Michael Greenspan (born 1974) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

film director best known for his premiere film, the

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and co ...

'' Wrecked'', which debuted at the 2010

Abu Dhabi Film Festival The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF; ar, مهرجان أبو ظبي السينمائي), formerly the Middle East International Film Festival, was an international film festival held in the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 2007 to 20 ...

and starred Academy Award-winning actor

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...

and actress

Caroline Dhavernas Caroline Dhavernas (; born May 15, 1978) is a Canadian actress. She is best known in the United States for her collaborations with Bryan Fuller. She played Jaye Tyler in the Fox comedy-drama series ''Wonderfalls'', and Alana Bloom in the NBC psych ...

Early life

Greenspan, who has no known genetic or biological relationship with former

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

chairman

Alan Greenspan Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. He works as a private adviser and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC. ...

, was born and raised in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. From a young age he had a passion for theater and made several short films for fun in his youth. Upon attaining manhood, he moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and attend

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

's film program. He later moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to pursue his film career further, where he made his first film (''"The Legend of Razorback"'') and won first place at the

Temecula Valley International Film Festival The Temecula Valley International Film Festival is a film festival held in Temecula Valley, California. Background Launched in September 1995 and held, uninterrupted every September until 2011 (later to relaunch in 2014), the festival proclaims i ...

Film career

Greenspan's first 25-minute short film, ''The Legend of Razorback'', won first place at the Temecula Valley International Film Festival. He subsequently collaborated with then-

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Christopher Dodd Christopher John Dodd (born May 27, 1944) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1981 to 2011. Dodd is the longest-serving senator in Connecticut's history. ...

on his first feature-length film, '' Wrecked'', which was released in 2010 at the

. The film was subsequently picked Up by

IFC Midnight IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its Sun ...

, a genre fiction label of IFC Films, and distributed nationally in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 2011. He subsequently directed the thriller film '' Kill For Me'', starring

Katie Cassidy Katherine Evelyn Anita Cassidy (formerly Rodgers) (born November 25, 1986) is an American actress. Following several minor television roles, she came to attention as a scream queen after starring in the horror films '' When a Stranger Calls'' ...

Donal Logue Donal Francis Logue (born February 27, 1966) is a Canadian actor. He starred in the film ''The Tao of Steve'' and has had roles in the TV series ''Sons of Anarchy'', ''Vikings'', ''Grounded for Life'', ''Copper'', ''Terriers'', and, as Detective ...

, and

Tracy Spiridakos Tracy Spiridakos ( gr, Τρέισι Σπυριδάκος) is a Canadian actress. She starred as Becky Richards on the Teletoon children's comedy series ''Majority Rules!'' from 2009–2010. She then starred as Charlotte "Charlie" Matheson on th ...

. The film, which was loosely inspired by '' Strangers on a Train'' and ''

Single White Female ''Single White Female'' is a 1992 American psychological erotic thriller film based on John Lutz's 1990 novel ''SWF Seeks Same''. It stars Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh and was directed by Barbet Schroeder. Plot New York City software d ...

'', was released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

on February 12, 2013. In addition to his career as a film maker, he teaches at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He also teaches film directing at the

Los Angeles Film School The Los Angeles Film School (informally LA Film School) is a for-profit college in Los Angeles, California offering associate and bachelor's degrees in majors relating to the entertainment industry. The school encompasses the Los Angeles Recordin ...

. He also teaches filmmaking at elementary schools across Los Angeles, and a 6th grade class on early Jewish settlement in North America.

Awards and honors

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenspan, Michael 1974 births Living people York University alumni Artists from Montreal Film directors from Montreal Writers from Montreal AFI Conservatory alumni Canadian male screenwriters Horror film directors 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Lecturers 21st-century Canadian educators Canadian film educators