{{short description|American playwright (born 1983)}} {{Infobox writer | name = Michael Mitnick | image = Michaelmitnick.jpg |caption = Mitnick in 2019 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1983|09|07}} | birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | education = Harvard University (BA)<br>Yale University (MFA) | notableworks = ''The Current War'' (2017)<br>''Fly By Night'' (2014)<br>''The Giver'' (2014) | awards = Drama Desk Best Musical Nominee (2015) | spouse = Jessica Brickman (m. 2019) }} '''Michael Mitnick''' (born September 7, 1983) is an American playwright and screenwriter.
==Early life== Mitnick grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended Fox Chapel Area High School, a public school in the Allegheny Valley. As a high school student, he worked in the graphic design department of WQED Pittsburgh and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.<ref name="newspapers2">{{cite web |title=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 6, 2013 · Page 17 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/96418349/ |access-date=2017-09-05 |website=newspapers.com|date=6 March 2013 }}</ref> His father is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh business school.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Lambert |first=Craig |date=2005-11-01 |title=Broadway in His Blood {{!}} Harvard Magazine |url=https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2005/11/broadway-in-his-blood-html |access-date=2026-04-21 |website=www.harvardmagazine.com |language=en}}</ref> His mother is a public librarian.<ref name="newspapers">{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/41843126/|website=newspapers.com|title=News Record from North Hills, Pennsylvania on November 6, 1995 · Page 8|date=6 November 1995 |access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
Mitnick attended Harvard University, where he wrote or co-wrote four musical comedies, including one Hasty Pudding Theatricals show. His musical ''Snapshots'' had two off-Broadway performances in New York. He was a member of the A capella group The Krokodiloes. After graduating in 2006, Mitnick worked at ''The Atlantic Monthly'' before earning his Master of Fine Arts degree in playwriting from The Yale School of Drama.<ref name="papermag">{{cite web|url=http://www.papermag.com/talking-about-our-parents-sex-lives-with-playwright-michael-mitnick-1425774514.html|title=Talking About Our Parents' Sex Lives with Playwright Michael Mitnick|website=PAPERMAG|date=July 2011|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref><ref name="harvardmagazine">{{cite web|url=http://harvardmagazine.com/2005/11/broadway-in-his-blood.html|website=harvardmagazine.com|title={{pipe}} Harvard Magazine|date=November 2005|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref>
==Career==
===Plays=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Title ! Venue ! Year |- |''Elijah''|| Yale School of Drama || 2010 with Lupita Nyong'o<ref name="courant">{{cite web|url=http://www.courant.com/entertainment/movies/academy-awards/hc-lupita-oscars-0302-20140302-story.html|title=Yale Drama Grad Lupita Nyong'o Wins Oscar For '12 Years A Slave' - Hartford Courant|website=courant.com|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref> |- |''Babs the Dodo''|| Washington Ensemble Theatre, Seattle || 2011<ref name="seattlemet">{{cite web|url=https://www.seattlemet.com/articles/2011/2/3/babs-the-dodo-february-2011|title=Preview: Babs the Dodo at Washington Ensemble Theatre|website=Seattle Met|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref><br> |- |''Sex Lives of our Parents''|| Second Stage, New York || 2011<ref name="villagevoice">{{cite web|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2011/06/29/sex-lives-of-our-parents-gets-inside-moms-pants/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905094528/https://www.villagevoice.com/2011/06/29/sex-lives-of-our-parents-gets-inside-moms-pants/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 5, 2017|title=Sex Lives of Our Parents Gets Inside Mom's Pants|website=Village Voice|date=29 June 2011|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref> |- |''Ed, Downloaded''|| Denver Center Theater Company || 2013<ref name="denverpost">{{cite web|url=http://www.denverpost.com/2013/01/23/theater-review-world-premiere-of-ed-downloaded-full-of-laughs-and-moral-quandaries/|title=Theater review: World premiere of "Ed, Downloaded" full of laughs and moral quandaries|website=The Denver Post|date=23 January 2013|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref> |- |''Spacebar a Broadway Play by Kyle Sugarman''|| The Wild Project, New York || 2014<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/05/theater/spacebar-a-play-about-a-play-by-michael-mitnick.html|title='Spacebar,' a Play About a Play, by Michael Mitnick|website=The New York Times|date=4 November 2014|access-date=2017-09-05|last1=Collins-Hughes|first1=Laura}}</ref> |- |''The Siegel''|| South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa || 2017<ref name="ocweekly">{{cite web|url=http://www.ocweekly.com/arts/michael-mitnicks-the-siegel-portrays-love-as-the-horror-show-it-is-8034016|title=Michael Mitnick's The Siegel Portrays Love as the Horror Show It Is|website=OC Weekly|date=13 April 2017 |access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref> |- |''Mysterious Circumstance'' |The Geffen Playhouse, New York |2019<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wiseman |first=Andreas |date=2021-04-21 |title=Jim Henson Biopic: Michael Mitnick Writing 'Muppet Man' For Disney & The Jim Henson Company |url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/jim-henson-movie-muppet-man-sesame-street-muppets-michael-mitnick-1234740866/ |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |''Scotland, PA'' |Roundabout Theatre Company |2019<ref>{{Cite web |title=Adam Gwon's Scotland, PA Musical Sets World Premiere with Roundabout |url=https://www.broadway.com/buzz/195777/adam-gwons-scotland-pa-musical-sets-world-premiere-with-roundabout/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Scotland, PA |url=https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/get-tickets/2019-2020-season/scotland-pa/ |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=www.roundabouttheatre.org |language=en}}</ref> |}
