DIRECTOR - Michael Moore

Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an Academy Award-winning American film director, author and political activist known for his outspoken, critical views on globalization, large corporations, gun violence, the Iraq War, and President George W. Bush. Moore's production studio is named "Dog Eat Dog Studios."




Born in Flint, Michigan, Michael Moore grew up in the city of Davison. At the time the neighboring city of Flint was home to many General Motors factories, where his mother was a secretary, and both his father and grandfather were auto workers. His uncle was one of the founders of the United Automobile Workers labor union and participated in the famous Flint Sit-Down Strike.

Moore, an Irish American, was brought up Roman Catholic and attended a Diocesan seminary at age 14. He then attended Davison High School, where he was active in both drama and debate[1], graduating in 1972. That same year, he ran for and won a seat on the Davison school board on a platform based on firing the high school's principal, John B McKenna, and vice principal, Kanje Cohen. By the end of his term both had resigned.

Moore is also an Eagle Scout, the highest rank awarded by the Boy Scouts of America, and an achievement of which he is still very proud. For his Eagle Project, he filmed a documentary pointing out various safety hazards in his community.

After dropping out of the University of Michigan-Flint (where he wrote for the student newspaper The Michigan Times) and working for a day at the General Motors plant,at 22 he founded the alternative weekly magazine The Flint Voice, which soon changed its name to The Michigan Voice.

In 1986, when Moore became the editor of Mother Jones, a left-leaning political magazine, he moved to California and The Michigan Voice was shut down.

In 2003, the Star-Ledger printed an opinion piece by Paul Mulshine, in which he quoted Paul Berman, who stated that Moore had been fired following a series of clashes with people on the magazine's staff, including a dispute over Moore's refusal to publish an article by Berman that was critical of the Sandinistas' human rights record. Before Moore's arrival, the magazine had commissioned the article. Moore later sued for wrongful dismissal, seeking $2 million. He finally accepted a settlement of $58,000 — the amount of anticipated trial costs — from the magazine's insurance company. Some of this money provided partial funding for his first film project, Roger and Me.

Moore then went to work for Ralph Nader. They also did not get along, and Moore returned to Flint.

Moore has been married to producer Kathleen Glynn (born April 10, 1958 in Flint) since 1990. They live in New York City. Natalie (born 1981) is Michael's stepdaughter.

He has dabbled in acting, following a 2000 supporting role in Lucky Numbers as the cousin of Lisa Kudrow's character, who agrees to be part of the scheme concocted by John Travolta's character.

Moore leads Michigan's annual Traverse City Film Fest, which is also the location of the State Theater, a classic venue that Moore (as of 2006) has been attempting to purchase.


