Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay followed the 1995 release of Leaving Las Vegas, a film that emerged from the director's deep frustration with the Hollywood studio system. This project remains a defining moment in a career that spans experimental digital video, musical composition, and multimedia stage performance across several decades.
Early Career and Music
Born in Carlisle in 1948, Michael Lawrence Dundus Figgis spent his childhood in Nairobi and Newcastle upon Tyne. Educated at Kenton Comprehensive School, he later attended Trent Park College, part of the University of London, where he focused on music. A multi-instrumentalist, he performed with the People Band and served as the keyboardist for The Gas Board. During the 1970s, he was a core member of the experimental theatre group People Show, which provided the foundation for his early multimedia stage productions.
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His feature film debut arrived in 1988 with the neo-noir thriller Stormy Monday. He subsequently directed Internal Affairs, which featured Richard Gere, followed by Liebestraum and the misunderstood feature Mr. Jones. His filmography also includes One Night Stand, the autobiographical The Loss of Sexual Innocence, and the 2007 rally-focused film Love Live Long. In 2008, he directed a public information film for Transport for London designed to improve passenger behavior.
Technical Innovation and Digital Video
Figgis gained recognition for his exploration of digital video technology, most notably in the experimental film Timecode. This production utilized four cameras to record simultaneously in one take, presenting the final result as a quad-screen feature. His interest in technology extended to hardware design, leading to the creation of the Fig Rig, a camera stabilization system released by the Manfrotto Group. He also directed Life Captured, a film composed of mobile phone imagery, and has written books including Digital Filmmaking and The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations.
Academic and Institutional Roles
Since 2008, Figgis has served as a professor of film studies at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, where he leads summer seminars. He maintains an active involvement in independent cinema as the founding patron of the online community Shooting People. Additionally, he is an Honorary Associate of the London Film School and has contributed to oral history archives, including an interview for the Wellcome Trust in 2009.
Fast facts
- Born: 1948, Carlisle
- Citizenship: United Kingdom
- Educated at: Middlesex University; Kenton School
- Notable film: Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
- Professional role: Professor of film studies, European Graduate School
- Invention: Fig Rig camera stabilization system
Questions readers ask
What is the Fig Rig?
It is a camera stabilization platform for smaller video cameras, designed by Figgis and released by the Manfrotto Group.
What is the premise of the film Timecode?
It is an ensemble film shot with four cameras simultaneously in one take, with the final screen divided into four quarters showing the action uncut.
Achievements
- Worked as actor, film director and screenwriter