===Film=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Title ! Year |- | ''The Giver'' || 2014<ref name="dailyrecord">{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/movie-review-giver-12a-97mins-4287796|author=David Edwards|title=Movie Review: The Giver (12A) 97mins|website=Daily Record|date=19 September 2014|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref> |- |''The Current War'' || 2017<ref name="tiff">{{cite web|url=http://www.tiff.net/tiff/film.html?v=the-current-war|website=tiff.net|title=Toronto International Film Festival|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref> |- |''The Staggering Girl''|| 2019 |- |''Muppet Man''|| TBA<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wiseman |first=Andreas |date=2021-04-21 |title=Jim Henson Biopic: Michael Mitnick Writing 'Muppet Man' For Disney & The Jim Henson Company |url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/jim-henson-movie-muppet-man-sesame-street-muppets-michael-mitnick-1234740866/ |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |''Light of Days'' |TBA<ref>{{Cite web |last=N'Duka |first=Amanda |date=2020-11-02 |title=Amblin Partners Adapting Judy Batalion’s ‘The Light of Days’ Book; Batalion & ‘The Current War’ Scribe Michael Mitnick Scripting |url=https://deadline.com/2020/11/amblin-partners-judy-batalion-the-light-of-days-book-michael-mitnick-scripting-1234607662/ |access-date=2026-04-21 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref> |}
===Television=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Title !Channel ! Year |- | ''Vinyl'' |HBO|| 2016<ref name="vulture">{{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2016/04/vinyl-recap-season-1-episode-8.html|website=vulture.com|title=Vinyl Recap: Progressions|date=3 April 2016 |access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref> |- |''Siegfried & Roy'' |HBO |TBA<ref>{{Cite web |last=D'Alessandro |first=Anthony |date=2021-01-05 |title=CAA Signs Scribe Michael Mitnick Of Upcoming MGM Series ‘Dial M For Murder’ & Amblin Pic ‘The Light Of Days’ |url=https://deadline.com/2021/01/caa-signs-scribe-michael-mitnick-of-upcoming-mgm-series-dial-m-for-murder-amblin-pic-the-light-of-days-1234665016/ |access-date=2026-04-21 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref> |- |''Dial M for Murder'' |MGM |TBA |}
===Music=== Mitnick co-wrote the holiday song "Christmas You Go So Fast," which was featured on ''Vinyl''.<ref name="ascap">{{cite web|url=https://www.ascap.com/repertory#ace/search/workID/890694976|author=ACE|website=ascap.com|title=ACE Repertory|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref>
He also co-wrote, with Will Connolly and Kim Rosenstock, the musical, ''Fly By Night,'' which released a cast recording for its Off-Broadway run.<ref name="apple">{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/fly-by-night-original-off-broadway-cast-recording/1002485705|website=iTunes|title="Fly By Night (Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording)" by Various Artists on iTunes|date=9 June 2015|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref>
==Honors== He received the 2012 Visionary Playwright Award from Theater Masters.<ref name="theatermasters">{{cite web|url=http://www.theatermasters.org/visionary-playwrights.html|website=theatermasters.org|title=Visionary Playwrights|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref>
Variety magazine selected Mitnick as one of "10 Screenwriters to watch" in 2013.<ref name="variety">{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/gallery/varietys-10-screenwriters-to-watch/#!9/michael-mitnick/|author=Variety Staff|title=10 Screenwriters to Watch|website=Variety|date=26 November 2013|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref> He is a two-time winner of the Edgerton New American Foundation Award, for ''The Siegel'' (2017) and ''Fly By Night'' (2011), the latter of which was also nominated for four 2015 Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical.<ref name="deadline">{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2015/05/hamilton-wins-seven-drama-desk-awards-1201435192/|author=Jeremy Gerard|title='Hamilton' Wins 7 Drama Desk Awards, Prizes Multiply For Hot Musical|website=Deadline|date=June 2015|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref>
==Works in development== In May 2017, Deadline placed Mitnick's original screenplay ''Some Are Born Great'' on its 2017 Cannes Hotlist, and he was slated to direct the film.<ref name="deadline2">{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/05/cannes-movie-hot-titles-1202095532/|author=Mike Fleming Jr|title=The Cannes Titles Buyers And Sellers Are Buzzing About|website=Deadline|date=17 May 2017|access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref>
Mitnick is reported to be writing the screenplay for a forthcoming Audrey Hepburn biopic.<ref>{{Cite web |last=D'Alessandro |first=Anthony |date=2022-01-07 |title=Apple Lands Audrey Hepburn Biopic By Michael Mitnick; Rooney Mara Starring & Producing, Luca Guadagnino Directing |url=https://deadline.com/2022/01/rooney-mara-audrey-hepburn-biopic-apple-luca-guadagnino-1234905916/ |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitnick, Michael}} Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American dramatists and playwrights Category:Harvard University alumni Category:David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni