Oscar-winning director Spike Jonze — the 44-year-old responsible for Hollywood hits such as "Her" and "Being John Malkovich"— had some bold advice for advertising executives while speaking at the Cannes Lions festival Monday, according to PageSix.
“Be willing to get fired for a good idea. It’s about finding people who are not scared.”
Jonze, who started out by directing Beastie Boys' music videos, shared a major lesson he learned from the group.
“What I learned from the Beastie Boys was to be independent," said Jonze. "They set up their own world separate from the label. They built their own studio,” explaining that it gave them the ability to record for as long as they wanted to get their music just right.
The director carries this lesson with him today.
While shooting 2009's "Where the Wild Things Are," a reboot of Maurice Sendak's classic children's story, Jonze had to go up against Warner Bros. to maintain his darker vision for the film.
"It wasn’t a traditional family film. They [the studio] wanted to put the kid on medication,” Jonze joked. The movie went on to earn $100 million worldwide.
The director also explained to his audience that while he’s respectful of studios and executives who finance his projects, sometimes he has to remove himself from their critiques to get the features made.
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