Mike Flanagan

Mike Flanagan (born May 20, 1978) is an American filmmaker, best known for his horror work.

Mike Flanagan was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on May 20, 1978.

His family moved around often due to his father's job in the U.S. Coast Guard, at one point living on Governors Island.

Although he only briefly lived in Salem, it left an impression on him, and he retained an interest in both the Salem witch trials and associated topics such as ghost stories and horror fiction.

He later lived in Maryland, where he was a student at Archbishop Spalding High School before attending Towson University.

He graduated with a BA, majoring in Electronic Media & Film and minoring in Theater.

Flanagan's student films were more oriented toward melodrama.

He later characterized them as "unfit for public consumption" but called them "incredible learning experiences".

After graduating, he directed Ghosts of Hamilton Street (2003), filmed in Maryland with local actors, including Scott Graham, whom Flanagan met at Towson.

Graham would go on to star in Flanagan's 2006 short film, Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man with the Plan, which he made for $1,500.

Flanagan originally intended for the Oculus story to be told in a series of short films, but he could not find the financing.

Instead, he shot the chapter that included a back story and used that to demonstrate that he could direct a horror film.

The short proved popular at film festivals, and producers were interested in developing the concept.

However, they either wanted to shoot it as a found footage film or rejected Flanagan's stipulation that he direct the feature-length adaptation.

Flanagan wrote, directed, produced, and edited the horror films Absentia (2011), Oculus (2013), Hush, Before I Wake, Ouija: Origin of Evil (all 2016), Gerald's Game (2017), and Doctor Sleep (2019).

Flanagan directed Absentia (2011), which was financed through a Kickstarter campaign, in response to this rejection.

Made for $70,000 and filmed in his Glendale, California, apartment, Absentia was released direct-to-video but gained popularity when Netflix offered it on its streaming service.

After its surprise success, Flanagan continued to shop Oculus around.

Intrepid Pictures took an interest in the concept and agreed to let Flanagan direct.

The feature version of Oculus was filmed in 2012 and released theatrically by Relativity Media in 2014.

Flanagan shot his next film, Before I Wake, in 2013.

Written in 2014 and filmed in March 2015, the project was kept confidential until a screening at the Toronto Film Festival.

It was acquired by Relativity Media in 2014 and was originally scheduled for release on May 8, 2015, but was pushed back to September 25, 2015, and later pulled from the schedule entirely when the company filed for bankruptcy.

Production began in September 2015, and the film was released in October 2016, grossing over $81 million worldwide.

Around the same time, it was revealed that Flanagan had been working on a "secret project" called Hush.

After a year in bankruptcy court, Relativity announced that Before I Wake would be released on April 8, 2016, but missed that date as the company struggled to get back on its feet.

The film was then scheduled for September 9, 2016, but Relativity once again pulled the film three weeks ahead of this date, prompting a public argument between Flanagan and Relativity CEO Ryan Kavanaugh on Twitter; Kavanaugh claimed September 9 was a "bad date" while Flanagan suggested that Relativity was financially unable to release the film.

Relativity never released the film as Kavanaugh sold the company to Singaporean social network YuuZoo in October 2016, with Netflix eventually acquiring the rights to the film and releasing it in January 2018.

Flanagan wrote and directed Ouija: Origin of Evil, which starred Elizabeth Reaser, Henry Thomas, and Annalise Basso.

Written by Flanagan and lead actress Kate Siegel, and also starring John Gallagher Jr., Michael Trucco, and Samantha Sloyan, the film had its world premiere at SXSW in March 2016 and was released exclusively on Netflix on April 8, 2016 to positive reviews.

In 2017 Flanagan directed, wrote, and edited the psychological horror film Gerald's Game, based on the 1992 novel of the same title by Stephen King.

The film was released on Netflix on September 29, 2017 to critical acclaim.

King called the film "hypnotic, horrifying and terrific" after watching the rough cut.

He created, wrote, produced, and served as showrunner on the Netflix horror series The Haunting of Hill House (2018), The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), Midnight Mass (2021), The Midnight Club (2022), and The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), also directing and editing some episodes of each.

Flanagan is married to actress Kate Siegel, who has been featured in most of his works since Oculus.

They also wrote the screenplay of Hush together.

Other frequent collaborators include Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas, T'Nia Miller, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Bruce Greenwood, Zach Gilford, Michael Trucco, Annalise Basso, Lulu Wilson, Annabeth Gish, Victoria Pedretti, Igby Rigney, and Alex Essoe.

In 2018, Flanagan created, wrote, directed, produced, and edited the Netflix supernatural horror series The Haunting of Hill House, based on Shirley Jackson's novel of the same name.

Having worked with production company Intrepid Pictures since Oculus, he became a partner of the company in 2019.

In 2019, Flanagan wrote and directed the horror film Doctor Sleep, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, itself the sequel to his previous novel The Shining.