“It’s easier to become a dictator of a country than it is to become a film director,” music video director Joseph Kahn told a crowd of about 80 students at McCormick Auditorium in Norris University Center Thursday night.

Kahn, who has directed numerous music videos for megastars Britney Spears, Eminem and U2, spoke to students about his journey to the top of the music video industry. Kahn also discussed his 2004 box office dud “Torque” and his experiences working with pop stars.

He credited his success to “a combination of hard work, perseverance and luck,” but also mentioned his “fresh off the boat” Korean heritage as a factor.

“It’s undeniable that being one of the firsts makes you stand out more,” he said. “Even if (viewers and industry insiders) didn’t like my work, they knew who I was. I was the Asian guy who made rap videos.”

The Asian Pacific American Coalition brought Kahn to Northwestern in hopes that he would inspire students and connect with those who share his heritage.

“He’s a famous Asian-American figure, and he is very established,” said APAC executive board member Antoinette Nguyen, a Weinberg junior. “He can be a good role model and a way for us to reach out to other students.”

Kahn’s low-key, funny demeanor impressed students who assumed he would be less friendly.

“I expected him to be a big shot but he was cool and down-to-earth,” said Jessica Suarez, a Weinberg freshman.

Kahn said he was anything but cool when he emigrated from Korea and his family moved to Texas so that he could become a doctor.

“My friends were losers,” he said.

Ironically, he said, his heritage sparked his initial desire to direct.

“My dad got a video camera for the most Korean of reasons,” he said. “For me to photograph his golf swing.”

Pretty soon Kahn was shooting videos for bands in his high school. Suddenly he became popular. He said he decided to become a director when a group of cheerleaders who had previously ignored him stopped to talk to him in high school.

Kahn pursued his dream at New York University for a year and a half before taking a chance, dropping out of school and borrowing $2,000 from his mother to make a video. The video effort flopped, so he started working odd jobs, watching a lot of movies and reading business books.

“What I learned from those books was how to sell myself,” he said.

Kahn’s career began when he convinced a fledgling rap company, Rap-A-Lot Records, to let him direct a video. He began working with rap and R&B, and decided to move to Los Angeles. Luckily he arrived at an opportune time.

“Just as I got to L.A., rap and R&B started outselling rock,” he said. “So rap and R&B video budgets became bigger than rock budgets.”

Kahn’s career soon took off, and he credits himself with creating the “boy band explosion”.

“The trick behind Backstreet Boys was that I knew they were gonna sell to a 12-year-old demographic,” he explained. “The Nintendo generation. Frankly, you kids.”

Kahn is now a premiere director of pop videos, but he said he wants to direct movies — even if his first film “Torque” was a box-office failure.

“It’s a weird visual language and visual wit that you use in music videos,” he said. “I tried to do this with the movie and it didn’t work.”

Until he makes another film, Kahn said he is happy to make music videos and inspire students with his example.

“To be honest, I don’t know what motivates all the things I do,” Kahn said. “I just do them.”