Lynn Spinnato is a Long Island based photographer, cinematographer, producer and director. 
She spent her early career in the music and advertising industries producing music videos, TV commercials and short documentaries. With more than 100 videos of world-renowned artists to her credit, she received recognition and awards from MTV, VH-1 and Billboard Magazine. As an independent artist, her fashion spreads and editorial images have appeared in magazines, books and on CD covers and her fine art prints and abstract video installations are included in private, corporate, and public art collections.
Brooklyn born and Port Jefferson Station raised, Lynn left for Manhattan to start her career, surprisingly, on Wall Street. She lived a ‘finance by day, art school by night’ life, taking photography classes after work at School of Visual Arts. Less than two years later, Lynn realized her true happiness could only come through her passion for photography, and thanks to a job offer from her lighting professor, she left her finance job to become a photo assistant in a Hell’s Kitchen studio. Her spark for filmmaking came six months after that, when she was bent over a still-life table, tweaking a mirror to light a tube of lipstick. Listening to an ad agency art director and copywriter chat about their recent car commercial, Lynn visualized their discussion of filming a car driving off a cliff. She immediately sought the help of a headhunter and landed an entry level position on Madison Avenue at Young & Rubicam. And enrolled in film courses at NYU.
The advertising industry groomed Spinnato to produce television commercials that included Bill Cosby's Jell-O ads in the late 1980s. On one assignment, for a roach spray commercial, she suggested a knock-off of Led Zeppelin's Communication Breakdown as the background track to the "bad" cockroach creeping across the screen, followed by a sweet symphony when the animated roach keeled over, died, then sprouted a daisy on its chest. Although the client gave a thumbs down to the heavy metal music, it led to her next opportunity. The music company producer she was working with knew that Atlantic Records was actively recruiting for a music video producer and rightly guessed they would be interested in her. From September of 1989 through 1995, Spinnato produced and directed music videos, short documentaries and special projects for Atlantic, at first in NY, then from the newly created West Coast video department in Los Angeles. It was the heyday of MTV and VH-1, and it is during those years that she became known as Lynn Spin, producing videos across all genres of music, many of which continually made the weekly countdowns.
Along with producing, Lynn began directing, at the request of her artists, like Collective Soul. Their video for "December” remained on the Top Ten countdowns for months. Her videos won MTV, Billboard and VH-1 awards for her artists and their records, along with the likes of Stone Temple Pilots, went on to reach gold, platinum, and triple platinum.
It was, however, after working with Robert Plant, her all-time music idol, that Spinnato felt it was time to leave Atlantic Records, satisfied with the corporate art part of her journey. As a newly independent artist, she returned to her still photography roots while continuing to direct music videos. She moved back to Long Island in 1996, and in 2003 opened her own art gallery in East Setauket, which is where she now calls home. Although the physical gallery has since closed, Spinnato continues her journey with fine art photography and abstract art videos as she travels the world. Music continues to be central to her art, working with other artists to create original sound tracks for her moving images.
“Beauty in all its depth, honesty, and a higher power are what drive me. I am blessed to have come to know this through the people I’ve met and the places I’ve journeyed.” L.S.
Along with her published images, exhibits and installations, Lynn Spinnato has written featured articles on her travels.
CREDITS (partial list of artists and music videos)
Director – Music Videos
“December,” Collective Soul (1995) “All I Want,” Saigon Kick (1994)
“Wasting Time,” Collective Soul (1995)
“Boy She Did,” Harley Allen (1996)
“Conscience,” Coma (1995 music video and EPK)
“Dim All The Lights,” Laura Branigan (1995)
“Moonshine Radio,” The Cheese (1996)
“Paradigm,” All Together Separate (1998)
“Ready to Ride,” Clear (1998)
Producer
Stone Temple Pilots, “Sex Type Thing,” “Plush,” “Interstate Love Song,” “Vasoline,” “Creep,” “Wicked Garden,” (1992)
Ace Frehley, "Do Ya (Want My Love)" (1990)
Bad Company, “Holy Water" (1990)
Chris Rock, “Yo Momma's Got A Big Head” (1991)
Collective Soul, “Shine” (1993), “Breathe,” “December,” (1995)
Donna Summer, “Last Dance” (1993 remake)
Foreigner, “Low Down and Dirty,” “I’ll Fight For You,” (1991)
Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1991
Mr. Big, “Addicted To That Rush,” “To Be With You,” (1991)
Pantera, “Cemetery Gates,” “Mouth for War,” (1990)
Robert Plant, “If I Were A Carpenter” (1995)
Rush, “Stick It Out” (1991)
Stevie Nicks, 1994
Videos For Feature Films - Producer
The Crow, “Milktoast,” Helmet
The Jerky Boys, “Gel,” Collective Soul; “Dial A Jam,” Coolio & The 40 Thieves
Patriot Games, “Harry’s Game,” Clannad (1992)
The Prophecy, “Into Another,” Skid Row
Reality Bites, “Spin The Bottle,” Juliana Hatfield (1994)
Other Projects
Executive Producer/Producer: “Out on the Tiles,” Blind Melon (1992 Led Zeppelin tribute long form video)
Executive Producer: Cowboys From Hell, Pantera (1991 documentary)
Writer and Photographer: 10 page editorial, “China through a Western Artist’s Eyes”
Pubic Video Installation
Flow, Stony Brook University Hospital
Public Print Collections Include:
Case Western Reserve University, President’s office
Cinema Street Films, NYC
Jieshen Technology Company, Shanghai, China
Stony Brook University Hospital
Stony Brook University Chemistry Building
Stony Brook University President’s Mansion
Tunghai University, Taiwan
University of Minnesota President’s Mansion
Private Video and Fine Art Print Collections:
Upon request
She spent her early career in the music and advertising industries producing music videos, TV commercials and short documentaries. With more than 100 videos of world-renowned artists to her credit, she received recognition and awards from MTV, VH-1 and Billboard Magazine. As an independent artist, her fashion spreads and editorial images have appeared in magazines, books and on CD covers and her fine art prints and abstract video installations are included in private, corporate, and public art collections.Brooklyn born and Port Jefferson Station raised, Lynn left for Manhattan to start her career, surprisingly, on Wall Street. She lived a ‘finance by day, art school by night’ life, taking photography classes after work at School of Visual Arts. Less than two years later, Lynn realized her true happiness could only come through her passion for photography, and thanks to a job offer from her lighting professor, she left her finance job to become a photo assistant in a Hell’s Kitchen studio. Her spark for filmmaking came six months after that, when she was bent over a still-life table, tweaking a mirror to light a tube of lipstick. Listening to an ad agency art director and copywriter chat about their recent car commercial, Lynn visualized their discussion of filming a car driving off a cliff. She immediately sought the help of a headhunter and landed an entry level position on Madison Avenue at Young & Rubicam. And enrolled in film courses at NYU.
