Ed Catmull
ACM Turing Award Laureate | Co-Founder & Former President, Pixar Animation Studios | Creative Leadership & Innovation
Spike Jonze
Academy Award-Winning Filmmaker | Director of Her & Being John Malkovich | Pioneering Music Video Director & Co-Creator of Jackass | Creative Force Behind Vice
Spike Jonze is one of the most original creative voices of his generation, an Academy Award-winning filmmaker whose work spans film, music video, and TV. The director of Being John Malkovich and writer-director of Her, his prescient love story between a man and an AI, he blends bold ideas with deep human emotion. A co-creator of Jackass and a force behind Vice, he offers audiences a singular look at creativity, storytelling, and risk.
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Spike Jonze biography
Entertainment speaker Spike Jonze is one of the most original and influential creative voices of his generation, an Academy Award-winning director, writer, and producer whose boundary-blurring work spans film, music video, television, and contemporary art. Over three decades he has built a singular reputation for marrying bold, high-concept ideas with deep, intimate human emotion, making him one of the most distinctive storytellers in modern culture.
Jonze made his feature directing debut with the wildly inventive Being John Malkovich (1999), earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Director, and followed it with Adaptation and Where the Wild Things Are. He reached a new peak with Her (2013), his tender, prescient story of a man who falls in love with an artificially intelligent operating system, which won him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and has become one of the defining cultural touchstones for our evolving relationship with AI.
From Music Videos to the Oscars
Long before his Oscar, Jonze helped reinvent the music video, directing iconic, genre-defining work for the Beastie Boys, Fatboy Slim, Weezer, and Björk, and co-founding the influential Directors Label. His restless creativity has crossed nearly every medium: he co-created the cultural phenomenon Jackass, helped shape the voice of a generation as a creative force behind Vice Media, co-founded the skateboard company Girl Skateboards, and began his career as a photographer in skate and BMX magazines. His work has been celebrated with Oscars, Golden Globes, Grammys, and a place in the Museum of Modern Art.
As a speaker, Spike Jonze offers audiences a rare, intimate window into the creative mind, how original ideas are born, nurtured, and fought for, and how to take the kind of risks that make work truly resonate. He speaks on creativity and the creative process, storytelling across media, the relationship between technology and human emotion, and building a career defined by curiosity and fearless originality. Audiences leave inspired, moved, and seeing their own creative potential differently.
Spike Jonze Speaking Videos
Spike Jonze and David O. Russell | 2013 LA Film Fest
Academy Conversations: Her
Spike Jonze Keynote Topics
Few filmmakers are as synonymous with originality as Spike Jonze. In this rare, intimate talk, the Oscar-winning director pulls back the curtain on how he actually creates, where his most unconventional ideas begin, how he nurtures and protects them, and how he pushes past doubt and convention to make work that feels like nothing else. Drawing on a career spanning film, music video, and art, he gives audiences a candid, inspiring look at the real, often messy, business of being creative, and how to find and trust their own voice.
Years before AI companions entered the mainstream, Spike Jonze imagined one, and won an Oscar for it. In this fascinating talk, the writer-director of Her reflects on what drew him to a love story between a human and an artificial intelligence, and what the film reveals about loneliness, connection, and our deepening relationship with technology. With rare emotional intelligence, he explores how technology is reshaping how we love, work, and relate, making this a uniquely resonant session for a world now living inside the questions his film asked.
At the heart of all of Spike Jonze’s work, from a surreal comedy to a music video to a love story, is a gift for making audiences feel something real. In this talk he explores the craft of emotional storytelling across media: how to find the human truth inside even the strangest premise, how to earn genuine emotion rather than manufacture it, and why the best stories dare to be vulnerable. A masterclass in connection for anyone who communicates, creates, or wants to move an audience.
Spike Jonze has never stayed in one lane, moving fearlessly between skate photography, music videos, Oscar-winning cinema, Jackass, and reinventing media at Vice. In this talk he makes the case for creative risk and constant reinvention: why comfort is the enemy of great work, how to follow curiosity across boundaries, and what it takes to keep taking leaps over a long career. An energizing, unconventional keynote on staying original in a world that rewards playing it safe.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Spike Jonze
Why Spike Jonze?
Booking Spike Jonze brings audiences a genuine icon of modern creativity, an Academy Award-winning filmmaker whose work has shaped film, music, and culture for three decades. He offers something rare on a stage: an intimate, unguarded look inside the mind of a true original, from how he generates and protects bold ideas to how he marries high-concept imagination with real human feeling. With the prescient AI love story Her, he also brings an unusually resonant perspective on technology and humanity. Inspiring, thoughtful, and unmistakably original, he is an ideal choice for events on creativity, innovation, storytelling, media, and the human side of technology. To bring Spike Jonze to your next event, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
Who is Spike Jonze?
Spike Jonze (born Adam Spiegel in 1969) is an American director, writer, producer, and photographer, widely regarded as one of the most inventive filmmakers of his generation. He made his feature debut with Being John Malkovich (1999), earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Director, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Her (2013), his acclaimed story of a man who falls in love with an AI operating system. His other films include Adaptation and Where the Wild Things Are. Before and alongside his film career, he became one of the most celebrated music video directors in history, working with artists like the Beastie Boys, Fatboy Slim, and Björk, co-created the hit franchise Jackass, served as a creative force behind Vice Media, and co-founded Girl Skateboards. His work has earned Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and Grammys.
What is “Her,” and why is it relevant today?
Her is Spike Jonze’s Academy Award-winning 2013 film about a lonely man, played by Joaquin Phoenix, who falls in love with an artificially intelligent operating system named Samantha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. When it was released, the premise felt like poignant science fiction; today, it feels startlingly prophetic. As AI assistants, chatbots, and companions have entered everyday life, Her has become one of the most referenced works in conversations about artificial intelligence and human connection, so much so that it resurfaced in the cultural debate when a major AI company unveiled a conversational voice many compared to Samantha. What makes the film, and Jonze’s perspective, so valuable is that it was never really about the technology; it was about us: our loneliness, our longing for connection, and what it means to love and be understood. That blend of emotional insight and technological foresight is exactly what makes Jonze such a compelling voice for audiences now grappling with the very questions his film anticipated: how AI is reshaping the way we relate, work, and find meaning.
What topics does Spike Jonze speak on?
Spike Jonze speaks on the creative process and where original ideas come from, emotional storytelling across media, the relationship between technology and human emotion (drawing on Her), and creative risk and reinvention. His talks suit events on creativity, innovation, storytelling, media and entertainment, and the human side of technology, and work especially well in a keynote or in-conversation format. To book Spike Jonze as a speaker, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
How to book Spike Jonze as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Spike Jonze as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Spike Jonze's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Spike Jonze or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Spike Jonze speaking fee?
Spike Jonze speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Spike Jonze to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Spike Jonze.
How can I contact Spike Jonze?
We only work with Spike Jonze on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Spike Jonze and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Spike Jonze speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Spike Jonze for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Spike Jonze for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Spike Jonze is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Spike Jonze for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
