Michel Gondry was born in France, in 1963. He grew up in Versailles with a family who was very influenced by pop music. As a young kid, Gondry wanted to be a painter or an inventor but as he grew older his interests switched more to the cultural field. He studied Art in Paris, specializing in graphic design. In that school, he met friends with whom he created a pop-rock band called Oui-Oui. Gondry was the drummer of the band and also directed their video clips. One of his videos was shown on MTV and when Bjork saw it, she asked him to make her first solo video for Human Behavior. He then went on to direct other Bjork videos, benefiting from huge budgets. Other artists, including Massive Attack, came to discover his work and partnered with him as well. 

Hollywood became interested in Gondry´s success and he directed his first feature movie Human Nature in 2001. The film was an adaptation of Charlie Kaufman´s scenario and shown in the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. This allowed him to direct Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), for which he again collaborated with Charlie Kaufman. The movie became an immensely popular independent film and he and his co-writer won the Oscar for best original Screenplay with it.