Bennett Miller | |
|---|---|
 Miller at the Weekend of a Champion press conference in November, 2013 | |
| Born | Bennett Altman Miller (1966-12-30)December 30, 1966 (age 59) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | New York University Tisch School of the Arts |
| Occupations | Film director, film producer |
| Years active | 1998–present |
Bennett Altman Miller (born December 30, 1966) is an American film director who is known for having directed the filmsCapote (2005),Moneyball (2011), andFoxcatcher (2014). He has been nominated twice for theAcademy Award for Best Director.
Miller was born in New York City to an engineer father and a painter mother.[1] In his youth he knew writerDan Futterman and actorPhilip Seymour Hoffman. He and Futterman were classmates atMamaroneck High School, and all three participated in theNew York State Summer School of the Arts. The three later collaborated onCapote.
Miller attendedNew York University'sTisch School of the Arts, with Hoffman again as a classmate, but dropped out shortly before he would have graduated.[2][3]
While attending NYU, Miller was a founding member of the short-lived Bullstoi Ensemble theater company along with Hoffman and fellow actor Steven Schub.[4] It was during this time that Miller, Hoffman and Schub made a pact that if any of them ever won an Academy Award, their entire acceptance speech would consist of nothing but barking.[5]
Miller began his film career directing the 1998 documentaryThe Cruise. As described byWheeler Winston Dixon, the film documented the "tough life of a tour guide on a New York City bus", and was made using handheld digital cameras. It was a surprise hit, and opened up numerous doors for Miller.[6]
Miller turned down several offers of film projects, until he was able to get support to make the filmCapote withPhilip Seymour Hoffman, who playedTruman Capote.[7] The film premiered in September 2005 at theTelluride Film Festival and was released bySony Pictures Classics.[8]
In 2006 Miller directed theBob Dylan music videoWhen the Deal Goes Down starringScarlett Johansson.[9] Then, in 2008 he directed Johansson's music video for herTom Waits cover ofFalling Down featuring an appearance bySalman Rushdie.[10]
In 2009, Miller was hired byColumbia Pictures to direct the filmMoneyball, based on the2003 book of the same name byMichael Lewis, after its previously-hired director,Steven Soderbergh, clashed with producers over the tone of the film.[11] The resulting film, released in 2011, was a critical and commercial success.
Miller's most recent film isFoxcatcher (2014), starringSteve Carell,Channing Tatum andMark Ruffalo, a film he began developing in 2006 withGary Oldman as the lead.[12] The film, produced byAnnapurna Pictures and released bySony Pictures Classics, became a critical success. In his review forRolling Stone, Peter Travers called the film "a new peak" for Miller, who "takes a scalpel to the privileged worlds of Olympic sports and inherited wealth."[13] It was nominated for fiveAcademy Awards, includingBest Director (Miller),Best Actor (Carell),Best Supporting Actor (Ruffalo), andBest Original Screenplay (E. Max Frye andDan Futterman).[14][15]
Miller has directed 6 performers to Academy Award nominations: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener forCapote, Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill forMoneyball, and Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo forFoxcatcher. Hoffman won the Oscar for his work inCapote.[16]
In 2016, it was reported that Miller's next film would be a new version ofA Christmas Carol, set to be written byTom Stoppard. The project was set up throughAnnapurna Pictures,[17] though it never materialized.
As of 2018[update], Miller appears to be working on adocumentary film exploring the impact of technological advancements on society, featuring contributions by academics and experts in the field such as Danny Hillis, Ray Kurzweil,Kevin Esvelt and Sherry Turkle.[18][19] While working on a documentary, Miller was among the first to receive access toDALL-E—anAI image-generation tool—granted bySam Altman.[20]
Commercials
Miller also directs commercials.[21]
In 1999, Miller directed a campaign of thirty-second television ads for theCharlotte Hornets.
In a 2014 interview, Miller described himself as "atumbleweed", saying, "I don't have a company. I don't have a staff. I don't own anything -- I've never owned a car or an apartment."[12]
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | The Cruise | Yes | Yes | Yes | Documentary |
| 2005 | Capote | Yes | No | No | |
| 2011 | Moneyball | Yes | No | No | |
| 2014 | Foxcatcher | Yes | Yes | No | |
| TBA | Untitled film | Yes | Yes | Yes | Documentary[19] |
| Year | Award | Category | Title of project | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Academy Award | Best Director | Capote | Nominated |
| 2014 | Foxcatcher | Nominated | ||
| 2005 | British Academy Film Award | Best Director | Capote | Nominated |
| 2005 | Directors Guild of America Awards | Best Director - Feature Film | Nominated | |
| 2014 | Producers Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Producer - Feature Film | Foxcatcher | Nominated |
| 2014 | Independent Spirit Award | Special Distinction Award | Won | |
| 2014 | Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Nominated | |
| Best Director | Won |
Miller was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Director forCapote (2005) andFoxcatcher (2014). He was also nominated for theDavid Lean Award for Direction at theBAFTAs in 2006.
He won theBest Director Award (French:Prix de la mise en scène) at the2014 Cannes Film Festival forFoxcatcher, which was also part of the main competition for thePalme d'Or.
| Year | Feature Motion Picture | Academy Awards | BAFTAs | Golden Globes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | ||
| 2005 | Capote | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2011 | Moneyball | 6 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 2014 | Foxcatcher | 5 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Total | 16 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 1 | |
Directed Academy Award performances
Under Miller's direction, these actors have receivedAcademy Award nominations for their performances in their respective roles.
| Year | Performer | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Award for Best Actor | |||
| 2006 | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Capote | Won |
| 2012 | Brad Pitt | Moneyball | Nominated |
| 2015 | Steve Carell | Foxcatcher | Nominated |
| Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor | |||
| 2012 | Jonah Hill | Moneyball | Nominated |
| 2015 | Mark Ruffalo | Foxcatcher | Nominated |
| Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress | |||
| 2006 | Catherine Keener | Capote | Nominated |
