Van Hayden launched his production career in 1989 when he sublet his Minneapolis apartment and drove to New York City, to work as an unpaid intern on the set of Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues. After production on the film wrapped, Lee hired Hayden to work as a staffer at Lee’s prestigious, Brooklyn-based, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks headquarters. Lee nurtured Hayden’s career by hiring him as his 1st Assistant Director on a series of iconic Nike commercials, Levi’s Jeans spots, music videos and the Emmy Award-winning documentary: Brooklyn’s Own, Iron Mike Tyson, for Home Box Office. Lee also arranged for Hayden to work as an apprentice sound editor on Lee’s Jungle Fever.