EXCLUSIVE: ICM Partners has signed director Joseph Kahn, hot on the heels of strong reaction to the Midnight Madness opening night world premiere of his hip hop fueled film Bodied. That film, produced by Eminem, music manager Paul Rosenberg and Adi Shankar, kept the crowd up late. Kahn co-wrote it with battle rapper Alex “Kid Twist” Larsen. It is a satirical look at the art of battle rapping. Kahn certainly knows the music business: he recently directed Taylor Swift’s music video for Look What You Made Me Do, and it set records for most music video views on YouTube, at 43.2 million views in 24 hours. Kahn has worked with musical artists including U2, Lady Gaga, Shakira, Aaliyah, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, 50 Cent, Britney Spears, Eminem, Janet Jackson, Taylor Swift, Destiny’s Child, Katy Perry and Imagine Dragons. His accolades include MTV Video Music Awards, the Icon Award by the UK Music Video Awards, the Grammy Award for Best Music Video of 2015 for Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood with Kendrick Lamar, and this year won the American Country Music Awards Video of the Year for Forever Country.
In Bodied, a progressive grad student finds success and sparks outrage when his interest in battle rap as a thesis subject becomes a competitive obsession. Calum Worthy, Jackie Long, Charlamagne Tha God, and Anthony Michael Hall star.
Kahn is managed by Primary Wave.
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