Michel Gondry to Launch Website
Michel Gondry has decided to launch his own website on MichelGondry.com. The site is not yet live, but the main page features art from Gondry with promises of all sorts of cool stuff for sale, like a book by Gondry on the Be Kind Rewind exhibit, the Disastrology Calendar from sCience of Sleep, a new dvd of music videoes, t-shirts, an extended cut of Science of Sleep, 1000 Bad Jokes written by Gondry on toliet paper (I kid you not) and more!
David Byrnes Up the Webbys
More than a few talking heads figure David Byrne should be recognized for his pioneering efforts.
The new-wave rocker will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th Annual Webby Awards next month for his ongoing work to bring multimedia culture to the masses, including via his own Internet radio station and blog and his celebrated PowerPoint art, which can be viewed in the book-DVD set Envisioning Emotional Epistemological Information.
Also receiving an award for a career well done will be Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, particularly for his unprecedented success with digital shorts such as YouTube faves “Lazy Sunday” and the Emmy-winning “Dick in a Box.”
“David and Lorne both turned popular culture on its head in the late 1970s and each of them have continued to push the envelope for more than three decades,” said Webby Awards executive director David-Michel Davies. “It’s an honor to salute these two visionaries for careers that consistently challenge, surprise, and inspire audiences around the world.”
The duo will be honored twice, first June 9 at the Webby Film and Video Awards, to be hosted by 30 Rock’s Judah Friedlander at New York’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, and again the following day at the actual Webby Awards. Seth Meyers will emcee the ceremony at the Angel Orensanz Foundation.
This year’s Special Achievement honorees include Person of the Year Stephen Colbert (which should take the sting out of being shafted by Time in favor of Korean popster Rain), Film and Video Person of the Year Michel Gondry, Artist of the Year will.i.am, and Best Actors Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim (from Adult Swim’s awesomely titled Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!).
The Webbys, which have been called the Internet’s highest honor, are handed out by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
Video Clip: Michel Gondry’s Interior Design
Cannes2008 has the first video clip from Michel Gondry’s “Interior Design”, a 30-minute short film which is part of the upcoming three part anthology project Tôkyô!, a triptych film in the same tradition of New York Stories or Paris, je t’aime from directors Bong Joon Ho (The Host), Leos Carax (Bad Blood) and Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine). Each director tells an odd little story set in Japan’s capital. The film just sold at Cannes to Liberation Entertainment for North American distribution.
Written by Gondry and comic author Gabrielle Bell, Interior Design is based on Bell’s comic book “Cecil and Jordan in New York” from “Kramer’s Ergot #5”. The surreal fable of a young couple who moves to Tokyo in search of a future. While the boy’s ambition is clear - be a movie maker- the girl drifts gradually apart. Both of them will be drowned in the imensity until the girl [Ayako Fujitani, Steven Seagal’s Japanese daughter], feeling alone, discovers something strange … she eventually turns into a chair. Watch the video clip below.
Tokyo Teaser Trailer
TwitchFilm has the first movie trailer for Tôkyô!, the upcoming three part anthology project,a triptych film in the same tradition of New York Stories or Paris, je t’aime, from directors Bong Joon Ho (The Host), Leos Carax (Bad Blood) and Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine). Each director tells an odd little story set in Japan’s capitol.
Michel Gondry’s 30-minute segment is titled “Interior Design”. Written by Gondry and comic author Gabrielle Bell, Design is based on Bell’s comic book “Cecil and Jordan in New York” from “Kramer’s Ergot #5”. The story follows a girl [Ayako Fujitani, Steven Seagal’s Japanese daughter] who tries to move into Tokyo with her boyfriend. Unable to find an apartment or a job, she eventually turns into a chair. Sounds like something Gondry would make.
Bong Joon Ho’s segment is tentatively titled “Shaking Tokyo”, stars Yu Aoi (All About Lily Chou-Chou), Kagawa Teruyuki “Sway (Yureru)”, Takenaka Naoto (Ping Pong/Swing Girls), centers around a guy who hasn’t gone outside out of his apartment in 10 years. Then, because of an earthquake, he finally leave his apartment, all the while being in love with a pizza delivery girl played by Yu Aoi.
Leos Carax’s segment Merde, follows “a man, or rather a ‘creature’ living in sewers begins terrorizing people in the city. After the imperial army launches a few grenades, it is stopped. Master Voland, a shabby french lawyer, is one of only 3 people in the world to understand its language.
Watch the trailer.