Michael Lander(II)

MICHAEL LANDER is an award-winning writer/director. He's a California native who grew up working in his parent's video store, where the thousands of films he had at his fingertips lead him to a life of storytelling. Throughout his career, Lander has sold several television shows to networks (FX, USA, NatGeo) with powerhouse producing teams attached. For his current projects he has assembled a tandem of impressive collaborators. First up, Endemol Shine has signed on to Cat Heads, a gritty immersive series that looks at the women who ran the underworld in San Francisco during the gold rush. Secondly, for his new half hour dramedy Cannibal Lounge, Jay Duplass will direct the pilot and act as Executive producer. Previously, Michael was asked to create and Executive Produce a one-hour drama for the National Geographic channel with Fox 21 and Peter Safran producing. With both these projects Lander has brought his unique voice and talent for creating thoughtful, complicated characters to television.

Michael's directorial debut was the critically acclaimed PEACOCK, a Black List script co-written by Lander and produced by the prominent Barry Mendel (Bridesmaids, The Big Sick, Munich, The Sixth Sense) and starred Cillian Murphy, Elliot Page and Susan Sarandon. Lander and his writing partner Ryan Roy, also caught the attention of Warner Bros and Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way, for their feature KITE, a kinetic thriller about the prison industrial complex. Previously, Lander penned a feature-length script from his first short film, the award-winning SOLID WASTE. This project landed him a coveted spot in the prestigious Fox Searchlight young-director incubator.