Faculty Bio
 | Michael BurkeDepartment of Graduate Film |
Biography
Michael Burke’s first feature film, The Mudge Boy, was produced by Showtime Independent Films and starred Emile Hirsch. It premiered in the Dramatic Competition at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, won the Outfest 2003 Grand Jury Award, and was released theatrically to critical acclaim by Strand Releasing in May 2004.In 2000, Burke was selected for the Sundance Institute Writer’s and Filmmaker’s Labs, where he directed Jake Gyllenhaal and collaborated with Sally Field, Robert Redford, and Paul Thomas Anderson. Burke’s work at the labs attracted the attention of Stanley Tucci who signed on to produce The Mudge Boy.
Burke’s graduate thesis film, Fishbelly White, received a Special Jury Award at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, won the 1999 NYU First Prize Wasserman Award, and took top honors at numerous festivals worldwide. Fishbelly White was distributed for television to 25 territories throughout the world and its screenplay was published in Scenario magazine.
Other awards include the 2001 Richard Vague Production Grant and the American winner of the 2000 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award.
Current projects include a feature film in development with independent producers Alison Benson and Dolly Hall and Executive Producer Martin Scorsese and a TV series in development with Sarah Jessica Parker and HBO. Burke just recently completed the screenplay Right Angle for Camelot Pictures (Garden State) and is attached to direct the film. Burke received a Master of Fine Arts degree in film from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He is a member of The Writers Guild of America.
