Biography for
Michael Mann (I)

photos

board

add

contact

details

Date of Birth

Birth Name

Height

Mini Biography

A student of London's International Film School, Michael Mann began his career in the late 70s, writing for TV shows like "Starsky and Hutch" (1975). He directed his first film, the award-winning prison drama The Jericho Mile (1979) (TV), in 1979. He followed that in 1981 with his first theatrical release, Thief (1981) starring James Caan as a safecracker who falls under the spell of the mob. He followed with The Keep (1983), an adaptation of F. Paul Wilson's novel about a mysterious force within a Nazi fortress. He hit it big in 1984, when he produced and created the long-running TV series "Miami Vice" (1984), which made Don Johnson a household name. He followed that up in 1986 with a disastrous, lesser-known TV series, "Crime Story" (1986), and the superb thriller Manhunter (1986) a precursor of The Silence of the Lambs (1991). He spent the next few years involved in television, directing films like L.A. Takedown (1989) (TV) and producing films like the Emmy-winning "Drug Wars: The Camarena Story" (1990). In 1992, he returned to feature film with the box-office hit The Last of the Mohicans (1992), which starred Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe.

Spouse

Trade Mark

Often uses art deco buildings for his shoots.

Uses dramatically colored lighting.

Pop/Rock and Ambient music often underscores his work

Often portrays criminals as likeable and sympathetic. See Thief (1981) and Heat (1995).

Has often worked with the following actors and crew: Dennis Farina, Wes Studi, Tom Noonan, film editor Dov Hoenig, cinematographer Dante Spinotti, and actor Jamie Foxx.

Often portrays the leader of a group of criminals as a hard-edged loner.

Often has a scene overlooking a broad horizon of some sort. Neil and Eady staring at the bright L.A. landscape in Heat (1995) is an example of this.

Speakerphone quote : "Who am I talking to?" Question asked by various characters in his movies when on speakerphone.

Director Trade : Most of his movies contain a group of people using a speaker phone. The person on the other end always asks, "Who am I talking to?" and one of the others will rattle off a list of names. See Heat (1995) and Manhunter (1986).

Backgrounds and scenery often include and focus on water. (oceans, rivers, rain)

.45 caliber 1911 model pistols appear in almost all of his movies: Thief (1981), _Miami Vice (1984)_, _L.A. Takedown (1989)_, Heat (1995), The Insider (1999), and so on.

Often works with real criminals, police officers and ex military officers in his films: Chuck Adamson (Chicago Police Department), Dennis Farina (Chicago Police Department), Jim Zubiena ( U.S. Army), Robert Deamer (Los Angeles Police Department), Chic Daniel (Los Angeles Police Department), Tom Elfmont (Los Angeles Police Department), Rey Verdugo (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department), Mick Gould (British Special Air Services), Andy McNab (British Special Air Services), 'John Santucci' (ex safe cracker), 'Gavin McFadyen' (ex bank robber), Edward Bunker (ex bank robber).

Often films pivotal or imporant scenes at night, such as the end shoot out at the airport in Heat (1995), _Collateral (2003)_ and the end shoot out in the boat yard, as well as others, in Miami Vice (2006).

Often begins his movies without opening credits or title, see _Collateral (2003)_ and Miami Vice (2006).

Trivia

Often uses music by Einstürzende Neubauten.

Born at 12:45am-CWT.

Attended the University of Wisconsin - Madison and the International Film School in London.

Unlike most directors, likes to operate the camera himself to get much of his photography, as he did in Heat (1995), shooting almost 60% of it.

Was Will Smith's personal choice to direct Ali (2001). Spike Lee campaigned vigorously against Mann, saying that only a black director could do Ali's story justice.

Father of Ami Canaan Mann.

Got an impressive knowledge about criminality and police procedures.

Is a close friend of legendary author Edward Bunker since they both worked together on the adaptation of the novel No Beast So Fierce.

Is one of Robert De Niro's favourite directors.

Often uses the color blue for dramatic reasons.

Is a close friend of independent film director Abel Ferrara.

Directed the first Hannibal Lecter film (Manhunter), and produced The Aviator, which at one point he had been attached to direct. Jonathan Demme, who directed The Silence of the Lambs, also directed Melvin and Howard, which also featured the character Howard Hughes.

Family lived in Chicago when the first controlled atomic reaction was produced, along with Harrison Ford Tom Berenger and Chase Hoyt.