The advertising industry groomed Spinnato to produce television commercials that included Bill Cosby's Jell-O ads in the late 1980s. On one assignment, for a roach spray commercial, she suggested a knock-off of Led Zeppelin's Communication Breakdown as the background track to the "bad" cockroach creeping across the screen, followed by a sweet symphony when the animated roach keeled over, died, then sprouted a daisy on its chest. Although the client gave a thumbs down to the heavy metal music, it led to her next opportunity. The music company producer she was working with knew that Atlantic Records was actively recruiting for a music video producer and rightly guessed they would be interested in her. From September of 1989 through 1995, Spinnato produced and directed music videos, short documentaries and special projects for Atlantic, at first in NY, then from the newly created West Coast video department in Los Angeles. It was the heyday of MTV and VH-1, and it is during those years that she became known as Lynn Spin, producing videos across all genres of music, many of which continually made the weekly countdowns.Along with producing, Lynn began directing, at the request of her artists, like Collective Soul. Their video for "December” remained on the Top Ten countdowns for months. Her videos won MTV, Billboard and VH-1 awards for her artists and their records, along with the likes of Stone Temple Pilots, went on to reach gold, platinum, and triple platinum.
It was, however, after working with Robert Plant, her all-time music idol, that Spinnato felt it was time to leave Atlantic Records, satisfied with the corporate art part of her journey. As a newly independent artist, she returned to her still photography roots while continuing to direct music videos. She moved back to Long Island in 1996, and in 2003 opened her own art gallery in East Setauket, which is where she now calls home. Although the physical gallery has since closed, Spinnato continues her journey with fine art photography and abstract art videos as she travels the world. Music continues to be central to her art, working with other artists to create original sound tracks for her moving images.
“Beauty in all its depth, honesty, and a higher power are what drive me. I am blessed to have come to know this through the people I’ve met and the places I’ve journeyed.” L.S.
Along with her published images, exhibits and installations, Lynn Spinnato has written featured articles on her travels.
CREDITS (partial list of artists and music videos)
Director – Music Videos
“December,” Collective Soul (1995) “All I Want,” Saigon Kick (1994)
“Wasting Time,” Collective Soul (1995)
“Boy She Did,” Harley Allen (1996)
“Conscience,” Coma (1995 music video and EPK)
“Dim All The Lights,” Laura Branigan (1995)
“Moonshine Radio,” The Cheese (1996)
“Paradigm,” All Together Separate (1998)
“Ready to Ride,” Clear (1998)
Producer
Stone Temple Pilots, “Sex Type Thing,” “Plush,” “Interstate Love Song,” “Vasoline,” “Creep,” “Wicked Garden,” (1992)
Ace Frehley, "Do Ya (Want My Love)" (1990)
Bad Company, “Holy Water" (1990)
Chris Rock, “Yo Momma's Got A Big Head” (1991)
Collective Soul, “Shine” (1993), “Breathe,” “December,” (1995)
Donna Summer, “Last Dance” (1993 remake)
Foreigner, “Low Down and Dirty,” “I’ll Fight For You,” (1991)
Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1991
Mr. Big, “Addicted To That Rush,” “To Be With You,” (1991)
Pantera, “Cemetery Gates,” “Mouth for War,” (1990)
Robert Plant, “If I Were A Carpenter” (1995)
Rush, “Stick It Out” (1991)
Stevie Nicks, 1994
Videos For Feature Films - Producer
The Crow, “Milktoast,” Helmet
The Jerky Boys, “Gel,” Collective Soul; “Dial A Jam,” Coolio & The 40 Thieves
Patriot Games, “Harry’s Game,” Clannad (1992)
The Prophecy, “Into Another,” Skid Row
Reality Bites, “Spin The Bottle,” Juliana Hatfield (1994)
Other Projects
Executive Producer/Producer: “Out on the Tiles,” Blind Melon (1992 Led Zeppelin tribute long form video)
Executive Producer: Cowboys From Hell, Pantera (1991 documentary)
Writer and Photographer: 10 page editorial, “China through a Western Artist’s Eyes”
Pubic Video Installation
Flow, Stony Brook University Hospital
Public Print Collections Include:
Case Western Reserve University, President’s office
Cinema Street Films, NYC
Jieshen Technology Company, Shanghai, China
Stony Brook University Hospital
Stony Brook University Chemistry Building
Stony Brook University President’s Mansion
Tunghai University, Taiwan
University of Minnesota President’s Mansion
Private Video and Fine Art Print Collections:
Upon request