Director X

Early Life

Julien Lutz was born in Toronto and is of Trinidadian and Swiss heritage. He grew up primarily in and around Brampton, Ontario, where he lived for 16 years. Lutz attended both Mayfield and North Park Secondary Schools. In his youth, he gravitated to comic books (“I collected comics for the art first, and then read them later,” he has said) and fashion photography, particularly the work of Herb Ritts. He was also struck by the artistry of music videos, such as a-ha’s “Take on Me,” Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and “Beat It,” and Madonna’s “Express Yourself.”

Lutz began his career working as an intern at MuchMusic in the 1990s. At the time, he thought he might end up in graphic design. It was while working as an intern for Hype Williams, the world’s foremost hip hop music video director, that Lutz discovered directing music videos could be a lucrative profession. His first job for Williams was as a visual consultant on his 1998 film, Belly. According to Lutz, one of the most important lessons Williams taught him was to understand all the elements of the director’s trade — from lighting to sound, colour to choreography — even if other people were hired to do those jobs.

Music Videos

Lutz began directing music videos in 1998. The first video he directed was for the track “Northern Touch,” a collaboration between Vancouver hip-hop group Rascalz and Canadian hip hop artists Choclair, Kardinal Offishall, Thrust and Checkmate.” The song won the Juno Award for Best Rap Recording the following year.

“Northern Touch” marked a pivotal point in the evolution of Canadian hip hop and in the quality and artistry of music videos for Canadian acts. As Lutz later recalled, the video was relatively inexpensive to make, but it looked far more sophisticated than most Canadian music videos of the era. He has said that at the time it was difficult for Canadian musicians, singers and rappers to think on a global scale because the quality of music and music video production couldn’t compete with what was coming out of the United States. The “Northern Touch” video changed that. (Seth Rogen, who was a hip hop-loving high school student in 1998, said in a 2018 interview, “If you’re a Canadian rap fan, [“Northern Touch”] is like the be-all and end-all. It’s like our ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ basically.”)

By 1999, when Lutz first started going by the alias Little X, he had also directed music videos for Onyx, Deborah Cox, DMX, The Roots, Choclair and Maestro. He has since directed music videos for a wide variety of artists, including Kardinal Offishall (“Ol’ Time Killin’”), Usher (“U Got it Bad,” “Caught Up”), Alicia Keys (“How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?”), Destiny’s Child (“Bootylicious”), Kanye West (“The New Workout Plan”), Rihanna (“Pon de Replay,” “Work”), Justin Bieber (“Boyfriend”), Drake (“HYFR,” “Started from the Bottom,” “Hotline Bling”), Wiz Khalifa (“Staying Out All Night“), Iggy Azalea (“Black Widow,” “Trouble”), Kendrick Lamar (“King Kunta”), Nelly (“Hot in Herre,” “Tilt Ya Head Back”), Nelly Furtado (“Promiscuous,” “Manos al Aire”) and Ariana Grande (“34+35,” “POV”), among many others.

Lutz changed his alias to Director X in 2014. He has also directed commercials for numerous clients, including Gap, Tinder, Foot Locker, Spotify, Alexander Wang and eBay, among others.

Feature Film Director

As of 2023, Director X has directed three feature films, including the 2018 remake of the Blaxploitation classic Superfly. His feature film directorial debut, Across the Line (2015), follows a promising young Black hockey plyer who is subjected to racism at his high school. It was partly inspired by the Cole Harbour District High School race riots of 1989. The film won several awards, including Best Atlantic Feature Film at the 2015 Atlantic Canadian Awards and Best First Feature at the 2016 Canadian Film Fest Awards.

Other Activities

Director X created an art installation for Toronto’s Nuit Blanche in 2016 titled Death of the Sun. It was a 14 m-wide sphere in Nathan Phillips Square that could glow and change appearance. He also served as the creative director of AGO Massive XV, a public art and music event held by the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2019. Another art installation, Life of the Earth, was held at the Ontario Science Centre from October 2019 to January 2020. Billed as a sequel to Death of the Sun and a statement about climate change, the installation featured a large orb that reflects images of the Earth and its industrial transformation.

Anti-Gun Violence Advocacy

Director X has firsthand knowledge of gun violence; he was shot in the back at a nightclub on New Year’s Eve in 2015. He turned this experience into a TED Talk delivered in Toronto titled “Message to the Man Who Shot Me.” This experience prompted him to think about gun violence and what he might do to help effect positive change. He wrote a letter to the Toronto Star and speaks regularly on the subject.

He is also a dedicated practitioner of meditation, and created Operation Prefrontal Cortex. It seeks to use mindfulness and meditation in the classroom to help the developing brains of young people as well as in correctional facilities as part of the rehabilitative process.

Honours

Director X has won two MuchMusic Video Awards and been nominated for four others. He has also been nominated for seven BET Awards for Video of the Year and won one. The City of Brampton inducted him into its Arts Walk of Fame in 2018. He was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in December 2022.

Awards

• Video of the Year (“HYFR”), Juno Awards (2013)
• Director of the Year (“Started from the Bottom”), iHeartRadio MuchMusic Video Awards (2013)
• Director of the Year (“Hotline Bling”), iHeartRadio MuchMusic Video Awards (2016)
• Best Atlantic Feature Film (Across the Line), Atlantic Canadian Awards (2015)
• Best First Feature (Across the Line), Canadian Film Fest Awards (2016)
• Video Director of the Year, BET Awards (2016)