Michael Zimbalist is an American filmmaker. He is a three-time Emmy Award and a Peabody Awards winner.
Life and career Michael Zimbalist was born in Northampton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Wesleyan University and trained as an actor at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. He is a director, producer, and writer whose films have been broadcast on HBO, Netflix, Apple, Fox, Showtime, PBS, ESPN and the BBC, as well as theatrically distributed worldwide. He has also produced and directed commercial work for RealTruck, Gatorade, Pepsi, Verizon, and the NFL.
The Two Escobars In 2010, Michael wrote, directed and produced The Two Escobars with his brother Jeff Zimbalist. The film was an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival, the Los Angeles Film Festival, the IDFA International Film Festival, and was released by Disney / ESPN Films. Sports Illustrated named the film the Documentary of the Year alongside The Tillman Story. The New York Post and Vulture ranked it as the best of the 150 films in the Academy Award-winning and Emmy Award-winning 30 for 30 series.
Youngstown Boys and 30 for 30 Between 2010 and 2014, Michael produced four entries in the 30 for 30 series, including Arnold's Blueprint with Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Myth of Garrincha, and Youngstown Boys, about Maurice Clarett and Jim Tressel. Youngstown Boys, which Michael also co-wrote and directed, won the Sports Emmy Award in 2014.
Pelé and Loving Pablo In 2016, Michael co-wrote and directed Pelé: Birth of a Legend, a scripted feature film about the soccer legend for Imagine Entertainment with Academy Award winner Brian Grazer producing and an original score from Academy Award winner A. R. Rahman. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released theatrically worldwide. In 2017, Michael wrote the story for and associate produced Loving Pablo, starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival and was released by Universal Studios.
Nossa Chape, Momentum Generation, Give Us This Day, and Phenoms In 2018, Michael co-wrote, produced and directed Nossa Chape, the critically acclaimed story of the Chapecoense soccer club airplane crash, which premiered at SXSW and was released in theaters and later broadcast by Fox. The same year, Michael co-wrote, produced and directed Momentum Generation, about the world’s most legendary surf crew, starring Kelly Slater and Rob Machado and executive produced by Robert Redford. It also won the Sports Emmy Award for Best Feature Documentary, and a Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award. Also in 2018, Michael co-wrote, produced and directed the feature documentary Give Us This Day, about three police officers and three residents in East St. Louis, the city with the highest homicide rate in the country, executive produced by Vince Vaughn. Additionally, in 2018, Michael produced and directed 6 episodes of Fox's series Phenoms, about young footballers in the lead up to the World Cup.
Filmography Year Film Director Writer Producer Note 2023 Mayan Softball Revolution Documentary 2022 The Trucket List 3 episodes 2021 The Line Limited Series 2020 Cantera 5v5 TV special 2019 ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads Documentary ReMastered: The Miami Showband Massacre Documentary ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke Documentary ReMastered: Massacre at the Stadium Documentary Ordinary Gods Documentary 2018 ReMastered: Tricky Dick & the Man in Black Documentary ReMastered: The Lion's Share Documentary ReMastered: Who Killed Jam Master Jay? Documentary ReMastered: Who Shot the Sheriff? Documentary Give Us This Day Documentary Momentum Generation Documentary Nossa Chape Documentary Phenoms 11 episodes 2017 Loving Pablo Feature film 2016 Pelé: Birth of a Legend Feature film Battling Back Documentary The 18th Annual 'A Home for the Holidays'''
| TV special |- |rowspan="2"| 2015 | The 17th Annual 'A Home for the Holidays'|
| TV special |- | Shadowboxing|
| Short film |- | 2014 | 30 for 30: The Myth of Garrincha|
| Documentary short |- | 2013 | Youngstown Boys|
| Documentary |- | 2012 | 30 for 30: Arnold's Blueprint|
| Documentary short |- | 2010 | The Two Escobars|
| Documentary |- |rowspan="2"| 2007 | The Addiction Project|
| 9 episodes |- | Hijos de la guerra'' Documentary
Awards and nominations YearResultAwardCategoryWorkRef.2022 NominatedNews & Documentary Emmy AwardsBest DocumentaryThe Line NominatedOutstanding Investigative Documentary2020 WonOutstanding Arts & Culture DocumentaryReMastered: The Lion's Share NominatedOutstanding Historical DocumentaryReMastered: Massacre at the Stadium NominatedNAACP Image AwardsOutstanding DocumentaryReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke2019 NominatedNews & Documentary Emmy AwardsOutstanding Arts & Culture DocumentaryReMastered: Who Shot the Sheriff? NominatedOutstanding ResearchReMastered: Tricky Dick & the Man in Black WonSports Emmy AwardsOutstanding Long Sports DocumentaryMomentum Generation NominatedOutstanding Music Composition/Direction/Lyrics2018 WonWhistler Film FestivalWorld Documentary Award WonTribeca Film FestivalAudience Award NominatedAmerican Film FestivalBest Documentary Feature NominatedHamptons International Film FestivalBest Documentary Award2017 NominatedSanta Barbara International Film FestivalBest Documentary ShortBattling Back2014 WonSports Emmy AwardsOutstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology30 for 30 Youngstown Boys2011 NominatedWriters Guild of AmericaBest Documentary ScreenplayThe Two Escobars2010 NominatedTribeca Film FestivalBest Documentary Feature NominatedDoha Tribeca Film FestivalBest Documentary Feature NominatedSão Paulo International Film FestivalBest Documentary WonAmerican Film FestivalBest Film NominatedZurich Film FestivalBest International Documentary Film
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