Back before he was David Fincher, Film Auteur, David Fincher was David Fincher, Very Busy Director Of Music Videos In The 1980s. That’s why the music video for “Cradle of Love” by Billy Idol is at the top of this post. Because he directed it, along with a ton of others, including a handful Paula Abdul videos. (But, sadly, not “Opposites Attract” featuring hip cartoon feline MC Scat Kat. That would have been incredible.) Here’s the full list of videos he directed. Shout out to Steve Winwood.
Point being, Fincher is using his experiences in the music industry as the inspiration for a new series he’s developing with HBO. From Deadline:
Set in 1983 Los Angeles, Living On Video centers on Bobby, a wide-eyed guy who drops out of college and drives to Hollywood with dreams of directing a sci-fi epic. He lands a job as a PA for a company making music videos. In the vein of HBO’s Entourage, the series revolves around the players of the then-exploding music video industry — directors, record executives and crew members, many of them dabbling in drugs — through the eyes of the newcomer.
Possibly my favorite part of all this: One of the writers attached to this also wrote the Vin Diesel “What if James Bond was HELLA GOOD AT SHREDDING?” action film, xXx. That means you could tell someone “The writer of xXx and the guy who directed the music video for ‘Straight Up’ are teaming up to make an Entourage-style comedy for HBO,” and you would still, technically, be accurate. In fact, you probably should start telling people that. Have a little fun. You’ve earned it.
