Directors Label

Directors Label is a series of DVDs released by Palm Pictures compiling the work of notable music video directors.

The series' first three volumes, featuring the work of Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham, and Michel Gondry, were released in 2003. Four new volumes were released in 2005, this time featuring Mark Romanek, Jonathan Glazer, Anton Corbijn and Stéphane Sednaoui.

Though future releases in the series are unlikely, according to series creator Richard Brown,[1] other directors that were at one point rumoured or planned for releases include Mike Mills, Hammer & Tongs, Shynola, Jean-Baptiste Mondino and Roman Coppola, as well as a planned hip-hop and R&B series featuring Paul Hunter, Director X, and Chris Robinson.[2]

In 2002, predating the Directors Label series, Palm Pictures released a DVD of Hype Williams' work, titled Hype Williams: The Videos Vol. 1.[3]

Volume 1: The Work of Director Spike Jonze

The first installment of the series centered on director Spike Jonze and was released on October 28, 2003.[4] It includes interviews and audio commentaries from musicians such as Fatboy Slim, Weezer, The Pharcyde, Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, Björk, Christopher Walken and Puffy, plus the making of "Drop" with The Pharcyde. It also includes a commentary on a selection of the videos by the Beastie Boys. Enclosed is a book comprising Jonze's photographs, drawings and interviews.

Track listing

All videos directed by Spike Jonze, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."California"Wax2:22
2."Sure Shot"Beastie Boys3:26
3."Drop"The Pharcyde3:33
4."Cannonball" (co-directed with Kim Gordon)The Breeders3:43
5."Sabotage"Beastie Boys3:02
6."Da Funk"Daft Punk5:39
7."What's Up Fatlip?"Fatlip3:22
8."Undone (The Sweater Song)"Weezer4:13
9."Praise You" (directed by Adam Spiegel as Spike Jonze as Richard Koufey, the founder of the Torrance Community Dance Group with Roman Coppola)Fatboy Slim5:46
10."Feel the Pain"Dinosaur Jr.4:38
11."If I Only Had a Brain"MC 900 Ft. Jesus3:33
12."Sky's the Limit"The Notorious B.I.G.4:53
13."Weapon of Choice"Fatboy Slim3:46
14."Buddy Holly"Weezer4:00
15."Elektrobank"The Chemical Brothers5:47
16."It's Oh So Quiet"Björk3:59
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."How They Get There"2:25
2."Mark Paints"1:04
3."The Oasis Video that Never Happened" 
4."Rockafeller Skank"2:54
5."The Woods"1:26
6."What's Up Fatlip? (the documentary)"43:59
7."Amarillo by Morning" 
8."Torrance Rises" 

Volume 2: The Work of Director Chris Cunningham

Music videos

Other work

  • Monkey Drummer – Video installation. Featuring music by Aphex Twin
  • flex – Excerpt from video installation. Featuring music by Aphex Twin
  • Mental Wealth – PlayStation commercial
  • Photocopier – Never seen Levi's commercial
  • Engine – Nissan commercial, featuring music by Boards of Canada
  • Windowlicker – Bleeped version

52 Page Book

Behind the scenes photographs, storyboards, sketchbook drawings, record cover art and interview

Volume 3: The Work of Director Michel Gondry

Music videos

Special features

  • I've Been 12 Forever (Parts 1 & 2)

Stories And Things

  • La Lettre
  • One Day
  • Lacuna Inc
  • Drugstore – Levi's Commercial
  • Smarienberg – Smirnoff Commercial
  • Resignation – Polaroid Commercial
  • Drumb and Drumber
  • Pecan Pie – A short film starring Jim Carrey
  • Three Dead People
  • My Brother's 24th Birthday
  • Tiny
  • Spin Art
  • Oui Oui – Live concert footage
  • Spike Jonze
  • Chris Cunningham

52 Page Book

Michel's stories, drawings photographs & interviews.

Omissions

Trailers for "Volume 3: The Work Of Director Michel Gondry" (found on the Volume 1 and Volume 2 DVDs, as well as on Palm Pictures' website) include clips of, as well as references to, Gondry's heavily autobiographical video for Radiohead's "Knives Out." It is unclear why this video was omitted from the final DVD; however, as of June 2008, it is available on the compilation DVD Radiohead: The Best Of, released by EMI after the band had left its contract.

In August 2009, "Knives Out", along with other omissions and more recent works of Gondry's, were released by Partizan Films on a DVD compilation titled Michel Gondry 2: More Videos (Before and After DVD 1).

Volume 4: The Work of Director Mark Romanek

Music videos

Special Features

  • The Work of Director Mark Romanek (38-minute documentary)
  • Romanekian – Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Robin Williams discuss Mark's work
  • The Making of "99 Problems"
  • Interviews and commentaries

56 Page Book

Includes photographs by Mark Romanek and Spike Jonze interview with Mark

Volume 5: The Work of Director Jonathan Glazer

Music videos

Special Features

Films

Tramp

Paul Kaye

56 Page Book

Includes photographs, sketches, storyboards and interview.

Volume 6: The Work of Director Anton Corbijn

Music videos

Special Features (stuff)

  • Beck and Dave Grohl MTV Promos
  • U2 – The Making of "Electrical Storm"
  • Some YoYo Stuff
  • Travis – Love Will Come Through (home made video with Fran Healy)
  • Depeche Mode – "It's No Good" tour projections
  • Palais Schaumburg – Hockey (Anton's first music video)
  • Front 242 – Front By Front
  • NotNa – a documentary by Lance Bangs about Anton[5]
  • Interviews and commentaries

56 Page Book

Anton's photos, text and drawings.

Volume 7: The Work of Director Stephane Sednaoui

Music videos

Special Features

  • Walk on the Wild Side – Short film featuring Lou Reed and inspired by his song
  • Army of Me – Animation inspired by Björk's song
  • Acqua Natasa – Short film featuring Natasa Vojnovic
  • Reve Reche – Stephane's first short film attempt
  • Interviews and Commentaries
  • Stephane's presentation at New York University Film School

56 Page Book

Diary of photos, storyboards, sketches and comments

Series 1 Box Set

Shortly after the release of the first three volumes, Palm Pictures released a box set including all three plus a bonus disc featuring more recent content. Because no additional Cunningham videos were included on the disc, the box set also included a poster with images from the Cunningham disc. Those who purchased the three volumes individually could receive the bonus disc and poster by e-mailing Palm Pictures, but Palm Pictures is no longer able to provide the bonus DVD and Poster.

Spike Jonze

Michel Gondry

  • "I Wonder" by The Willowz
  • "Ossamuch!" by Kishu & Co. (original short)

Chris, Spike + Michel

  • Q&A at Virgin

Series 2 Box Set

Palm Pictures released a box set of Volumes 4–7 immediately upon their individual releases. Unlike the first box set, there was no additional content save for the box itself.

References

  1. ^ "Directors Label Series Kaput?". www.theplaylist.net. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  2. ^ "MTV Movies - Features and Interviews". MTV. Archived from the original on September 14, 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  3. ^ "Palm Store: Hype Williams: The Videos Vol. 1". www.palmpictures.com. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
  4. ^ "Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham, Michel Gondry & Palm Pictures Present The Directors Label; Director-Compiled DVD Series to Debut October 28". Business Wire. Berkshire Hathaway. September 17, 2003. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  5. ^ NotNa at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata