Michael Steinberg

Director / Producer / Writer, Michael Steinberg, is a Sundance Award Winner, Spirit Award Winner, MTV Movie Award Winner, and Golden Globe Nominee. Collectively, Michael's feature projects have generated over a billion dollars in revenues. As a director, he's known for his detailed work with actors and strong visual storytelling. Michael's feature directing debut - THE WATERDANCE - premiered at Sundance in 1992 where it won "The Audience Award." Michael also won the "I.F.P. Spirit Award" for "Best First Feature." The film picked up Spirit Award "Best Actor" nominations for Wesley Snipes and Bill Forsyth. It stars Oscar nominee, Helen Hunt, and Eric Stoltz and is in The New York Times' book - The Best 1,000 Films of All Time. BODIES, REST & MOTION - Michael's next film as a director - also debuted in competition at Sundance. It was the runner-up for the Audience Award and was selected for the Un Certain Regard section at The Cannes Film Festival. It was released theatrically by Fine Line to stellar reviews in "The New York Times," "The Los Angeles Times," "The San Francisco Chronicle," and many others. It made several critics "Top 10 Films of the Year" lists. It stars Oscar nominee, Tim Roth, Bridget Fonda, Eric Stoltz, and Phoebe Cates. The film was released by Criterion on their prestigious "Director's Signature" label. Today, the film is a touchstone of 90s indie cinema and plays regularly at art house and revival cinemas. In 1998, Michael produced the smash - THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY. The film garnered him a Golden Globe nomination and is currently #27 on AFI's - "Top 100 Comedies of All Time." It also won Michael an MTV Award for "Best Movie of the Year." It stars Cameron Diaz who was nominated for a Golden Globe. To date, the film has made hundreds of millions in revenues worldwide. Michael's just as passionate about television as film. He is a prolific writer in TV, having sold a steady stream of one-hour pilots to all the major networks. THE CASEYS - a pilot Michael wrote, directed, and produced for Fox Television, was picked by Entertainment Weekly as one of the best 5 pilots of the year. It was screened by Steven Spielberg and Michael was subsequently signed to a "blind" writing deal with DreamWorks where he wrote a pilot for Spielberg to Executive Produce. Michael's since written and sold pilots to CBS, NBC, Disney, Warner Bros., Sony, Paramount, Brillstein-Grey, and many others. On these projects he's partnered with some of the biggest names in the business including 2-time Emmy winner, Warren Littlefield, 2-time Emmy winner and Oscar nominee, Cary Brokaw, Oscar winner, Sylvester Stallone, Emmy and Golden Glove nominee, Eriq La Salle, Lauren Graham, and Neal H. Moritz to name some. His most recent pilot script- CALIFORNIOS - sold to All3 Media. Oscar winner, Guillermo Navarro, will be directing and Executive Producing. Michael's next film as a director - WICKED - also debuted at Sundance - his third in a row which no other director in the history of Sundance has achieved. It won lead actress, Julia Stiles, the "Best Actress" award at The Karlovy Vary Film Festival where Michael was nominated for a "Crystal Globe" in the Main Competition. The pitch-black comic thriller was released by Sony/Screen Gems in 2001. Screen Gems subsequently bought a feature script from Michael - THE CAVE. This 35 million dollar, Sci-Fi, Horror-Thriller, was produced by Oscar winner, Tom Rosenberg, and was wide-released in 2005 by Sony/Screen Gems. Michael has partnered with many legends in the business over the years including Oscar winner, Quentin Tarantino. In 2008, he and Quentin produced - HELL RIDE - an "outlaw biker" genre-piece that debuted as a "Midnight Screening" at Sundance. It starred 3 of Tarantino's favorite collaborators, Oscar nominee, Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen, and David Carradine. Michael also co-wrote and produced an indie feature that Tarantino appeared in - SLEEP WITH ME. The indie premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes and was the "Opening Night Gala Premiere" at the Toronto International Film Festival. It stars, Oscar Nominee, Meg Tilly. After MGM picked up the film for theatrical distribution, Oscar nominee and Irving G. Thalberg winner, John Calley, head of the studio, signed Michael to a production deal. Currently, Michael has several new projects in television and film including a feature Michael wrote, LIE DOWN WITH THE DEVIL, originally sold to Def Jam, that is shooting in 2021 with Simon West directing. Arnold Rifkin and Harvey Mason Jr. are producing with Michael. Michael is also writing - LEORA - an adaptation of Allan Topol's best-seller thriller novel - A Woman of Valor - as a limited mini-series for Solipsist Film and Hollywood Gang Productions. Michael was born in Rapid City, South Dakota, but raised in Los Angeles by film buff parents where he gorged himself on the great, and not so great, American films of the late 60s and 70s. At the age of 18, he worked as a photographer at Harrah's Lake Tahoe Casino and played poker professionally while attending community college. A film class exposed him to classics of the late silent era. The poetic visuals and themes of these film inspired Michael to begin making silent Super 8 experimental shorts. But it was APOCALYPSE NOW that changed the course of Michael's life. The movie hit like a thunderbolt and Michael began working to get into U.C.L.A. Film School to follow in Francis Ford Coppola's footsteps. While earning an MFA in Film Production at U.C.L.A., Michael wrote and directed a 13 min. short - NIGHTWATCH - that caught the attention the 4 major agencies, along with legendary producer, Gale Anne Hurd, and legendary director, John Carpenter. Carpenter, a personal hero of Michael's, became his first mentor when he invited Michael to shadow him on the Fox lot set of BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. A few years later, Hurd gave Michael his first professional break when she produced his feature debut - THE WATERDANCE.