David Fincher returns to his Vogue-ing video days in new comedy
The acclaimed director follows "House of Cards" with an HBO show based on the music video industry that spawned the likes of Michael Bay and Zack Snyder.
Video may have killed the radio star, but it also made a star out of David Fincher and many other music video directors of the 1980s and 90s. And Fincher is set to follow up his smash hit "House of Cards" with a comedy that revisits those halcyon days.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, US cable and online broadcaster HBO has ordered a season of "Video Synchronicity", co-written by Fincher based on his experiences in the industry. The show, previously known as "Living on Video", will star British actor Charlie Rowe as a young college dropout who heads for Hollywood and gets his start as a production assistant on music videos.
Also appearing are Fincher alumni Sam Page from "House of Cards" and Jason Flemyng from "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". The cast is rounded out by Corbin Bernsen, Paz Vega, and Kerry Condon from "Better Call Saul", "The Walking Dead" and " Avengers: Age of Ultron".
The series seems set to draw on Fincher's time making music videos for Propaganda Films, which also provided a springboard to many of today's feature film directors including Michael Bay, Antoine Fuqua, Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Alex Proyas, Zack Snyder and Gore Verbinski.
The director of "Alien 3", "Fight Club", "The Social Network" and "Gone Girl", Fincher first arrived in Hollywood as a visual effects artist and cameraman in the 1980s, working for Industrial Light and Magic on films including "Return of the Jedi" and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". He moved into directing adverts for Levi's, Sony and other huge brands before taking on music videos in the mid-80s.
Promos Fincher directed music videos that included "Englishman in New York" by Sting, "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul and the banned clip for "Janie's Got a Gun" by Aerosmith. His work with Madonna includes videos for "Express Yourself", "Oh Father" and the iconic "Vogue" in 1990, named by both MTV and Rolling Stone as the second-best music video ever made.
Fincher has won two Grammy Awards for Best Music Video for "Love Is Strong" by The Rolling Stones in 1995 and "Suit & Tie" by Justin Timberlake and Jay Z in 2013.
Fincher's new show will join "Silicon Valley" on HBO, the startup-focused sitcom having been renewed for a second series. Meanwhile "House of Cards", the political potboiler Fincher developed with Kevin Spacey, has been renewed for a fourth series.
