in 1997 he directed the pop group the spice girls in their film "spiceworld". he had been working in america on the disney film "that darn cat" at the peak of the spice girls' popularity, and was unaware of the group when first offered the job of directing "spiceworld" until friend jennifer saunders advised that he take it. he arrived at a meeting with them in a new york hotel unaware of what they looked like. he also directed two episodes of the australian abc series "the adventures of lano and woodley".