“I never took advertising seriously enough to worry about whether or not there was any sort of moral ambiguity about—I mean [Fight Club] probably more accurately depicts my take on advertising and what it provides for society than any of the advertising that I did. But, you know, you work where you can. I would have much rather started off making movies but nobody was that interested in hiring me to make movies early on so I did music videos and commercials as a way to just, you know, play with the tools.”
Two-time Oscar-nominated director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, The Social Network)
Fight Club Blu-ray director’s commentary
At 18-years-old Fincher began working for Korty Films in Mill Valley, California before going on to work for ILM in San Francisco. Next Fincher began directing commercials and music videos, and eventually feature films. “Work where you can.” Here’s an anti-smoking commercial directed by Fincher in 1984 when he was 21 or 22 years—starting at an early age being provocative with interesting visuals.
P.S. Fincher’s short time at Korty Films can’t be overlooked in setting the tone for his career. John Korty won an Emmy for his 1974 TV movie The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman which film critic Pauline Kael called “…possibly the finest movie ever made for American television.” An article by Paul Liberatore called Korty the “undisputed father of filmmaking in Northern California.” He’s said to have inspired George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola to join him in creating “Hollywood North.” Korty also won an Oscar for his documentary Who Are the Debolts? [And Where Did They Get 19 Kids?]
And even his story has Midwest roots in that Korty was born Lafayette, Indiana and inspired to make films in 11th grade in Kirkwood, Missouri after a art teacher showed the class films by Norman McLaren.
“I had interests in music and art and writing and everything, and they were all separate things in my mind. When I saw McLaren’s films, I thought, ‘Wait a minute. Film is the one thing you can do that combines all these different elements.’ From that moment on, I was hooked on the idea of becoming a filmmaker.”—John Korty
Related posts:
Filmmaking Quote #25 (David Fincher)
1 Scene + 2 Actors = 99 Takes
‘Fight Club’—The First Punch
Scott W. Smith is the author of Screenwriting with Brass Knuckles
Screenwriting from Iowa 
Reblogged this on Hamish Downie and commented:
Fincher, one of my favourite directors, did more than his 10,000 hours before his break with Madonna and “Aliens 3”.