Directing

Films and awards
Roger & Me: Moore first became famous for his controversial 1989 film, Roger & Me, a documentary about what happened to Flint, Michigan after General Motors closed its factories and opened new ones in Mexico, where the workers were paid much less. Since then Moore has been known as a critic of the neoliberal view of globalization. "Roger" is Roger B. Smith, former CEO and president of General Motors. Moore was largely taught the craft of film making by his cinematographer Kevin Rafferty, who is ironically also a first cousin of President George W. Bush. The influence of Rafferty, who co-directed the 1982 cult classic documentary film The Atomic Café, can be seen in Moore's satirical use of archival footage taken from vintage B-movies, television commercials, and newsreels that has since become a hallmark of his documentaries.
Canadian Bacon: In 1995, Moore released a satirical film, Canadian Bacon, which features a fictional US president (played by Alan Alda) engineering a fake war with Canada in order to boost his popularity. It is noted for containing a number of Canadian and American stereotypes, and for being Moore's only non-documentary film. The film is also the last featuring Canadian-born actor John Candy, and also features a number of cameos by other Canadian actors. It should be mentioned that in the film several potential enemies for America's next great campaign are discussed by the president and his cabinet (the scene was strongly influenced by the Kubrick film, Dr. Strangelove). His military adviser (played by Rip Torn) quickly rebuffs this idea, saying that no one would care about "...a bunch of guys driving around blowing up rent-a-cars".
The Big One: In 1997, Moore directed The Big One, which documents the tour publicizing his book Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American, where he criticizes mass layoffs despite record corporate profits. Among others, he targets Nike for outsourcing shoe production to Indonesia.
Bowling for Columbine: Moore's 2002 film, Bowling for Columbine, probes the culture of guns and violence in the United States. Bowling for Columbine won the Anniversary Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and France's Cesar Award as the Best Foreign Film. In the United States, it won the 2002 Academy Award for Documentary Feature. It also enjoyed great commercial and critical success for a film of its type and became, at the time, the highest-grossing mainstream-released documentary (a record later broken by Moore's own Fahrenheit 9/11). It was praised by some for illuminating a subject slighted by the mainstream media, but it was attacked by others who claim it is inaccurate and misleading in its presentations and suggested interpretations of events.
Fahrenheit 9/11: Fahrenheit 9/11 examines America in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, particularly the record of the Bush administration and alleged links between the families of George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden. Fahrenheit was awarded the Palme d'Or, the top honor at the Cannes Film Festival; it was the first documentary film to win the prize since 1956. Moore later announced that Fahrenheit 9/11 would not be in consideration for the 2005 Academy Award for Documentary Feature, but instead for the Academy Award for Best Picture. He stated he wanted the movie to be seen by a few million more people, preferably on television, by election day. Since November 2 was less than nine months after the film's release, it would be disqualified for the Documentary Oscar. Moore also said he wanted to be supportive of his "teammates in non-fiction film." However, Fahrenheit received no Oscar nomination for Best Picture. The title of the film alludes to the classic book Fahrenheit 451 (about a future totalitarian state in which books are banned - so named because paper begins to burn at 451 degrees Fahrenheit) and the pre-release subtitle of the film confirms the allusion: "The temperature at which freedom burns." At the box office, Fahrenheit 9/11 remains the highest-grossing documentary of all time, taking in close to $200 million worldwide, including United States box office revenue of $120 million.
Sicko (filming): Moore is currently working on a film about the American health care system from the viewpoint of mental health care, focusing particularly on the managed-care and pharmaceutical industries, under the working title Sicko. At least four major pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Company, AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, have ordered their employees not to grant any interviews to Moore. [4] [5] [6] According to Moore on a letter at his website, "roads that often surprise us and lead us to new ideas -- and challenge us to reconsider the ones we began with" have caused some minor delays, and the film is set to be released sometime in 2007.[7].
Fahrenheit 9/11½ (pre-production): On November 11, 2004 Moore told the Hollywood trade publication Daily Variety that he is also planning a sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11. He said, "Fifty-one percent of the American people lacked information in this election, and we want to educate and enlighten them. They weren't told the truth. We're communicators, and it's up to us to start doing it now."[8] The sequel, like the original, will concern the war in Iraq and terrorism. Moore expects to complete Fahrenheit 9/11½ in 2007 or 2008. Ray Bradbury, author of the classic novel Fahrenheit 451, is quoted as saying that politics had "nothing to do with [451]", calling Moore "a screwed asshole" and "a horrible human being -- horrible human", angry because Moore had aped Bradbury's title.[2]

Television shows
Between 1994 and 1995, he directed and hosted the television series TV Nation, which followed the format of news magazine shows but covered topics they avoid. The series was aired on NBC in 1994 for 9 episodes and again for 8 episodes on FOX in 1995.

His other major series was The Awful Truth, which satirized actions by big corporations and politicians. It aired in 1999 and 2000.

Another 1999 series, Michael Moore Live, was aired in the UK only on Channel 4, though it was broadcast from New York. This show had a similar format to The Awful Truth, but also incorporated phone-ins and a live stunt each week. The show was performed around midday local time, which due to the time difference made it a late-night show in the UK.

In 1999 Moore won the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award in Arts and Entertainment, for being the executive producer and host of The Awful Truth, where he was also described as "muckraker, author and documentary filmmaker."


Music videos
Moore has directed several music videos, including two for Rage Against the Machine for songs from "The Battle of Los Angeles": "Sleep Now in the Fire" and "Testify". He was threatened with arrest during the shooting of "Sleep Now in the Fire", which was filmed on Wall Street; the city of New York had denied the band permission to play there, although the band and Moore had secured a federal permit to perform. [9]

He also directed the music videos for System of a Down's "Boom!" and "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)" by R.E.M..


One of the greatest men alive!

Fahrenheit 9/11 is one of my favourite movies/documentaries.
I read Stupid White Men as well.Really great person.

agreed!

'Bowling for Columbine' guy?
Awesome.

I can't stand him.