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Academy Alum Chris Milk Named Music Video Director of the Year

Kanye West. Chemical Brothers. Gnarls Barkley. Courtney Love. Modest Mouse. And the list goes on. Chris Milk, an Academy of Art University alum, is one of the hottest music video directors in the business today. This year at the 16th annual Music Video Production Association Awards he was named Director of the Year – an honor bestowed to him for directing videos such as “Touch Sky” (Kanye West), “The Saints are Coming” (U2 and Green Day) and “Gone Daddy Gone” (Gnarls Barkley). Chris graciously let us visit him at his office in Los Angeles, so we could touch base with one of the Academy’s most successful graduates.

Chris Milk works with @radical.media, a leading media and entertainment company with offices in LA, New York, London and other locations around the world. The company represents a handpicked group of talented industry elite including Terry Zwigoff, Terrence Malick, Terry Gilliam, Joe Berlinger, and Chris Milk himself.

Meeting Chris and walking into his offices makes it obvious that he is someone at the top of the game. Talking to Chris makes it obvious that he got there with incredible talent, drive, and unbelievable instincts.

It all started (we are proud to say) right here at the Academy. Chris was already on a mission when he came here. He devoured all of the materials in his classes, and then got the keys to the school’s editing rooms so he could camp out until he taught himself all there was to know.

While still a student, he created a Sprite spec ad that turned some heads and landed his first job out of school. He used his instant notoriety well. Chris Milk went straight from the Academy to Los Angeles to break into the music video industry, and the rest is history.

When asked what the best thing was about the Academy, Chris does not hesitate before saying it was the people – especially his fellow students. To this day, Chris keeps in touch with the people he met at the Academy, and works with them on a regular basis. Chris Milk is certainly one of the alums that makes the Academy’s network of graduates living and working in LA so strong.


In addition to having produced some of the coolest and most well-known music videos today, Chris is also an amazingly talented director on his way to producing his own feature projects. On top of everything else, he has two incredibly beautiful dogs. To read more about Chris Milk, check out www.chrismilk.com.
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