Kahn was born Ahn Jun-hee in Busan, South Korea. His family spent part of his childhood there and in Livorno, Italy until moving to Jersey Village, Texas, a suburb of Houston, when Joseph was seven. After graduating from Jersey Village High School in 1990, Kahn went to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts but dropped out after a year due to inability to pay tuition. Returning to Houston, Kahn worked at a movie theater before beginning to direct hip-hop music videos.
Music video career
In 1999, Kahn started his own production company with Chris Lee, SuperMega Media, which is housed under HSI Productions. Kahn has worked with diverse artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Shakira, Samantha Mumba, Aaliyah, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, DMX, Backstreet Boys, Mariah Carey, Jordin Sparks, Christina Aguilera, 50 Cent, Britney Spears, Destiny's Child, Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5, Muse, Ciara, Monica, Courtney Love, Rob Zombie, U2, The Chemical Brothers, Blink 182, Faith No More, Chris Brown, Eminem, Taylor Swift, TLC, Ashlee Simpson, Moby, Kesha, George Michael, Garbage, Korn, The Black Eyed Peas, Janet Jackson, BoA, Gwen Stefani, Brandy, AKB48, Pussycat Dolls, Sun Ho, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry, Imagine Dragons, OneRepublic and many more. Kahn has collected multiple Music Video Production awards. He has won several MTV Video Music Awards with nominations for Best Video of the Year for Brandy & Monica "The Boy Is Mine", Britney Spears "Toxic", Chris Brown "Forever", the Pussycat Dolls "When I Grow Up", Eminem "We Made You", Britney Spears "Womanizer", and Eminem "Love the Way You Lie". In 2003, Kahn won his first Grammy for Eminem's "Without Me" video which also won the MTV VMA's Best Video of the Year, as well as Best Direction. His video for Katy Perry "Waking Up In Vegas" won the MVPA 2009 Best Video of the Year. Kahn's usage of Japanese pop culture in music videos first began with Janet Jackson's "Doesn't Really Matter" video. The video was also the most expensive video Kahn has directed and is among the most expensiveof all time, costing over $2.5 million. In 2014, Kahn was given The Icon Award by the UK Music Video Awards. In 2015, Kahn directed MTV's choices for Video of the Year, Best Pop Video, Best Female Video, and Best Collaboration for multiple videos from American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's fifth studio album1989, including "Blank Space", "Bad Blood", "Wildest Dreams" and "Out of the Woods". He won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video of 2015 for Swift's single "Bad Blood" featuring Kendrick Lamar. In 2017, Kahn won the American Country Music Awards Video of the Year for "Forever Country." In 2017 and 2018, Kahn kept collaborating with Swift for her sixth studio album Reputation, including "Look What You Made Me Do", "...Ready for It?", "End Game", and "Delicate". In 2019, Kahn collaborated with the new rise star, Ava Max for "Torn" music video, and directed a new music video for the Mariah Carey hit Christmas song, "All I Want for Christmas Is You".
Film career
Kahn also directed the 2004 action film Torque starring Ice Cube. In May 2007, it was announced that he would direct an adaptation of William Gibson's science fiction classicNeuromancer for producer Peter Hoffman. On May 7, 2010, Fangoria reported that Vincenzo Natali, the director of Cube and Splice, had taken over directing duties and will also rewrite the screenplay. In 2011, Kahn directed the low-budget, self-financed horror comedy Detention. After winning a number of audience favorite awards on the film festival circuit, Detention was picked up for theatrical distribution by Sony for a release in 2012. In July 2016, test footage for the DC Comics character Swamp Thing was released which was directed by Kahn for the potential Justice League Dark film. Kahn's latest film is Bodied, a satirical black comedy about racial tensions in the world of battle rap. The film was produced by Eminem and premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People's Choice Award in the Midnight Madness section.
