# Michael Hoffman (director)

Michael Lynn Hoffman (Hawaii, November 30, 1956) is an American film director.

## Early life and education

Hoffman was born in Hawaii: the son of Dorothy (Harper) and Glenn R. Hoffman, who was stationed in the navy in Hawaii at the time. He grew up in Payette, Idaho, played basketball, and attended college at Boise State University. There he was elected as student body president of BSU. He cofounded The Idaho Shakespeare Festival with Doug Copsey and Victoria Holloway in 1977. While at BSU, he served as president of the student body and earned the high honor of Rhodes Scholar in 1979, the first BSU alumnus to achieve this honor. While studying Renaissance literature at Oriel College, Oxford, he extended his interest in drama by founding the Oxford University Film Foundation and by making a student film Privileged, which starred a young Hugh Grant.

## Career

Befriended by John Schlesinger, who provided the funding, Hoffman's next film was Restless Natives, a humorous look at young Scottish boys who hold up tour buses. His other credits include Some Girls, starring a young Patrick Dempsey, Restoration with Robert Downey, Jr., One Fine Day with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney, Soapdish with Sally Field and Kevin Kline, A Midsummer Night's Dream, for which he also wrote the screenplay based on the work by Shakespeare, and The Emperor's Club (starring Kline and Emile Hirsch). Hoffman has, as of 2023, made three films with Kline, including the aforementioned A Midsummer Night's Dream.
His film Promised Land (1987) was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Restoration (1995) was entered into the 46th Berlin International Film Festival.
Hoffman wrote and directed The Last Station (2009), based on the final years of Leo Tolstoy's life, starring Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren, James McAvoy and Paul Giamatti. He also directed Gambit (2012) and The Best of Me (2014).
In addition, Hoffman directed and co-wrote a film for Netflix, a Gore Vidal biopic, simply titled Gore. Based on the biography Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal by Jay Parini (who also co-wrote), it stars Kevin Spacey as Vidal. The film was shot in 2017 and intended for release in 2018 but was canceled in November 2017 after Spacey's sexual misconduct was revealed in late October. Several other projects involving Spacey at the time were also cancelled or had him replaced.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes |
| 1982 | Privileged | Yes | Yes | Role: Alan |
| 1985 | Restless Natives | Yes | No | |
| 1987 | Promised Land | Yes | Yes | |
| 1988 | Some Girls | Yes | No | |
| 1991 | Soapdish | Yes | No | |
| 1995 | Restoration | Yes | No | |
| 1996 | One Fine Day | Yes | No | |
| 1999 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Yes | Yes | Also producer |
| 2002 | The Emperor's Club | Yes | No | |
| 2002 | MDs | Yes | No | |
| 2005 | Game 6 | Yes | No | |
| 2007 | Out of the Blue: A Film About Life and Football | Yes | No | |
| 2009 | The Last Station | Yes | Yes | |
| 2012 | Gambit | Yes | No | |
| 2014 | The Best of Me | Yes | No | |
| 2017 | Gore | Yes | Yes | Unreleased |
| 2020 | Our Love is Here to Stay | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2024 | Amy Winehouse | Yes | No | Co-directed with Wolfe John |
Executive producer
* The Great New Wonderful (2005)
* 12 and Holding (2005)
* The Narrows (2008)

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result |
| 1987 | Deauville Film Festival | Critics Award | Promised Land | Nominated |
| 1988 | Sundance Film Festival | Grand Jury Prize | Promised Land | Nominated |
| 1988 | Vancouver International Film Festival | Most Popular Film | Some Girls | Won |
| 1996 | Berlin International Film Festival | Golden Berlin Bear | Restoration | Nominated |
| 2009 | Rome Film Festival | Golden Marc'Aurelio Award | The Last Station | Nominated |
| 2009 | Hessian Film Award | Best International Literature Adaptation | The Last Station | Won |
| 2010 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Director | The Last Station | Nominated |
| 2010 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Screenplay | The Last Station | Nominated |