Spike Jonze by Ben

Spike Jonze was born Adam Spiegel in October 22, 1969 and is renowned for being an American director of music videos and commercials. He is also an Academy Award-nominated director and producer within the film and television industry and is most known for his 1999 film Being John Malkovich and the 2002 film Adaptation and are both written by Charlie Kaufman. Jonze is also credited as a co-creator of MTV’s Jackass.

In 2006, he was nominated by the Directors Guild of America for "Outstanding Achievement in Commercials in 2005." He was nominated for a body of work that included "Hello Tomorrow" for Adidas, "Penguin" for Miller Beer, and "Pardon Our Dust" for The Gap. Spike Jonze made up a third, along with Andy Jenkins and Mark Lewman, of the triumvirate of genius minds behind Dirt Magazine. Dirt Magazine is the brother publication of the ground-breaking Sassy Magazine. These three uncommon characters were all editors for Grand Royal Magazine under the direction of Mike D and Adam Horovitz and Adam Yauch before the creation of Grand Royal Records. Also, Jonze is responsible for directing the famous Beastie Boys: Sabotage (1994) short film as well as numerous other music videos for various artists.

Jonze has many alter egos, which have included Richard Koufey (alternately spelled Coufey or Couffe), the leader of the Torrance Community Dance Group, an urban troupe that performs in public spaces. The Koufey persona appeared when Jonze, in character, filmed himself dancing to Fatboy Slim's "Praise You" as it played on a boombox in a public area. Spike showed the video to Slim, who loved it. Jonze then assembled a group of dancers to perform to Slim's "Praise You" which was taped outside a Californian movie theater. The resulting clip was a huge success, and 'Koufey' and his troupe were invited to New York City to perform the song for the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. The video received awards for Best Direction, Breakthrough, and Best Choreography, which Jonze accepted, still in character. Jonze made a "mockumentary" about the experience called Torrance Rises.

He also has a speaking part along with Dave Eggers in a Beck song entitled "The Horrible Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton from his 2006 album, The Information. He appears in the "Exoskeleton" part. Currently, Jonze is directing Where the Wild Things Are, which is now in its post-production stages.