Chuck & Buck

Background:

Independent Spirit Award winning screenwriter, actor and producer Mike White first gained attention for writing and starring in the indie film “Chuck & Buck” (2000), from which he received his first Independent Spirit Award. He also took home two additional Independent Spirit nominations, a Chlotrudis Award, a Seattle International Film Festival Award and a Deauville Film Festival Award for his work on the film. He won his next Independent Spirit Award for scripting “The Good Girl” (2002), where he also portrayed the role of Corny. He has also written and/or acted in such films as “Orange County” (2002), “The School of Rock” (2003), “The Stepford Wives (2004), “Nacho Libre” (2006), “Smother” (2008) and “Gentlemen Broncos” (2009). He made his directing debut with “Year of the Dog” (2007), which he also produced and wrote. On the small screen, White began as a writer and finally served as a producer on “Dawson's Creek” (1998). He then became a supervising producer and occasional writer for “Freaks and Geeks” (1999) before creating the short lived prime time soap “Pasadena” (2001) and the sitcom “Cracking Up” (2004). He has guest starred in “Undeclared” and “Pushing Daisies” and is known for frequently collaborating with director Miguel Arteta and actor Jack Black.

Pastor’s Son

Childhood and Family:

Mike White was born Michael Christopher White on June 28, 1970, in Pasadena, California. He is the son of Reverend Mel White, a minister, gay rights activist, and former ghostwriter for religious figures such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. The senior White came out as gay to his family when Mike was 12 years old, but remained closeted until his children graduated college. He eventually divorced Mike's mother. Mike is openly bisexual.

Mike was educated at Polytechnic School in Pasadena and Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Upon completing his studies, he intended to pursue a career as a playwright in New York, but canceled his plan when a fellow Wesleyan former student offered him a job in Hollywood.

School of Rock

Career:

Mike White headed to Los Angeles after graduating from college to pursue a career as a writer. However, he got his first professional Hollywood job as an actor in the independent comedy “Star Maps” (1997), which was written and directed by Miguel Arteta. It was not until the following year that the Pasadena native had his first taste of writing when he was recruited as a staff writer for the Kevin Williamson created teen dramatic series “Dawson's Creek” (The WB, 1998-2003), where he wrote such episodes as “Detention,” “The Scare,” “Decisions” (all 1998) and “Sex, She Wrote” (1999). He also served as a creative consultant and eventually branched out as a producer. In 1998, White also made his screen writing debut with “Dead Man on Campus,” a teen comedy helmed by Alan Cohn that starred Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tom Everett Scott. The film earned negative reviews from critics.

After “Dawson's Creek,” White became a supervising producer for “Freaks and Geeks” (NBC, 1999-2000), created by Paul Feig and produced by Judd Apatow. Despite its quick cancellation, the show received critical praise and gained a dedicated cult following. White also wrote the episodes “We've Got Spirit” and “Kim Kelly Is My Friend,” in which he appeared as Chip Kelly (both 2000).

Back to features, White scored his big breakthrough when he wrote and starred in the comedy movie “Chuck & Buck” (2000), which was directed by Miguel Arteta. For his writing effort, he was handed a Chlotrudis for Best Screenplay - Original, an Independent Spirit for Best Feature - Under $500,000 (shared with director Arteta and producer Matthew Greenfield), and the Seattle International Film Festival New American Cinema Award for Best Writer. As an actor, White, who played an amateur playwright named Buck O'Brien opposite Chris Weitz as his close childhood friend Chuck, received an Acting Prize for Best Male Performance at the 2000 Deauville Film Festival, an Independent Spirit nomination for Best Debut Performance and a Chlotrudis nomination for Best Actor.

