Tony Kaye Talks to shots

He’s won 21 Yellow Pencils and one Black, going down in history as D&AD’s Most Awarded Director of all time. He helmed the 1998 cult classic, American History X, and has mastered a knack for making the mundane memorable with his iconic work in commercials over the years but really, the man needs no introduction.

Tony Kaye will fly into London next week to deliver an intimate, unique performance at a special President's Talk at The Institute of Education where he’ll take the audience through some of his most prized, and some never-before-seen, footage from personal films he’s made. The session will include input from some of Kaye’s close friends from today and years gone by and he’ll also be accompanied onstage by Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley, who he’ll perform some of his own songs with. It promises to be a special event.

“I’m going to be giving a talk about the way I work and will be illustrating that with some of the things that I’ve done and that have happened to me,” explains Kay. “A lot of this stuff nobody has really seen before; things from films I’ve made and personal stuff that I’ve shot with video cameras.”

In town especially for the event, the director will be uncovering some legendary footage from his own personal archive, with new added twists promising a treat for filmmaking fans of the London-born talent.

“I’ll be showing moments from movies that I’ve made with slightly different spins on them and I’ll be showing things I’ve just shot personally. I’ll be talking with people who are friends of mine, or have been, and showing some commercials that refer to what I’m interested in in terms of my work, mainly to do with performance, characters and acting,” adds the director. “I’ll be playing a couple of my own songs with Anne Dudley accompanying me. I’ll be playing guitar and she’ll be on either the piano or keyboard.”

Kaye also reveals that he’ll be creating some paintings before the event begins next Wednesday, which will be on show to view for attendees. Asked about what he hopes people will take away from the evening, the most awarded director replies: “Well, I just hope people come, and that we can have a meaningful communication that we take away with us and is of use to us both. I hope I’m of use to them and they can be of use to me. It should be an interesting evening.”

Kaye pays tribute to D&AD by telling us what the organisation means to him below:

"D&AD is so meaningful to me; it was my guiding light for so many years and in some crazy way it still is. I discovered it one day whilst walking through Hyde Park in the most accidental of ways. I'd been trying to sell my paintings on the Bayswater Road. I had only sold one in a month. I walked into the Institute of Contemporary Art and saw a poster for this thing called The Graphic Workshop – it was a D&AD organised workshop and the year was 1976.

It was a class teaching design and thinking led by the brilliant, world-renowned designer Marcello Minale. Top British designers and art directors from all over London would come and take classes. I got on it. I don't know how? I went and worked like crazy and at the end of the course I was approached by Neil Godfrey of Collet Dickenson Pearce, who eventually became the most awarded art director in the history of British advertising.

He said, “have you ever been inside an advertising agency; do you know what advertising is?"

I said, “No” and “no”. For a couple of years he set me projects and eventually I was hired. I had walked in from the woods! Well, Hyde Park, actually.

My talk on the 10th is my second President’s talk. I am now 60 years of age; on 8 July I will be 61 years old. I believe I am the only person to have ever been invited to speak for a second time at a President’s talk – I spoke for the first time 17 years ago.

D&AD is still, in my opinion, the most important and hardest to win of all the award ceremonies. Steve Jobs said this, actually. He said it was the only organisation that did not give out awards some years (this was actually on a lot of the years that I had done some of my best work, although I hope my real best work is still to come) because they felt there was nothing good enough and, of course, as we all know… good enough isn’t good enough. Steve said it was the only award show he'd go to (Jony Ives told me this on the night of the 50th anniversary).

So what will I talk about and show on the night of the 10 July? My work is basically about humanity, “TRAGEDY, ECSTASY AND DREAMS”; this will be the title of my talk. People cry when they see my work which shows that I can convey these basic human emotions.

American History X, Lake of Fire, Detachment, the drink drive commercial where the kid cries hearing the off screen argument of her parents, a Cherry Coke commercial where an ostrich runs wild in a department store, a banned Virgin telephone commercial, and lastly, I am going to show a 30-minute section from Humpty Dumpty; a documentary film that I have been making for the last 15 years (Lake of Fire took 18 years to make, this one will take longer!)

I believe it will be the definitive movie (Lake of Fire is said to be the definitive movie on the subject of abortion) in detailing the description and process and inner workings of a director in the most private and intense moments of their creations. It contains never before seen moments from my movies and meetings with legendary figures in the world of entertainment that I have crossed paths with and been close friends of.

I have to say the film is fucking incredible and crazy and deep and more than anything… INSPIRATIONAL, as is the D&AD."

If you’d like to attend next Wednesday’s event, tell us why you want to be there and the best answers will receive a pair of tickets to see Kaye in all his glory, courtesy of our friends at D&AD.

Tweet us on @shotscreative, post your submissions to Facebook or email us with your answers by Midday on Monday (8 July). To book tickets through the usual means click here.