Biography

Michael Dougherty

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Michael Patrick Dougherty is a writer, director, animator, and producer known for his work in a variety of genre films, both big and small. Beginning his career as an animator and illustrator, Dougherty's animated work was featured on MTV, Nickelodeon, and a line of twisted greeting cards published by NobleWorks. He then co-wrote the blockbusters X-Men 2 and Superman Returns before making his directorial debut with the classic horror comedy, Trick 'r Treat (2007), starring Anna Paquin, Dylan Baker, and Brian Cox. Trick 'r Treat has since become a perennial favorite that has spawned a growing line of toys, comics, theme park attractions, and Halloween decor, and a sequel is in development with Legendary Pictures. Dougherty later set his sights on Christmas, which resulted in Krampus (2015), a holiday horror comedy starring Toni Collette, Adam Scott, David Koechner, and Allison Tolman. Much like Trick 'r Treat, Krampus has become an annual holiday classic. Most recently, Dougherty co-wrote and directed the blockbuster Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) starring Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, and Ken Watanabe, and co-wrote the story for its sequel, Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), starring Brian Tyree Henry, Rebecca Hall, and Alexander Skaarsgaard. Collectively, Dougherty's work has grossed over 2 billion dollars at the box office.
- IMDb mini biography by: David Mack

His mother is Vietnamese. His father has Irish, English, German, and Hungarian ancestry.
Born on the same date as Joaquin Phoenix (brother of late River Phoenix).
His favorite movies in no particular order are Godzilla (1954), Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Ghostbusters, Top Gun: Maverick, The Dark Knight, Apocalypse Now, Scrooged and The Warriors.
As of 2026, he's shown much interest in forming his own production company that makes both movies and TV shows "that are simultaneously unique and interesting while at the same time being completely different from each other" called Calling All Robots, named after a canceled project of his which was a motion capture animated film produced by Robert Zemeckis until the failure of Mars Needs Moms.
Some of his favorite directors are Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Guillermo Del Toro, David Fincher, Terry Gilliam and Robert Zemeckis.

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