Biography

External images

Mike Cahill, at the Crosby Street Hotel in Manhattan.—indieWire

Mike Cahill was born in New Haven, Connecticut on July 5, 1979. His first forays into filmmaking were with Fisher-Price and VHS camcorders when he was young. He gained his first credit as a documentarian at the age of 17, when Cahill and a friend directed a film titled The Pocket, about D.C go-go music. After high school, Cahill studied economics at Georgetown University, graduating in 2001. While a student there he formed a close relationship with professional colleague and friend Brit Marling, whom he met at a Georgetown film festival, and the two began working on short films together where Marling would act and Cahill would direct.

Career

While still in his senior year at Georgetown, Cahill began interning with National Geographic Television and Film, soon becoming their youngest field producer, editor and cinematographer. He and Marling collaborated on Boxers and Ballerinas (2004), an exploration of the U.S.-Cuba conflict through the lives of four characters, while living in Cuba. Cahill next moved to Los Angeles. There he was taken on as editor for two Sundance features, Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man and Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out.

2011 was Cahill's pivotal year. His first feature film as director, co-written with Marling, Another Earth, about a parallel Planet Earth, won the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight Pictures. Variety reported: " has been deemed one of the more highly praised pics of the fest as it received a standing ovation after the screening and strong word of mouth from buyers and festgoers." The distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures won distribution rights to the film in a deal worth $1.5 million to $2 million, beating out other distributors including Focus Features and the Weinstein Company.

Cahill's second feature film I Origins again won the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, this time at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival making Cahill the only person to have received the award twice, and was picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

In 2011 before the release of I Origins a press release by Fox Searchlight stated he was working on a film about reincarnation and another about "a fashion designer who lives at the bottom of the sea." As of 2015 he is also working on a sequel of I Origins. "There's a sequel in the works. It's not scripted. We're not in production yet, but we set up at Fox Searchlight".

Starting in 2015, Cahill is an executive producer of the Syfy TV show The Magicians, and directed the pilot episode.

Influences

Cahill has cited Julian Schnabel as a significant influence on his work. He considers Krzysztof Kieslowski one of his favorite filmmakers, specifically citing The Double Life of Véronique as having a profound impact on him. Cahill, who has a casual interest in astronomy, was also influenced by the work of astronomer Richard Berendzen - in particular, Berendzen's audiobook Pulp Physics. He is also an admirer of Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov.

Filmography

Year	Film	Director	Writer	Producer	Editor
2004	Boxers and Ballerinas	✓	✓
2005	Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man				✓
2006	Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out				✓
2011	Another Earth	✓	✓	✓	✓
2014	I Origins	✓	✓	✓	✓

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
2005	Breckenridge Festival of Film	Best of the Fest	Boxers and Ballerinas	Won
	Cinequest San Jose Film Festival	Director's Award	Boxers and Ballerinas	Won
2011	Sundance Film Festival	Alfred P. Sloan Prize	Another Earth	Won
		Special Jury Prize	Another Earth	Won
		Grand Jury Prize	Another Earth	Nominated
	Scream Awards	Best Independent Movie	Another Earth	Nominated
	National Board of Review	Top Ten Independent Films	Another Earth	Won
	Locarno International Film Festival	Junior Jury Award - Special Mention	Another Earth	Won
		Golden Leopard	Another Earth	Nominated
	Gotham Awards	Breakthrough Director Award	Another Earth	Nominated
	Deauville Film Festival	Grand Special Prize	Another Earth	Nominated
2012	Georgia Film Critics Association	Best Picture	Another Earth	Won
	Independent Spirit Awards	Best First Feature	Another Earth	Nominated
		Best First Screenplay	Another Earth	Nominated
	Golden Trailer Awards	Best Music	Another Earth	Won
		Best Independent Poster	Another Earth	Nominated
	Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films	Best Writing	Another Earth	Nominated
	Prism Awards	Feature Film - Mental Health	Another Earth	Nominated
2014	Sundance Film Festival	Alfred P. Sloan Prize	I Origins	Won
	Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival	Best North American Independent Film	I Origins	Nominated
	Sitges Film Festival	Best Film	I Origins	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]