Michel Gondry was born (May 8, 1963) and raised in Versailles, France, and eventually went to art college in Paris. Now in his early forties, his repertoire is astounding. He has scripted inspiring imagery in the form of commercials, music videos, shorts, feature films, and other media. He is partially credited with reviving the music-video format in the 1990’s. He has been named a genius by too many people to count.

Michel Gondry’s age is deceiving, however: his works are marked with a child-like explorative eye. Like old-school hip-hop Gondry’s works are his playground. He tells stories about people and their lives while questioning our definitions of reality. His characters are honest and human and his worlds playfully reflect the interaction between the worlds we live in: nature, society, and the mind.

His career began in Paris where he studied graphic arts while also drumming in a band called Oui Oui. It was for this band that he made his first videos on 16mm and discovered his passion for directing and experimenting with animation and live action. Michel soon went on to make videos for other bands in France and it was not long before he was on the international circuit. His goal was to complete visual images that would compliment a song, never wanting to look as if they’d just been placed on top of an artist’s work. This unique approach to visual art was a collaboration of elements and ideas generated by Gondry and the musicians with whom he worked. In 1993 he met Bjork, and a long and successful business relationship was formed based on a mutual understanding and respect for each others work. His first video for Bjork was “Human Behaviour” which won every music video award existing! He has made many more videos with Bjork, including “Bachelorette”, he has also done videos for The Rolling Stones, Daft Punk, Foo Fighters, Chemical Brothers, Radiohead and Cibo Matto to mention a few.

Michel’s concepts, combined with his philosophy that one finds beauty in ordinary people, led to his direction of the unique TV commercials such as Levi’s “Drugstore”. Michel was entered into the Guinness book of records as the director of a commercial that has won the most prizes including the Lion D’or at Cannes, three silvers at D&AD and best campaign at the BTAA (all awarded to “Drugstore”). He has since directed many more award winning commercials including, Levi’s “Mermaids” and Smirnoff “Smarienburg”, Polaroid “Resignation” and Nike “Long Run”. Most recently he has directed the Levi’s commercial “A Bold New Breed”.

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. 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 marked a return to the fantastical, surreal techniques he employed in Eternal Sunshine. His next feature, Be Kind Rewind to be released in year 2008.