We hear about movie directors in Hollywood a lot, but not that many people talk about music video directors. Music video directors take a song and turn it into a video that capture people's attention. Instead of directing a full-length movie, they create a short film that relates to the music. All of your favorite artists have worked with music video directors at some point to create the videos for their songs.
The best music videos are the ones that showcase the song and make audiences feel something whenever they watch it. Some directors have started out directing music videos before they moved on to movies and a few of them even had more success with movies. But they wouldn't be where they are now without music videos. Here are 10 of the most famous (and richest) music video directors in Hollywood, ranked by their current net worth.
10 Tarsem Singh - Net Worth: $10 Million
Tarsem Singh is in tenth place with a net worth of $10 million. He’s directed a lot of different projects, but he started his career with music videos. “Singh directed ‘Losing My Religion’ by R.E.M. which won Best Video of the Year at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards,” according to Celebrity Net Worth. He went on to direct the psychological thriller, The Cell, as his first movie and directed a few other movies since then, including Immortals, Mirror Mirror, and Self/less.
9 Michel Gondry - Net Worth: $12 Million
Michel Gondry is in ninth place with only about $2 million more than Tarsem Singh. It’s not clear what exactly his net worth is, but it’s estimated to be around $12 million, which he earned from directing popular music videos until he began directing movies. “The French visionary’s knack for harmlessly bizarre direction traces back to his earlier music videos, such as Bjork’s oddball ‘Human Behaviour,’ which offsets its dark nature through cuddly, man-sized teddy bears with Coraline-esque, sewed-on eyeballs. That same quirkiness pervades Gondry’s other clips, namely Daft Punk’s demented circus in ‘Around The World,’” according to Complex. He also directed the hit movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, after he directed music videos.
8 F. Gary Gray - Net Worth: $12 Million
F. Gary Gray is in eighth place with the same net worth as Michel Gondry. He’s earned his net worth from directing popular hip hop videos. According to Complex, “F. Gary Gray’s contributions to hip-hop’s music video history is cemented, no doubt, but there’s one video in particular that will keep his name amongst the Hype Williams’ of the game forever and ever—Ice Cube’s classic ‘It Was A Good Day.’”
7 Antoine Fuqua - Net Worth: $25 Million
Antoine Fuqua is in seventh place with a net worth of $25 million and he earned his fortune from directing music videos for some of the most famous musicians. “Fuqua's directing career began in the music industry directing music videos for artists such as Toni Braxton and Prince,” according to Celebrity Net Worth. He went on to direct movies such as Training Day, Shooter, and Olympus Has Fallen.
6 Spike Jonze - Net Worth: $50 Million
Spike Jonze is in sixth place with $50 million. He’s only directed a few movies, but he’s directed many music videos that became hits. According to Complex, “Whether he’s working with hip-hop acts or indie rock luminaries, Jonze has always separated his videos from the rest of MTV’s pack with sheer inventiveness: supplanting Weezer into a Happy Days episode for ‘Buddy Holly’; giving the impression that The Pharcyde are walking the streets in backwards motion for ‘Drop’; filming Christopher Walken’s mesmerizing one-man dance-off for Fatboy Slim’s ‘Weapon Of Choice,’ Jonze knows nothing about ‘conventional.’”
5 McG (AKA Joseph McGinty Nichol) - Net Worth: $60 Million
McG is in fifth place with $60 million and worked with a few famous artists before he moved on to direct movies. “He is known for working with some of the biggest recording artists, such as Smashmouth, and won Billboard's Pop Video of the Year in 1997 for their video, ‘Walking In The Sun.’ He has also worked with the popular band Sugar Ray, where he won Pop Video of the Year from the Music Video Production Association for Sugar Ray's ‘Fly’ video, a song he also had a hand in co-writing,” according to Celebrity Net Worth. After he had huge success with directing music videos, he directed the 2000 version of Charlie’s Angels along with We Are Marshall, This Means War, and The Babysitter.
4 Brett Ratner - Net Worth: $85 Million
Brett Ratner is in fourth place with a net worth of $85 million and has worked with even more famous artists. “Brett Ratner started his career by directing various music videos. He quickly gained a reputation for making some of the rap industry's most notable videos, working with figures such as Public Enemy, Redman, LL Cool J, and the Wu-Tang Clan. After establishing himself as a talented music video director, he went on to work with artists like Mariah Carey, Madonna, and Miley Cyrus,” according to Celebrity Net Worth. He directed hits like Rush Hour and The Family Man after he directed music videos for well-known celebrities.
3 David Fincher - Net Worth: $100 Million
David Fincher is in third place with $100 million and is one of the most famous music video directors in Hollywood. “After directing a number of commercials, documentaries, and music videos, David co-founded the production company Propaganda Films. However, Fincher hated directing commercials, and he began to focus more heavily on music videos instead. During this period, he worked with artists such as Paula Abdul, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, and Billy Idol. In particular, David gained notoriety for directing some of Madonna's most iconic music videos,” according to Celebrity Net Worth. He began working on films while he was still directing music videos in the 90s, but switched to films full time in the 2000s and directed movies such as Fight Club, Zodiac, and The Social Network.
2 Gore Verbinski - Net Worth: $130 Million
Gore Verbinski is in second place with only about $30 million more than David Fincher. Like many others on this list, Gore started out directing music videos, but he has had more success with movies. According to Complex, “Clearly, Hollywood is where Gore Verbinski belongs, not in the depths of MTV or VH1. Thanks to Johnny Depp and the immensely profitable Pirates Of The Caribbean, of which Verbinski directed the first three, the man born Gregor has established himself as one of the film industry’s most formidable summer blockbuster creators, a tag that actually distracts pundits from acknowledging his ability to direct super-creepy horror (The Ring) and magnificently strange kiddie fare (Rango).”
1 Michael Bay - Net Worth: $450 Million
Michael Bay is in first place with a huge net worth of $450 million. He’s another director who had more success with movies, but music videos helped his career take off. He directed the music videos for “I Touch Myself” by Divinyls and “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” by Meatloaf. “Michael's music videos caught the attention of Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, who hired him to direct a film they were producing, 1995's Bad Boys. The movie grossed $141.4 million against a budget of $19 million, and Bay followed it with the even more successful The Rock (1996), which brought in $335.1 million at the box office. Michael then founded his own production company, Bay Films,” according to Celebrity Net Worth. His career became even more successful after that when he directed the popular film franchise, Transformers.