Member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Directors Branch) [2000-2006]

In 1985, sued William Friedkin for plagiarism, claiming that Friedkin stole the entire concept of "Miami Vice" (1984) when he made the movie To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) (which, ironically, starred William Petersen, who later played Will Graham in Manhunter (1986)). Mann lost the lawsuit.

Is the director of Miami Vice (2006). He was executive producer of the "Miami Vice" (1984) TV series and among other things greatly responsible for the show's unique look and feel.

Despite suing William Friedkin in 1985 for "stealing the concept of Miami Vice for To Live and Die in L.A.", the two directors are close friends nowadays. Friedkin even tease Mann in several interviews by saying "Michael Mann is one of my favourites directors because he tries to make films like mine!".

Tried to make an epic film about drug-trade in Southern California with screenwriter Shane Salerno. But they abandoned the project after Steven Soderbergh's rival project, Traffic, got green-lighted.

His favourites films are John Ford's My Darling Clementine, Sergei Mikhailovitch Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin, Friedrich Wilhem Murnau's Faust, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalyspe Now, Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, Alain Resnais' Last Year in Marienbad, Carl Theodore Dryer's The Passion of Joan of Arc, Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull, Orson Welles' Citizen Kane and Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

Frequently uses the "thumbs up" sign after he feels that last take was the one.

Directed Brian Cox, Dennis Farina, and Peter Dobson in one of two roles that they each share with Anthony Hopkins, Harvey Keitel, and Val Kilmer. Cox and Farina played Hannibal Lecter and Jack Crawford in Manhunter, roles played by Hopkins and Keitel in Red Dragon. Farina and Keitel had both played Ray Barbone in Get Shorty. Hopkins was playing King Lear with the Royal Shakespeare Company while Manhunter was in production. Brian Cox was doing the same when The Silence of the Lambs was in production. Dobson plays Chris Sirhelis in L.A. Takedown, which was remade as Heat, with Val Kilmer. Heat was also directed by Mann. Kilmer played Elvis Presley in True Romance, while Dobson played him (except for the voice) in Forrest Gump.

Mann has re-edited every single one of his feature films for home video. With the exception of Warner Home Video's Region 2 release and the Fox NTSC laserdisc release of The Last of the Mohicans, none of his films are available on video or DVD in their theatrical versions. The alterations vary from using alternate takes and lines in Heat and The Insider to adding and deleting scenes: he has re-edited Manhunter at least three times.

Many of his films are set in Chicago, and many of his cast members are from Chicago or the surrounding neighborhoods.

During production of Manhunter (1986), he wanted Francis Dollarhyde (Tom Noonan) to have a tattoo of William Blake's "Red Dragon" painting on his back, but ended up discarding the idea after deciding the tattoo trivialized Dollarhyde's inner struggles. In the film's remake, Red Dragon (2002), director Brett Ratner decided to include the tattoo.

Directed four different performers in Oscar-nominated performances: Russell Crowe, Will Smith, Jon Voight and Jamie Foxx.

Has Ukrainian roots from his father's side.

Owns a house in the canals of Fort Lauderdale, Fl which was used in some Miami Vice TV scenes.

As of 2007, he has used Mick Gould as a technical advisor on three of his films: Heat (1995), Collateral (2004) and Miami Vice (2006). For all three of these films, Gould served as a weapons trainer, instructing cast members how to properly handle firearms.

Personal Quotes

(On whether he operates camera in his movies): The criterion is when I want to see what's going on through the lens. Usually, it comes down to performance more than technique...I've also worked with the same camera crews, even down to the assistants, on the last four films. [1999]. So, we've developed a family in camera. A family that picks right up where they left off every few years. I see the world from the perspective of a 5'8" person, not someone who is 6'4". so naturally, I'm going to choose certain lens heights over and again...Sometimes nature makes choices for you.

"A 65-ft.-wide screen and 500 people reacting to the movie, there is nothing like that experience." [on the cinematic experience]

"Could I have worked under a system where there were Draconian controls on my creativity, meaning budget, time, script choices, etc.? Definitely not. I would have fared poorly under the old studio system that guys like Howard Hawks did so well in. I cannot just make a film and walk away from it. I need that creative intimacy, and quite frankly, the control to execute my visions, on all my projects."

"I think it's easy for directors to stay fresh more than actors, especially once an actor becomes a star. It's hard for Russell Crowe to walk down a street or take a subway. I can fly coach."

Salary

	You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.
	With our Resume service you can add photos and build a complete resume to help you achieve the best possible presentation on the IMDb. Click here to add your resume and/or your photos to IMDb.

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z