The following year, White created, wrote and executive produced the edgy soap opera “Pasadena” for Fox. Starring Dana Delany, Martin Donovan, Balthazar Getty and Alison Lohman, the show suffered poor ratings and was canceled after four episodes aired. Also in 2001, he made a guest appearance in an episode of the Judd Apatow series “Undeclared” called “Eric Visits.” White soon returned to the wide screen by penning the screenplay for the teen comedy “Orange County” (2002), which starred Colin Hanks and Jack Black and was directed by Jake Kasdan. The film grossed over $41 million, well surpassing its budget of $18 million. He also played the supporting role of English teacher Mr. Burke in the film. Still in 2002, he was reunited with director Miguel Arteta for the dramatic comedy “The Good Girl,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 12, 2002. The film collected various awards and nominations, including an Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay and a Golden Satellite nomination for Best Screenplay, Original. White was also featured as a security guard named Corny in the film. “The Good Girl” starred Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal, John C. Reilly, Tim Blake Nelson and Zooey Deschanel.

The screenwriter next enjoyed significant commercial success with the musical comedy feature “School of Rock” (2003), starring Jack Black as the film's protagonist Dewey Finn. The Richard Linklater directed movie received positive reviews from critics and did well at the box office. White also costarred in the film as Black's roommate and best friend Ned Schneebly and wrote several songs for the soundtrack. He shared the Las Vegas Film Critics Choice Sierra Award for Best Song and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Critics Choice nomination in the same category for the song “School of Rock.”

White revisited the small screen when he created, wrote and executive produced the situation comedy “Cracking Up” (Fox, 2004), which starred Jason Schwartzman, Jake Sandvig, Molly Shannon, Christopher McDonald, Caitlin Wachs and David Walton. Just like his previous TV series, the show could not survive the first season because of bad ratings and mixed reviews. White then had the supporting role of Hank in the Frank Oz disappointing remake “The Stepford Wives” (2004), starring Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler, Christopher Walken, Faith Hill and Glenn Close, was paired with John C. Reilly and Miranda July to star in Arteta's short film “Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody” (2005), and portrayed the lead role of John Goodman in “Welcome to California” (2005), a film written and directed by Susan Traylor. 2005 also found him joining other writers for the TBS comedy film “Earth to America.”

White served as a producer and co-wrote “Nacho Libre” (2006), another comedy vehicle for Jack Black. Helmed by Jared Hess, the film earned mixed reviews from critics but enjoyed decent success at the box office. With an original budget of appropriately $35 million, it collected over $80 million in the domestic market with a total of nearly $100 million worldwide. Collaborating with Black and Hess, he wrote the song “Encarnacion,” which was performed by Black for the soundtrack.

White made his feature directing debut with “Year of the Dog” (2007), which he also wrote and produced. Depicting the process of a woman that goes from having one pet at home to becoming a vegan and animal rights activist, the comedy gained good reviews from critics and brought White an Independent Spirit nomination for Best Screenplay. “Year of the Dog” starred Molly Shannon, Peter Sarsgaard, John C. Reilly, Laura Dern, Regina King, Thomas McCarthy and Josh Pais. Also in 2007, he made a memorable guest appearance as Billy Balsam in an episode of “Pushing Daisies” and produced “The Hills with James Franco and Mila Kunis,” a short film by Judd Apatow.

Next up for White, he appeared with Diane Keaton, Dax Shepard, Liv Tyler and Ken Howard in the Vince Di Meglio directed dramatic comedy “Smother” (2008, played Myron Stubbs), produced and acted in Jared Hess' “Gentlemen Broncos” (2009) and had an unaccredited part in “Zombieland” (2009), a funny horror movie directed by Ruben Fleischer that starred Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson.

White is set to direct “Enlightened,” a new TV series for HBO. He has also signed on to serve as a producer and write the screenplay for the upcoming adventure comedy “Them,” which is based on a book by Jon Ronson.

Awards:

• Las Vegas Film Critics Society: Sierra Award, Best Song, “The School of Rock,” for the song “School of Rock,” 2004

• Independent Spirit: Best Screenplay, “The Good Girl,” 2003

• Chlotrudis: Best Screenplay - Original, “Chuck & Buck,” 2001

• Independent Spirit: Best Feature - Under $500,000, “Chuck & Buck,” 2001

• Deauville Film Festival: Acting Prize, Best Male Performance, “Chuck & Buck,” 2000

• Seattle International Film Festival: New American Cinema Award, Best Writer, “Chuck & Buck,” 2000