David Michôd

• Name — David Michôd • Born — 1972 • Birthplace — Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Alma Mater — University of Melbourne (B. A.) VCA Film and Television School • Occupation — * Filmmaker • actor • Years Active — 2000–present

David Michôd was born in 1972 in Sydney, New South Wales. He was educated at Sydney Grammar School before doing an arts degree at the University of Melbourne. After working for the Victorian Department of Education for a while, he decided to apply for film school while in his mid-20s. He is a graduate of the VCA Film and Television School (part of Melbourne University).

Michôd is a film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor.

Michôd was editor of Inside Film magazine for several years, during which time he made several short films. His first short film to make an impact was Ezra White, LL.B., which he made in 2006. In 2007, Michôd's short film Crossbow, a coming-of-age drama was premiered at the Venice Film Festival and received positive response from critics. Afterwards, the film competed at number of film festivals and earned good reviews. The film also screened at Sundance Film Festival and won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay in a Short Film. In 2008, Michôd directed another short film, Netherland Dwarf, which also screened at Sundance Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival and earned positive reviews from critics. The same year, Michôd co-directed Solo, a documentary film with Jennifer Peedom. It depicts the fatal journey of Australian adventurer Andrew McAuley, who went on a solo kayak crossing from Tasmania to New Zealand. The documentary received a positive response upon release, with Empire rating the film five stars: "As a tribute to a man – and man's – insatiable search for adventure, it's unforgettable." In 2009, Michôd directed Inside the Square, a 30-minute behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of 2008 film The Square directed by Nash Edgerton.

In 2010, he released his first feature film, Animal Kingdom. The film was widely acclaimed by critics and received several awards and nominations. Dave Calhoun from Time Out compared him to Martin Scorsese saying that "He brings a big dose of Scorsese to Melbourne in telling of a fictional crime family." J.R. Jones of Chicago Reader praised Michôd s director saying "Writer-director David Michôd creates a densely textured moral universe that makes good on his metaphoric title." Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic said that "The naturalistic style Michôd employs adds to the sense of dread. Is there no way out of this existence?" The film became the third highest-grossing Australian film at the Australian box office in 2010, with a worldwide box office gross of US$5,775,563.

Michôd's next film, The Rover, was a futuristic Western starring Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson. Filming began on 29 January 2013 in Southern Flinders Ranges in Australia and ended on 16 March 2013 in Marree, north of Adelaide. The film premiered out of competition in the Midnight Screenings section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2014. Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter said "David Michod's follow-up to his internationally successful debut with the Melbourne gangster saga Animal Kingdom is equally murderous but more pared down to basics, as desperate men enact a survival-of-the-meanest scenario in an economically gutted world reduced to Old West outlaw behavior." The film had a limited release on 13 June 2014 in New York City and Los Angeles before expanding nationwide on 20 June 2014 in the United States.

On 14 April 2014 it was announced that Michôd would write and direct The Operators, based on the 2011 bestseller of the same name by Michael Hastings. The film will be jointly produced by Plan B Entertainment, New Regency and RatPac Entertainment, with Brad Pitt attached to star. It was later retitled War Machine. In March 2017, Netflix released a teaser trailer for the film in which Brad Pitt plays a thinly veiled version of Stanley A. McChrystal. Hastings also wrote the Rolling Stone article that revealed the friction between McChrystal's staff and then President Barack Obama's and which ultimately led to McChrystal losing his job. The film was released on Netflix on 26 May 2017 and was met with mixed reviews.

In an interview in 2013, it was revealed that Joel Edgerton and Michôd had co-written The King, an adaptation for Warner Bros. Pictures of three Shakespeare's plays: Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V. In February 2018, it was announced that Timothée Chalamet had been cast in the titular role, with Plan B Entertainment and Blue-Tongue Films, set to produce. Principal photography began on 1 June 2018 in London. The film premiered on Netflix on 1 November 2019.

In May 2024, it was announced that a biographical film about the former professional boxer Christy Martin was in production, with Michôd set to direct, and a screenplay written by Michôd and Mirrah Foulkes. The film stars Sydney Sweeney, Ben Foster, Merritt Weaver, Katy O'Brian, Ethan Embry, and Chad L. Coleman. It chronicles the rise of Martin (Sweeney) to become America's best-known female boxer in the 1990s, and later her coach-turned-husband's 2010 attempted murder of her. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 5 September 2025. Michôd and Foulkes were shortlisted for the Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting at the 2026 NSW Premier's Literary Awards, for Christy.

• Year — Title — Role • 2000 — Noise — Dave • 2005 — The IF Thing — Editor – IF Magazine • 2006 — Kenny — Nurse 2 • 2007 — Crossbow — Narrator / lounge • Spider — Hit Driver • Little Deaths — Nathan • 2008 — The List — Detective • 2010 — Animal Kingdom — Reporter • 2013 — The Captain — Dead Body

• Year — Title — Director — Writer — Executive producer — Notes • 2007 — Dangerous — Episode 5 • 2013 — Enlightened — Episode "No Doubt" • 2015 — Flesh and Bone — Episode "Bulling Through" • 2016-2022 — Animal Kingdom • 2017 — Doc World — Episode "Kayak" • 2019 — Catch-22 — Miniseries

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2000 — Eugénie Sandler P.I. — Trevor — Episode 10 • 2008 — Hammer Bay — Missing Persons Detective — TV movie • 2018 — Mr Inbetween — Peter

This chart lists every actor who has appeared in more than one film directed by Michôd. Anthony Hayes, Joel Edgerton, and Mirrah Foulkes are Michôd's most frequent collaborators, with Hayes and Edgerton each having appeared in four and Foulkes in five of his films. • Actor — Ezra White, LL.B. — Crossbow — Netherland Dwarf — Inside the Square — Animal Kingdom — The Rover — War Machine — The King — Christy — Wizards! — Total • Dan Wyllie — 2 • Mirrah Foulkes — 5 • Joel Edgerton — 4 • Justin Rosniak — 3 • Anthony Hayes — 4 • Nash Edgerton — 2 • Guy Pearce — 2 • Susan Prior — 2 • Ben Mendelsohn — 2 • Scoot McNairy — 2 • Robert Pattinson — 2 • Sean Harris — 2