Spike Jonze In Conversation at the British Film Institute

Part of ‘Push Play: Skate Culture on Film’
Developed by Ben Luxford and Siobhan Browne

Host
British Film Institute
BFI Southbank, London, UK
June 21st 2026

An on-stage interview with the Oscar-winning screenwriter and director Spike Jonze at the British Film Institute for ‘Push Play’, a programme celebrating skateboarding’s relationship to cinema.

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Push Play: Spike Jonze at the British Film Institute

The conversation with Jonze focused on his formative years documenting skateboarding and directing music videos for artists including the Beastie Boys and Sonic Youth which laid the foundations of his multi-award winning film career. 

Introducing the evening’s event before Spike Jonze joined via video call from Los Angeles. Photo: Mike Nichols

As the closing event for ‘Push Play’, I began with an introduction reflecting on the significance of the programme. I discussed skateboarding’s growth from a subculture to a globally recognised sport whose creative merits are appreciated by arts institutions such as the BFI. I framed this as a cultural “graduation” from the sidelines to the centre stage, and parallel for Spike Jonze’s own trajectory as filmmaker.

I gave a stocktake of Jonze’s journey from making the seminal film Video Days for Blind Skateboards (1991), to founding Girl Skateboards — one of modern skateboarding’s most renowned companies, to shooting iconic music videos for the likes of Weezer (“Buddy Holly”) and Fatboy Slim (“Weapon Of Choice”), and his work on commercials, movies and other screen credits.

Spike Jonze joins a conversation to discuss his filmography at the BFI Southbank.

A showreel of Jonze’s filmography played for the audience, co-curated by myself and Ben Luxford, the BFI’s head of audience development, featuring a mix of conventional skateboarding footage and Jonze’s cinematic non sequiturs from films including Mouse, Hot Chocolate, Yeah Right! and Fully Flared.

Finally, joining the BFI via a video call from Los Angeles, the conversation with Jonze then expanded upon the work featured in the showreel. We explored the use of narrative, skits and comedy through Jonze’s work, the interplay between his work in skateboarding and wider forms of cinema, British skateboarding on screen, and the physicality, choreography and collaboration which underpins filming music videos and capturing skateboarding.

Part-way through the conversation, the audience was treat to a surprise appearance from professional skateboarder and Jonze’s co-founder in Girl Skateboards, Rick Howard.

Professional skateboarder Rick Howard makes a surprise appearance with Spike Jonze at the BFI.

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