# Tim Miller (director)

Timothy Miller (born October 10, 1964) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, and visual effects artist. He is best known for directing the films Deadpool (2016) and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019). He is also the creator of the animated anthology series Love, Death & Robots (2019–present), for which he has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program.
Miller is the co-founder of the visual effects company Blur Studio. He was nominated Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film as co-story writer and executive producer of the short animated film Gopher Broke (2004). He also designed the title sequences of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and Thor: The Dark World (2013).

## Early life

Miller was born in Fort Washington, Maryland. He studied illustration and animation in college.

## Career
### Visual effects and animation

In March 1995, Miller co-founded Blur Studio, a visual effects, animation and design company with David Stinnett and Cat Chapman. Miller and Jeff Fowler were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2005 for the short film Gopher Broke.
In March 2008, Miller was set to produce and direct one of eight animated tales based on the Heavy Metal magazine. David Fincher and Kevin Eastman were also attached to produce and direct a story segment. Miller was set by Legendary Pictures on March 15, 2012 to direct a live-action adaptation of the Warren Ellis comic book series Gravel, from a script by Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell. On November 14, 2012, Sony Pictures set Miller to direct Joe Haldeman's science fiction novella Seasons, which Sebastian Gutierrez was set to adapt and Michael De Luca to produce. Miller and Jeff Fowler are also set to direct and produce the animated film The Goon through their Blur Studio. As of 2024, these films are still in development.
Miller designed the title sequences of the film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), and of the film Thor: The Dark World (2013). The latter was completed in 12 weeks and included 75 shots, most of which were computer-generated.

### Director

On April 8, 2011, Miller was hired by 20th Century Fox to direct the feature film Deadpool, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It was his directorial debut, and was written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, with Ryan Reynolds starring in the title role. Filming began late March 2015 in Vancouver, and the film was released on February 12, 2016. Miller was set to direct the sequel, Deadpool 2, released in 2018, but he departed the project due to creative differences with Reynolds.
In January 2017, Deadline reported that Miller was in talks with James Cameron to work on and possibly direct a new Terminator film. Skydance Media confirmed in September 2017 that Miller would direct the next Terminator film. The title of the film was officially announced as Terminator: Dark Fate in 2019. During production of the film, when asked about backlash regarding the female main characters, Miller said that Mackenzie Davis's character Grace would "scare the fuck" out of "closet misogynist[s]." Despite favorable reviews, the film became a box-office bomb, losing upwards of $100 million.
In mid-2017, Miller was hired to direct an adaptation of William Gibson's 1984 science-fiction novel Neuromancer for Fox, which will be produced by Simon Kinberg.
In January 2023, Eli Roth's film Borderlands went through two weeks of reshoots directed by Miller, due to Roth's participation in Thanksgiving, a slasher film that was initially created by Roth as a parody trailer for Grindhouse but has since been promoted to a feature-length film. While Roth was not involved with the reshoots for Borderlands, he remained involved with the movie and gave Miller both his blessing and credit as an executive producer.

### Producer

In October 2016, Miller was hired to serve as executive producer for a Sonic the Hedgehog feature film, originally being set to be produced by Sony Pictures, before being acquired by Paramount Pictures. Miller and director Jeff Fowler first created a pitch for a Sonic movie with Ben Schwartz voicing the character. After the movie was green-lighted by Paramount, the two chose to cast Schwartz as the voice of Sonic in the film, having enjoyed his performance in the test reading. The film was released on February 14, 2020, and received a warm critical and commercial reception. Miller returned as executive producer for the film's sequel, released on April 8, 2022.
Miller created the anthology series Secret Level, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video on December 10, 2024.

## Filmography
### Short films

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive producer | Notes |
| 2002 | Aunt Luisa | Yes | Story | No | Co-directed with Paul Taylor |
| 2003 | RockFish | Yes | Yes | No | Also animation supervisor |
| 2004 | Gopher Broke | No | Story | Yes | |
| 2004 | In the Rough | No | Story | Yes | |
| 2006 | A Gentlemen's Duel | No | Yes | Yes | |

### Feature films

| Year | Title | Director | Executive producer | Notes |
| 2016 | Deadpool | Yes | No | |
| 2019 | Terminator: Dark Fate | Yes | Yes | Also co-creative consultant |
| 2020 | Sonic the Hedgehog | No | Yes | |
| 2022 | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | No | Yes | |
| 2024 | Borderlands | Uncredited | Yes | Directed reshoot |
| 2024 | Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | No | Yes | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive producer | Creator | Notes |
| 2019–present | Love, Death & Robots | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Director: "Ice Age" Director and writer: "The Drowned Giant" & "Swarm" Story: "Night of the Mini Dead" |
| 2024–present | Secret Level | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Writer: "Exodus: Odyssey" |

### Technical credits

Film
| Year | Title | Role |
| 1995 | Hideaway | Visual effects |
| 2001 | Soulkeeper | Creative supervisor (Blur Studio sequences) |
| 2004 | Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas | Creative director |
| 2010 | Scott Pilgrim vs. the World | Creative supervisor (Ninja Ninja sequence) |
| 2011 | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Creative director (Title sequence) |
| 2013 | Thor: The Dark World | Second unit director (Opening sequence) |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role |
| 2005 | Shadow the Hedgehog | Visual effects producer |
| 2007 | Hellgate: London | Visual effects |
| 2010 | Mass Effect 2 | Visual effects producer |
| 2011 | Star Wars: The Old Republic | Visual effects producer |

## Accolades

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2005 | 77th Academy Awards | Best Animated Short Film | Gopher Broke | Nominated |
| 2008 | Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Pre-Rendered Visuals in a Video Game | Hellgate: London | Nominated |
| 2010 | Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Visual Effects in a Video Game Trailer | Star Wars: The Old Republic | Nominated |
| 2010 | Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Visual Effects in a Video Game Trailer | Mass Effect 2 | Nominated |
| 2011 | Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Animated Commercial | Dante's Inferno | Nominated |
| 2011 | Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Visual Effects in a Video Game Trailer | Star Wars: The Old Republic | Nominated |
| 2017 | 69th Directors Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Directing – First-Time Feature Film | Deadpool | Nominated |
| 2017 | Hugo Awards | Best Dramatic Presentation | Deadpool | Nominated |
| 2019 | 71st Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short Form Animated Program | Love, Death & Robots | Won |
| 2021 | 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short Form Animated Program | Love, Death & Robots | Won |
| 2022 | 74th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short Form Animated Program | Love, Death & Robots | Won |