Since 1999, when he made his feature debut with "Being John Malkovich," Spike Jonze has only made a total of four films. Granted, he dabbles in all kinds of media from shorts to music videos to fashion projects and more, but at least around here, it’s his movies that we eagerly await. But it looks like Jonze is going to keep us hanging a bit longer, as he has turned his attention to another gig.
This week is Television Critics Association winter press tour, and Jonze swung by to talk about this new gig as the Creative Director at Viceland, the television channel from hipster media behemoth, Vice. It sounds like the kind of full time job that might keep him away from directing…and it is. Asked if he was on a hiatus from moviemaking, Jonze was straight up.
“Yeah, right now, this is kind of all I’ve been doing for the last year,” Jonze said (via The Wrap). “It’s just a different kind of film for me. Making a whole channel and being able to work with artists that I’m excited about, it feels like a different organism.”
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Viceland launches on February 29th and will include shows by Ellen Page ("Gaycation") and Marc Maron ("Portraits") among others, and Jonze reveals that unlike a movie, which is done once it hits theaters, his job will only get busier after the network goes live. However, he seems to be relishing the opportunity to get a lot of different kinds of things off the ground, while working with talented people.
“To be able to take that budget and give it to artists and creators to make things that are important to them, that’s an amazing opportunity for us as a company. And secondly, the idea of a TV channel seems like a fun thing to explore, play with. It’s this living, live thing that you turn on and it comes into your house like water," he said.
But that’s not to say Jonze is avoiding directing entirely. Nick Hornby did reveal a couple of months back he’s writing a script for a 20-minute drama for Jonze and VR pioneering director Chris Milk, so that’s something to keep an eye out for. Otherwise, it seems like we’re in for a long wait for Jonze’s next feature length movie.
