Woodkid - Biography
Yoann Lemoine is a French music video director, graphic designer, photographer, and singer-songwriter. His most notable works include directing music videos for Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," Taylor Swift's"Back to December," Drake & Rihanna's "Take Care," and Lana Del Rey's "Born to Die." Lemoine is also a neofolk musician who performs under the moniker Woodkid.
Lemoine studied illustration and animation in Lyon, France at the Emile Cohl School. After graduating with honors, he studied silk screening at Swindon College in London. In 2004, he started illustrating in several magazines and children’s books, in France and the USA. Lemoine then joined French director Luc Beson's H5 production company where he first started working on 3D-animated TV ads and music videos. He also contributed work on the animated/live action film, Arthur and the Invisibles. In 2006, Lemoine directed a series of roughs for Sofia Coppola's comedy-drama film, Marie Antoinette.
In addition to his work in music videos and advertising, Lemoine is a classically trained pianist. He was inspired to start making his own music while filming a documentary about Richie Havens. Mr. Havens gave him a banjo and Lemoine used it to write his first songs. Under the name Woodkid, Lemoine released his debut EP, Iron, on March 28, 2011. He followed it up with the 2012 Run Boy Run EP, for which he received a Grammy nomination for Music Video Of The Year for the title track. His first full-length album, The Golden Age (Interscope), was released in the US in September 2013.
Lemoine has won numerous awards for his work, including 4 Lions for his AIDS Awareness campaign, Graffiti, at the Cannes Lions Advertising festival in 2010. He also won Best Director of the Year at the MVPA Awards and was nominated for 6 MTV Video Music awards in 2012 for his videos for Lana Del Rey, Drake and Rihanna.
Lemoine is currently writing his first feature-length film and composing a ballet with artist JR for the New York City Ballet.