Michael Philip

Michael Philip grew up in Santa Monica with Hollywood literally in his blood—his granddad was Mike Frankovich, the big boss at Columbia Pictures, and his stepdad? Carl Kress, the Oscar-winning editor. So, yeah, he didn’t exactly stumble into filmmaking. He cut his teeth as an assistant editor on a bunch of wild films like Stroker Ace, Cannonball Run II, Deepstar Six, and Bloodsport—solid classics for anyone who likes car chases or monsters. Jump to 1994, Michael’s running post-production on Arizona Dream (yep, the one with Johnny Depp), before co-founding Nichol Moon Entertainment. That company made indie filmmaking less of a nightmare for movies like Swingers, which is basically a cult staple now. He didn't stop there—he helped produce and package flicks like The Curve, Lip Service, Who Is Cletis Tout?, and The Movie Hero. The guy knows how to hustle, honestly. By 2005, he’s writing and directing Drop Dead Sexy with Jason Lee and Crispin Glover, which had its moment at SXSW before Lion’s Gate picked it up. Then, for almost a decade, he bopped around Eastern Europe—head of production at Kentarous Studios in Bucharest and Raleigh in Budapest. He cranked out films like Timber Falls, Night Train, Stag Night, and Battledrone (that one ended up on Netflix). Back in the States by 2016, Michael directed Frat Pack, and produced Becoming and Disturbing The Peace. Now, he’s teamed up with Jason Moring at Cr8iv DNA, in post on The Doorman for Lionsgate and, from the sounds of it, got a whole slate of new stuff brewing. This dude doesn’t rest.