi, were opera singers. Her family, including her sister Antonella, moved to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada when she was two. In her childhood she became obsessed by drawing and painting. Later, from 1987 she studied painting and illustration at the Ontario College of Art, today's Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD). When she took a photography course, she became obsessed once more, and graduated with a photography major. Floria started a career as a fashion photographer. She came to directing music videos when she was approached by the production company The Revolver Film Co., and directed music videos for a number of Canadian bands. Her very innovative, but also very disturbing video works, located in sceneries she once described as "entropic underworlds inhabited by tortured souls and omnipotent beings", attracted a number of very prominent musicians. With her photography and sculpture installations she had solo exhibitions in Hamilton and Toronto, New York, Brescia, Italy, Göteborg, Sweden and London. Her photographs also were included in numerous group exhibitions, together with those of photographers like Cindy Sherman and Joel-Peter Witkin. The German art press Die Gestalten Verlag has published two monographs of her photography, "Redemption" (1999) and "Immune" (2005).https://twitter.com/floriamamaroma- Director
- Editor
- Make-Up Department
Hannah Lux Davis is a filmmaker best known for her work in music videos. With a passion for creating striking imagery, storytelling, and making stars look and feel their very best, she has established herself as one of today's most in-demand creators.
Some of Davis' most notable achievements include her work with international pop sensation Ariana Grande. 2014 saw the beginning of their relationship with the release of her modern-day Moulin Rouge concept video "Bang Bang," featuring powerhouses Grande, Nicki Minaj, and Jessie J. The video racked in over 1 billion views and appeared in a Beats commercial. Since that release, they've collaborated on a multitude of projects including 11 music videos, visuals for two international tours, and two fragrance campaigns, including packaging design and print ads. Most recently, Davis and Grande wrapped up 2018 by breaking both YouTube and Vevo records for most views within 24 hours of release with the "thank u, next" music video.https://www.instagram.com/hannahluxdavis/- Director
- Producer
- Composer
Kevin Abstract is known for Helmet Boy (2017), The Grinch (2018) and Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021).https://www.instagram.com/iansimpson/- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Mark Romanek was born on 18 September 1959 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is a director and producer, known for One Hour Photo (2002), Never Let Me Go (2010) and Michael Jackson feat. Janet Jackson: Scream (1995). He is married to Brigette Romanek.https://www.instagram.com/markromanek/- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Director X (formerly known as Little X) was born on October 31st,1975 in Toronto, Canada, and is of Trinidadian and Swiss descent. About his nationality, he got discriminiated as being a 'black' person. Moving to New York City he became the protégé of pioneering hip hop director Hype Williams, X has been noted for directing high-budget, visually distinctive videos for popular artists, including Drake, Jay Z, Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa, Usher, John Mayer, Korn, Iggy Azalea and many more. His work has been nominated and awarded by the MTV Music Video Awards and Much Music Video Awards. X has directed commercials for Mercedes-Benz, Mc Donald's, Ikea, Directv, Nintendo, Bacardi, Guiness and Yeo Valley. As a film director, X made his directorial debut in 2014 with an edgy drama titled "Undone." His kindness made peace. His actions and attitude changed the world for shalom.https://www.instagram.com/directorx/- Director
- Producer
Canada is known for Rosalía & Travis Scott: TKN (2020), Dua Lipa: Physical (2020) and Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better (2015).CANADA is an international duo of directors and a creative production company based in Barcelona and London.
https://www.instagram.com/lawebdecanada/