Tony Kaye (director)

This article is about the British film director. For the British musician formerly in Yes, see Tony Kaye (musician). For other uses, see Tony Kaye (disambiguation).

Tony Kaye
Kaye at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Detachment
Born	Tony Kaye (1952-07-08) 8 July 1952 London, England, UK.
Occupation	Director, cinematographer, producer, screenwriter, actor, writer, poet, singer songwriter, painter
Years active	1995–present

Tony Kaye (born 8 July 1952) is a British director of films, music videos, advertisements, and documentaries.

Life and career

Kaye was born in London, United Kingdom. He has made several well-known music videos, including the video for "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum, which won a Grammy Award, "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, "What God Wants" by Roger Waters, and "Help Me" and "God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash. Kaye is a six time Grammy nominated music video director. He won a Grammy in 2006 for the famous Johnny Cash video "God's Gonna Cut You Down" with cameo appearances by Bono, Johnny Depp, Kanye West, Patti Smith, Terrence Howard, Iggy Pop, The Dixie Chicks, Brian Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Keith Richards, Chris Martin, Sharon Stone, Lisa Marie Presley, Flea, Chris Rock, Justin Timberlake, Kate Moss, Peter Blake, Sheryl Crow, Dennis Hopper, Mick Jones, Jay-Z, Kris Kristofferson, Owen Wilson, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Amy Lee.

His feature film debut was American History X (1998), a drama about racism starring Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. Norton was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film.

Kaye's second feature, a documentary called Lake of Fire, was about the abortion debate in the United States. It opened in Toronto in September 2006. The movie was shortlisted for an Oscar, nominated for Best Documentary Film at the Independent Spirit Awards, the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, and the Satellite Awards. Lake of Fire is regarded by many as the definitive movie about abortion^{[citation needed]}. It took Kaye 18 years to make.

Kaye's third feature film, Black Water Transit (2010), starred Laurence Fishburne, Karl Urban, Evan Ross, Brittany Snow, and Stephen Dorff. This film is still not finished as the Production company went bankrupt during the making. Black Water Transit is one of several movies caught up in this issue. Taylor Hackford and David O Russell also have movies unfinished and are being held in this continuing legal tussle.

Kaye's fourth feature film, Detachment (2011), is a bleak drama about the decline of the education system in American high schools. It features Kaye's daughter, Betty, as the character Meredith. The film won the International Critics' Award and the Revelations Prize at the Deauville Film Festival, while also winning the Audience Award and the Grande Prize at the Valenciennes International Festival of Action and Adventure Films. The movie also won the Audience Award at the São Paulo Film Festival and Best Artistic Contribution Award at the Tokyo Film Festival, while nominated for the Tokyo Grand Prix. Kaye was also awarded the Honorary Maverick Award for the film at the Woodstock Film Festival in 2011. In January 2012, Detachment won Best Picture at the Ramdam Film Festival in Tournai, Belgium.

Kaye is also a painter and was involved in the YBA London contemporary Art explosion of the late 1980s. In 2006 Kaye directed 2 music videos for The Hours a band financed and styled by Damien Hirst. Kaye collaborated with Hirst on both clips. Kaye photographed Hirst making many spin paintings in London. He did this with a Phantom Photosonic camera. This was the first time this camera was used. Kaye in fact invented the multi uses for the 35mm Photosonic camera in 1988. A now commonly used technique whereby the film speed ramps during a shot was invented by Kaye in 1994 for a commercial he made for Nina Ricci perfume. Still Photographs from this commercial were exhibited in The Museum of Contemporary Art in Paris in the late 1990s.

Kaye has a book of his artwork called "Epicomedy" being published by Phaidon Press. It will come out in Autumn 2013.

Kaye is also a singer songwriter and is working on an album with the legendary Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick.

See also

• American History X (1998)
• Lake of Fire (2006) (documentary film)
• Black Water Transit (2009)
• Detachment (2012)

External links

• Tony Kaye at the Internet Movie Database
• Telegraph.co.uk's Revealing Interview
• Tony Kaye interview, at The A.V. Club
• Tony Kaye's This Is Not Sex, starring Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen
• Losing It: Here he reveals how he became an outcast in LA
• "A Quick Chat with Tony Kaye" by Monika Maurer