Mike Flanagan (filmmaker)

Mike Flanagan (born May 20, 1978) is an American filmmaker, best known for his horror work. 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). 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, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Bruce Greenwood, Zach Gilford, Michael Trucco, Annalise Basso, Lulu Wilson, Annabeth Gish, Katie Parker and Alex Essoe.

Early life and education
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.

Career
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 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. 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. 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. 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. Written in 2014 and filmed in March 2015, the project was kept confidential until a screening at the Toronto Film Festival. 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. 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. 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. Ewan McGregor stars as the older version of Danny Torrance in the film, which was released in November. In February 2019, The Haunting of Hill House was renewed for a stand-alone second season, titled The Haunting of Bly Manor, based on the novel The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. It premiered in 2020. Around the same time, it was also announced that Flanagan had joined frequent collaborator Trevor Macy as a partner in Intrepid Pictures and that the duo had signed an exclusive overall deal with Netflix to produce television content.

In July 2019, as part of that overall deal, Netflix ordered Flanagan's original horror series Midnight Mass. Flanagan wrote, directed and served as showrunner on the seven-episode series, which was released in September 2021 to critical acclaim after a production delay in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In May 2020 it was announced that Flanagan would adapt numerous novels by Christopher Pike into a new series, titled The Midnight Club, for Netflix. Flanagan co-created the series and serves as executive producer and showrunner.

In October 2021 it was announced that Flanagan would create The Fall of the House of Usher, an eight-episode limited series for Netflix based on the short story of the same name and other works by Edgar Allan Poe. Flanagan directed four episodes of the series, with the other four helmed by his longtime cinematographer Michael Fimognari.

In May 2024, Flanagan left Intrepid Pictures to launch his own company, Red Room Pictures.

Upcoming projects
In April 2021, Flanagan was announced to be developing a film for Universal Pictures based on another Christopher Pike novel The Season of Passage. In December 2022, Flanagan and his partner production company, Intrepid Pictures signed a first-look overall TV deal with Amazon Studios. Flanagan also owns the television rights to The Dark Tower, a series of fantasy novels written by Stephen King.

In May 2023, it was announced that Flanagan would adapt King's drama novella The Life of Chuck from the short story collection If It Bleeds into a feature film starring Tom Hiddleston and Mark Hamill.

By May 2024, Flanagan was in talks to direct the next film in The Exorcist franchise. Later that month, Flanagan was confirmed to be directing a new Exorcist film as a reboot with plans for a new trilogy being scrapped following the reception of The Exorcist: Believer. The film is scheduled for release on March 13, 2026.

In July 2024, Flanagan was confirmed to write a segment for V/H/S/Beyond, which will release exclusively on Shudder on October 4, 2024.

Recognition
Flanagan's work has attracted praise from figures such as William Friedkin, Stephen King, and Quentin Tarantino for his directing style and lack of reliance on jump scares. Ironically, the first episode of his series The Midnight Club (2022) set a new Guinness World Record for the most jump scares in a single episode of television with 21. However, Flanagan stated that this jump-scare sequence was in direct response to studio notes requesting more jump scares, and he designed this 21-scare scene so that the "jump scare(s) would be rendered meaningless."

Personal life
Flanagan was formerly in a relationship with actress Courtney Bell, who starred in his film Absentia, and with whom he has a son. In February 2016, he married actress and frequent collaborator Kate Siegel, with whom he has a son and a daughter.

Flanagan spent years studying various religions, later describing Midnight Mass as a passion project that was "deeply personal" and dealt intimately with his Catholic upbringing and his eventual atheism, as well as his sobriety.

Feature film
Executive producer

Television
Editor only

Frequent collaborators
Flanagan is known for his recurring collaborations with certain actors. When asked about this tendency, and the recurring collaborator section on his Wikipedia page, he described such collaboration (including having other directors on his shows) as being "something that’s very necessary as our company has grown and as our shows have grown". Of career-long DP Michael Fimognari, along with directors Axelle Carolyn and Morgan Beggs he said "I trust those people with my life".