Michael GondryBirth Place: Versailles, France Date of Birth: May 8, 1963 Heritage: French Famous for: Director of 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' (2004) Contact Michael Gondry | 
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Background: “When I do a video, it starts with an idea I may have just had in the morning and then I do it... And obviously I know some ways to manipulate the images or to create the effects in camera, which I think people usually do these days, but they can use on film.” Michel Gondry Academy Award-winning film, video and commercial director and screenwriter Michel Gondry was shot to international prominence with “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004), which he directed and co-wrote with Charlie Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth. The film was considered one of the critically acclaimed movies of the year and for his work, Gondry took home his Oscar, a Writers Guild of America Award, two Online Film Critics Society Awards and a Toronto Film Critics Association Award. Celebrated for his original visual style, Gondry made his feature directorial debut with the Cannes-premiered “Human Nature” (2001), which was scripted by Kaufman. He then directed the memorable documentary “Block Party” (2005) and the Sundance-screened “The Science of Sleep” (2006) and “Be Kind Rewind” (2008). His upcoming film, the based-on-novel “Master of Space and Time,” is set to be released in 2011. The former drummer for the band Oui-Oui, Gondry has also made a name for himself as a music video and commercial director. He has worked with a number of noted musicians like Björk, Foo Fighters, Radiohead, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Beck, and directed commercials for Levi, Smirnoff, Gap, Nike, Coca Cola, Adidas, Air France, Polaroid and BMW. Gondry is also known as the director and writer of the award-winning short “The Letter” (1998).
Childhood and Family: Michel Gondry was born on May 8, 1963, in Versailles, France, to a computer programmer father and a pianist mother. His grandfather, Constant Martin, was the inventor of the clavioline, one of the first keyboard synthesizers. Michel has a brother, Olivier Gondry, who is also a music video and television commercial director. As a child, Michel was interested in the arts and hoped someday he would become a painter or an inventor. During this time, he worked on progressively complicated and creative flip-books for hours and made animating offbeat short films with his father's Super 8 camera. At age 12, he fell in love with photography. After high school, Michel studied graphics at École Olivier de Serres in Paris. Around that same period, along with some classmates, he formed a pop-rock group called Oui-Oui. He played the drums in the band. Michel has a son named Paul. They currently reside in New York.
Career: Prior to filmmaking, Michel Gondry was a drummer for the pop-rock group Oui-Oui. The group released two albums and several singles before disbanding in 1992. In addition to playing drums, Gondry also directed music videos for the band. His artistic talent soon caught the attention of other local musicians and he was flooded with numerous offers. It was not until 1993 that Gondry scored a huge break. After seeing one of his clips on MTV, pop singer Björk hired him to make her first solo video for “Human Behavior.” The clip was a success thanks to its innovative use of animation and live-action and subsequently put the director on the map. He went on to work with Björk in videos of “Army of Me” and “Isobel” (both 1995), “Hyper-Ballad” (1996), “Bachelorette,” “Deadweight” and “Jóga” (all 1997). Lured by this fruitful partnership, Gondry was asked to create videos for such popular musicians as Belinda Carlisle, Lenny Kravitz and Sinéad O'Connor. He went on to spend the 1990s directing clips for The Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow, Massive Attack, Foo Fighters, Daft Punk and The Chemical Brothers. After a move to London in 1994, Gondry branched out to TV commercials. One of his early efforts, Levi's 501 Jeans “Drugstore” (1994), earned Cannes' Lion D'Or and is registered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most award-winning commercial of all time. Other noted commercials include Levi's “Mermaids,” which won silver and bronze medals at the Clio Awards and Cannes, respectively, and Smirnoff's “Smarienburg,” which was the gold medal winner at both Cannes and the Clio Awards. Gondry has also worked with such companies as Heineken, Coca-Cola, BMW, Volvo, Fiat, Nike, GAP and Diet Coke. A year after moving to New York, Gondry directed and wrote a short film named “Lettre, La/The Letter” (1998). The 14-minute drama received the International Jury Award for Best Black & White Film at the 1998 Cork International Film Festival and the FICC Prize at the 1999 Oberhausen International Short Film Festival. Gondry's impressive body of work became his Hollywood calling card. Before long, he directed his first feature film, “Human Nature,” which starred Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ifans and Tim Robbins and was written by Charlie Kaufman, an up-and-coming screenwriter introduced to him by director/producer Spike Jonze. The comedy was shown at the Cannes Festival in 2001 and the Sundance Film Festival in 2002. It won a National Board of Review for Best Screenplay. Also in 2001, Gondry made a short film called “One Day...,” in which he also acted alongside David Cross. The Frenchman continued to make music videos for artists like The White Stripes, Radiohead, Kylie Minogue, Gary Jules and Steriogram, and direct commercials for various companies. In 2003, he released the successful video “The Work of Director Michel Gondry,” which features the personal full-length documentary, “I've Been 12 Forever.” However, it was Gondry's second feature film that really launched the accomplished filmmaker to stardom. Working again with Charlie Kaufman, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004), starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, was a commercial and critical hit. The drama brought Gondry an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, an honor he shared with co-writers Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth. He also picked up a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay, Online Film Critics Society awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay, a Toronto Film Critics Association and a Washington DC Area Film Critics Association for Best Director, and a Bram Stoker Award for Best Screenplay, among others. In 2005, Gondry directed “Block Party,” a documentary centered on comedian Dave Chappelle’s attempts to have a street festival in Brooklyn. Besides Chappelle, the work features performances by artists like Mos Def, Kanye West, Jill Scott, Talib Kweli, Erykah Badu, The Roots, Dead Prez and Common. Also that year, Gondry directed the U.S. version of Kanye West's video for “Heard 'Em Say” and The White Stripes' “The Denial Twist.” He was then reunited with West for the hit single “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” (2005), for which Gondry played drums. Gondry returned to the fiction realm with “The Science of Sleep” (2006), which he directed and wrote. Starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Charlotte Gainsbourg, the comedy was screened at various film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival, and won awards, including a Golden Trailer for Best Independent. With “The Science of Sleep,” Gondry verified his status as one of the most creative and ingenious directors of his era. He stated, “Being surrounded by people who are creative makes you want to be creative.” After a decade, Gondry was reunited with Björk to make the video for the song “Declare Independence.” The same year, he also directed the music video for the Paul McCartney song “Dance Tonight,” where he also made a cameo appearance. In 2008, Gondry directed, wrote and produced “Be Kind Rewind,” a comedy starring Jack Black, Mos Def and Danny Glover. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. He also helmed and penned the anthology “Tokyo” (2008). Michel Gondry is set to direct the comedy “Master of Space and Time,” which is slated for a 2011 release. It is scripted by Daniel Clowes and is based on a novel by Rudy Rucker Apart from directing films, commercials and music videos, Gondry has emerged as an installation artist. He made his debut at the Deitch Projects in New York's SoHo gallery district in September 2006 in a show called “The Science of Sleep: An Exhibition of Sculpture and Pathological Creepy Little Gifts.”
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