Film director • screenwriter • producer • theatre director • novelist
Years active
1992–present
Michael Davis (born 1 August 1961)[1] is a Scottish/American film director, screenwriter, producer, theater director and novelist.[2][3][4]
Early life
Born in Glasgow and raised in the Gorbals, Davis was bedridden with asthma during his childhood. After outgrowing the condition, he worked as a fitness coach for his childhood football team Celtic F.C. where he befriended the singer Rod Stewart, an ardent supporter of Celtic. When Davis moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in filmmaking, Stewart introduced him to contacts in showbusiness, helping to launch his career.[5]
Career
Davis' first major credit was as screenwriter on Love in Paris[6] (also known as Another 9½ Weeks, a sequel to 9½ Weeks).
He then wrote a screenplay titled Paganini,[7][8] about the 18th century virtuoso. The screenplay received significant attention, leading to his signing with Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Actor Mickey Rourke hired Davis to work on a script and they developed a close friendship, collaborating on several projects over the next decade, including the sequel to 9½ Weeks. During this period, Davis began developing a script about the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani[9] with Al Pacino attached to play Modigliani and Martin Scorsese considering directing, although Davis would eventually write and direct Modigliani himself in 2004, with Andy García in the title role.[10]
His success in film opened opportunities in television, leading to his creation and writing of the American CBS/Warner Bros show Eleventh Hour, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Productions and starring Rufus Sewell.[13] He also wrote the supernatural film The Invisible,[14] initially for a Swedish film company and later for Spyglass/Disney.[15]
In 2013, Davis wrote, produced and directed a short film, Haunting Charles Manson, and the next year, a feature-length version of the same film.[16]
He later adapted his original Paganini screenplay into a stage play, which he directed for the Metropolis Theate in Bucharest. The play was a significant success, running for three years.[17]
More recently, Davis directed the comedy My Dad’s Christmas Date, starring Jeremey Piven and Joely Richardson, as well as Father Christmas Is Back, featuring John Cleese and Kelsey Grammer. His recent work includes the horror film Walden, starring Emile Hirsch, which he wrote and directed.[18] He also directed the comedy Trust In Love, which has won awards at multiple film festivals worldwide and is set to be released in 2024.[19]
^Goursaud, Anne (7 January 1998), Love in Paris (Drama, Romance), Mickey Rourke, Agathe de La Fontaine, Angie Everhart, Jones Film, M6 Films, NTTS Productions Ltd., retrieved 4 May 2024
