Michael Doneger

Michael Doneger (born July 21, 1986) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor based in Los Angeles, California. Doneger is notable as screenwriter of Shelly starring Awkwafina and Karen Gillan, lead actor in the 2015 film The Escort, director of the film Brampton's Own, which starred actors Jean Smart, Alex Russell and Rose McIver, as well as director and producer of the documentary Fate of a Sport that was executive produced by LeBron James and acquired by ESPN Films. Doneger also wrote, directed, and starred in his debut feature film This Thing with Sarah. At Johns Hopkins University, he played for the Blue Jays lacrosse team while studying screenwriting.

Career After graduating from Johns Hopkins University, Doneger moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in the film industry. Doneger wrote, directed, and starred in This Thing with Sarah in 2013, co-starring Wes Chatham. This Thing with Sarah was funded from the finalist prize money that Doneger had earned for his commercial Elevator Girl at the 2011 Crash the Super Bowl competition. In 2016, MTV also began to develop a drama series pilot based on Doneger's 2015 film. The film's lead actors were Alex Russell and Rose McIver, with Scott Porter, Spencer Grammer, John Getz, and Jean Smart playing supporting roles.

In 2020, Doneger conceived the story and co-wrote the screenplay for the film Shelly with Liz Storm. The film starring Awkwafina and Karen Gillan was acquired by Amazon Studios with Jude Weng as director.