Michael Phillips (producer)

For other people with the same name, see Michael Phillips (disambiguation).

Michael Phillips (born June 29, 1943) is an American film producer.

Early life and education

Phillips was born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island. His mother was a schoolteacher and housewife; his father was a garment manufacturer.[1] Phillips received a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.[2] In 1968, he went to work as a securities analyst on Wall Street[2] but in 1971, he and his wife moved to California where they produced their first film, Steelyard Blues starring Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.[2]

Film career

In 1972,[3] Phillips along with his wife, Julia Phillips, and producer Tony Bill financed the development of the screenplay, The Sting[4] for $3,500 in total.[2] In 1973, the film received the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Phillipses were the first husband-and-wife team to win the Best Picture award. The couple then produced Taxi Driver, as well as writer-director Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Phillips's early work in a producing team with his wife continues to receive acclaim within the industry. 25 years after its Oscar success, The Sting was inducted into the Producers Guild of America's Hall of Fame, granting each of its producers a Golden Laurel Award.[5] In June 2007, Taxi Driver was ranked as the 52nd-best American feature film of all time by the American Film Institute.[6] In December 2007, Close Encounters was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.[7]

Select filmography

References

  1. ↑ edited by Steven Priggé Movie Moguls Speak: Interviews with Top Film Producers ISBN 9780786419296 | McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers | 10/26/2004
  2. 1 2 3 4 New York Magazine: "The Sting of Success" January 27, 1975
  3. ↑ The Guardian: "How we made ... Michael Phillips and David S Ward on The Sting" by Ben Child June 4, 2012
  4. ↑ Chicago Tribune: "Hollywood Story Of 'Highs' And Lows" by Frank Sanello March 24, 1991
  5. ↑ Producers Guild of America Awards 1997
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "Librarian of Congress Announces National Film Registry Selections for 2007" (Press release). Library of Congress. December 27, 2007.

External links

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