Michel Gondry - Biography

Last Editor: anaafeliciano				Michel Gondry Biography -   Name : Michel Gondry Date of birth : May 8, 1963 Place of birth : Versailles, France Profession : film/video director, screenwriter Years active : 1986-present Height : 5' 10" (1.78 m)

Michel Gondry Trivia -

In his video clips and commercials, he was a pioneer for a lot of things. For example the video clip he made for IAM (Je danse le Mia) was the first video clip using the morphing technics. And above all he invented the technique of several cameras taking pictures in the same time around somebody. This technique was used for the first time in a commercial for insurance, then in Björk's "Army of Me" video clip and in The Matrix (1999). His grandfather Constant Martin invented one of the first synthesizers (the Clavioline), and his father sold electric guitars. He played drums on Kanye West's hit single "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (2005) He is a big fan of Mya. His 1994 "Drugstore" spot for Levi's 501 Jeans holds the record for most awards won by a TV commercial. Artist in Residence at the Massachusettes Institute of Technology in 2005 and 2006. He is brother of Olivier Gondry. He graduated from École Olivier de Serres in Paris. He is brother of Olivier Gondry. He spent 2005 as an artist-in-residence at MIT. His grandfather, Constant Martin, invented the clavioline, one of the first keyboard synthesizers. His father programmed computers. His mother was a pianist. The director posted a short video on YouTube in 2006 titled simply "Michel Gondry Solves a Rubik's Cube With His Feet" in which he solved the famous puzzle with his toes. He has a son called Paul. By directing Kate Winslet in _Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)_, he directed her in her favorite performance of her own. Spike Jonze suggested him for the studio, to direct Human Nature (2001). He was inspired to make Be Kind Rewind (2008) after making Block Party (2005) which took place on one city block. At the 2006 Berlin Film Festival, he told that the main location of La science des rêves (2006) is a house where he used to live 15 years ago.

Michel Gondry Detailed Biography -

Michel Gondry was born on May 8, 1963 in Versailles, France. He is a French Academy Award winning screenwriter, film, commercial, and music video director noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. Gondry was born in Versailles, France. His career as a filmmaker began with creating music videos for the French rock band Oui Oui, where he also served as a drummer. The style of his videos caught the attention of music artist Björk, who asked him to direct the video for her song "Human Behaviour". The collaboration proved long-lasting, with Gondry directing a total of six music videos for Björk. Other artists who have collaborated with Gondry on more than one occasion include Daft Punk, Radiohead, The White Stripes, The Chemical Brothers, The Vines, and Beck. Gondry has also created numerous television commercials. He pioneered the "bullet time" techniques used in The Matrix, notably in his "Like a Rolling Stone" video for the Rolling Stones and a 1998 commercial for Smirnoff vodka, as well as directing a trio of inventive holiday-themed commercials for GAP. Gondry is often cited, along with directors Spike Jonze, David Fincher, and Marcus Nispel, as representative of the influx of music video directors into feature film. Gondry made his feature film debut in 2001 with Human Nature, garnering mixed reviews. His second film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (also his second collaboration with screenwriter Charlie Kaufman), was released in 2004 and received many rave reviews. Eternal Sunshine utilizes many of the image manipulation techniques that Gondry had experimented with in his music videos. Gondry won an Academy Award alongside Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth for the story of Eternal Sunshine. The style of Gondry's music videos often relies on videography and camera tricks which play with frames of reference. Gondry also directed the musical documentary Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2006) which followed comedian Dave Chappelle as he attempted to hold a large, free concert in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. His following film, The Science of Sleep, hit theaters in September, 2006. This film stars Mexican actor Gael García Bernal, and marks a return to the fantastical, surreal techniques he employed in Eternal Sunshine. In September 2006, Gondry made his debut as an installation artist at Deitch Projects in New York's SoHo gallery district. The show, called "The Science of Sleep: An Exhibition of Sculpture and Pathological Creepy Little Gifts" featured props from his film, The Science of Sleep, as well as film clips and a selection of gifts that the artist had given to women he was interested in, many of them former or current collaborators, Karen Baird, Kishu Chand, Dorothy Barrick and Lauri Faggioni. (see ) A leitmotif of the film is a 'Disastrology' calendar, Gondry commissioned the painter Baptiste Ibar to draw harrowing images of natural and human disasters. His brother Olivier 'Twist' Gondry is also a television commercial and music video director creating videos for bands such as The Stills, The White Stripes, Hot Hot Heat and The Vines (see ). Gondry was an Artist in Residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005 and 2006. He recently directed the video for Paul McCartney's "Dance Tonight" from the album "Memory Almost Full".