Thomas Mignone is an American feature film, streaming media, commercial, and music video director, and screenwriter. He is best known for directing and writing the dark dramas On the Doll and Queen Of Manhattan and for directing conceptual music videos and live concerts for various hard rock and heavy metal artists.
In October 2012, Mignone was one of several international filmmakers selected by the Cinequest Film Festival to direct and produce a film in concurrence with their partnership with The Tech Museum of Innovation.[6] Additional feature film projects include Otep: Live Confrontation Concert Documentary, Slipknot: Welcome To Our Neighborhood, Satanika, a live-action version of the comic-book female anti-hero created by multi-platinum rock musician Glenn Danzig,[7] and Ursa Minor. Mignone also helped develop the TV series The Deuce, which revolves around organized crime-controlled Times Square during the '70s and '80s. Upcoming film and streaming series projects for Mignone include The Last Fabulist In Brooklyn and The Dissident's Dream based on the extraordinary life of scientist and physicist Hrachya Hovsepyan who founded Nairi the first computer company in Armenia.
Music videos
Mignone's music video for Mudvayne's hit song "Dig" won the first MTV2 Award[8] and was the first music video to feature heavy metal artists with vibrant, brightly lit and color-saturated images, in sharp contrast to the dark, shadowy videos typical of the genre.
Mignone directed several hit videos for multi-platinum artist Slipknot including Wait & Bleed which received a Grammy nomination.[9] He directed the band's Spit It Out and paid homage to Stanley Kubrick's feature film The Shining. The video consists of conceptual imagery with band members portraying characters enacting iconic scenes from the film, with Joey Jordison as Danny Torrance; Shawn Crahan and Chris Fehn as the Grady sisters; Corey Taylor as Jack Torrance; Mick Thomson as Lloyd the Bartender; Craig Jones as Dick Hallorann; James Root as Wendy Torrance; Paul Gray as Harry Derwent; and Sid Wilson as the corpse in the bathtub. The video was initially banned from MTV for overtly graphic and violent depictions, including Corey Taylor's smashing through a door with an axe and the scene wherein James Root viciously assaults Corey Taylor with a baseball bat. Mignone and the band eventually re-edited a less violent version, which was subsequently aired on MTV.[10][11]
Mignone's video for Sepultura's "Roots Bloody Roots" received the Video Of The Year Award from Kerrang! Magazine.[12] It was filmed in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and was the first music video to contrast the hard rock group's intense performance with images of capoiera dancers, timbalada musicians, and other traditional Brazilian scenes.
In 1993 Mignone directed the band New Order in a live performance of their song Regret for Top of the Pops in Venice Beach, California. It was broadcast via satellite to the United Kingdom as part of an episode of the hit TV series Baywatch, featuring David Hasselhoff and various background actors and bikini-clad actresses dancing and playing on the beach.[13]