Michael Phillips
Producer · Born June 29, 1943 (83) · Brooklyn, New York, USA
Oscar winner · 1 other major award body
Michael Phillips (born June 29, 1943) is an American film producer. Phillips was born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island. His mother, Shirley, was a schoolteacher and housewife; his father, Larry, was a garment manufacturer. They later became dealers in ancient Asian art. Phillips received a B.A. in history from Dartmouth College and a Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law. After being admitted to the New York Bar in 1969, he worked as a securities analyst on Wall Street. In 1971, he and his wife moved to Malibu, California and produced their first film, Steelyard Blues, starring Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland. In 1972, Phillips along with his then-wife, Julia Phillips, and producer Tony Bill financed the development of the screenplay, The Sting for $3,500 in total. In 1973, the film received the Academy Award for Best Picture. Michael and Julia were the first husband-and-wife team to win the Best Picture award. The couple then produced Taxi Driver (which would go on to win the Palme D'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival) and Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In 1984, his production company, Mercury Entertainment, went public with the intention to capitalize on his prior successes. Mercury planned to produce three to five films a year in the $10-million range with operating and development costs to be paid by ABC Motion Pictures while production financing was provided by the major studios. The 1984 film The Flamingo Kid and the 1991 film Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead were not as successful as hoped and in 1992, Philips offered to take the company private repurchasing outstanding stock at seven cents on the dollar. In 1986, he teamed up with Michael Douglas to launch a new company to produce independently financed features, and has option to buy Douglas' company Big Stick Inc. In 2006, Mercury Entertainment was merged with Debmar Studios to form Debmar-Mercury (now a wholly owned subsidiary of Lions Gate Entertainment). The Sting was inducted into the Producers Guild of America's Hall of Fame, granting each of its producers a Golden Laurel Award. In June 2007, Taxi Driver was ranked as the 52nd-best American feature film of all time by the American Film Institute. In December 2007, Close Encounters was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Phillips, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- June 29, 1943 (83)
- Brooklyn, New York, USA
- Producer
- 18 on MovieCove · 20 credits in all
What are Michael Phillips' films like?
Across their 18 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 0 · Earnest 16
A split, not a type: Light 10 · Serious 1 · Dark 6
A split, not a type: Grounded 9 · Stylized 4 · Heightened 4
Gentle 4 · Charged 9 · Intense 4
Steady 7 · Shifting 10 · Whiplash 0
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 9 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 5
A split, not a type: Slow burn 8 · Even-paced 6 · Relentless 3
A split, not a type: Casual 9 · Engaged 7 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 9 · Affecting 5 · Heavy 3
Resolved 12 · Open-ended 4 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy9
- Bittersweet7
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Michael Phillips' films?
As of October 24, 2026, 11 of their 18 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (4).
Subscription and free streaming for Michael Phillips' titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
20 credits, 18 with a MovieCove page; 4 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Earth Abides(2024)
Midcredits score: 25th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 14th percentile of all films
City of Dreams(2023)
Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films
The Last Mimzy(2007)
Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all films
Impostor(2001)
Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all films
Mimic(1997)
Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all films
The Companion (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1994)
Jane's House(1994)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 55th percentile of all films
Eyes of an Angel(1991)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films
The Flamingo Kid(1984)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
Cannery Row(1982)
Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films
Heartbeeps(1981)
Midcredits score: 7th percentile of all films
Skyward (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1980)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
The Big Bus(1976)
Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films
Taxi Driver(1976)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
The Sting(1973)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Steelyard Blues(1973)
Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 18 titles from 1973 to 2024.
Biggest box office
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Highest rated
The Sting (1973)
Most popular right now
Taxi Driver (1976)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
an Oscar and 1 other major award from 3 major nominations, 1974–1998.
- Producers Guild Award, won
- Oscar, nominated · Best Picture
- Oscar, won · Best Picture
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Michael Phillips' films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 44th percentile, the median of all 17; across their 17 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 44th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th5
- 25th to 49th8
- Below 25th2
Shape of the crowd
9 of their 18 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved3
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Broadly Agreed2
- Mixed9
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Michael Phillips' work okay for kids?
Across up to 7 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore and profanity run heavier than most films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Michael Phillips work with?
People who share at least 2 of Michael Phillips' MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Julia Phillips shares the most, 6.
Writers
- David S. WardShared titles: Cannery Row (1982), Steelyard Blues (1973), The Sting (1973)See all 3 shared titles with David S. Ward
- Neil LandauShared titles: Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (2024), Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991)See all 2 shared titles with Neil Landau
- Tara IsonShared titles: Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (2024), Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991)See all 2 shared titles with Tara Ison
- Matthew RobbinsShared titles: Mimic (1997), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Matthew Robbins
Actors
- Teri GarrShared titles: Mom and Dad Save the World (1992), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Teri Garr
- Harold GouldShared titles: The Big Bus (1976), The Sting (1973)See all 2 shared titles with Harold Gould
- Peter BoyleShared titles: Taxi Driver (1976), Steelyard Blues (1973)See all 2 shared titles with Peter Boyle
Composers and editors
- David ShireShared titles: Jane's House (1994), The Big Bus (1976)See all 2 shared titles with David Shire
- Donn CambernShared titles: Eyes of an Angel (1991), Steelyard Blues (1973)See all 2 shared titles with Donn Cambern
- John WilliamsShared titles: Heartbeeps (1981), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)See all 2 shared titles with John Williams
Producers
- Julia PhillipsShared titles: Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Taxi Driver (1976), The Big Bus (1976), Steelyard Blues (1973), The Sting (1973)See all 6 shared titles with Julia Phillips
- Juliana MaioShared titles: Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (2024), Earth Abides (2024)See all 2 shared titles with Juliana Maio
- Andrew RonaShared titles: Impostor (2001), Mimic (1997)See all 2 shared titles with Andrew Rona
- Bob WeinsteinShared titles: Impostor (2001), Mimic (1997)See all 2 shared titles with Bob Weinstein
Mixed roles
- Mira SorvinoShared titles: City of Dreams (2023), Mimic (1997)See all 2 shared titles with Mira Sorvino
