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Poll GeneratorMichael Kenneth Mann (born February 5,1943 in Chicago, Illinois)is an American film director,screenwriter,and producer.He has been nominated for four Oscars for writing,directing and producing during the 72nd and 77th Oscars in 1999 and 2004 respectively.His father,Jack,was a Ukrainian emigrant and World War II veteran who became a greengrocer and his mother, Esther, a local Chicago girl. Mann was close to his father and his paternal grandfather, Sam, a Russian immigrant who had fought in World War I. Mann grew up in the rough Humboldt Park neighborhood and immersed himself in the burgeoning Chicago blues-music scene as a teenager.He studied English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and developed interests in geology, history and architecture. It was at this time that he first saw Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove and fell in love with movies. In a recent L.A. Weekly interview, he describes the film's impact on him: "It said to my whole generation of filmmakers that you could make an individual statement of high integrity and have that film be successfully seen by a mass audience all at the same time. In other words, you didn’t have to be making Seven Brides for Seven Brothers if you wanted to be a part of the commercial film industry, or be reduced to niche filmmaking if you wanted to be serious about cinema. So that’s what Kubrick meant, aside from the fact that I loved Kubrick and he was a big influence."Mann later moved to London in the mid-1960s, in part to dodge the Vietnam draft (which he was ineligible because of asthma). He went on to receive a graduate degree at the London International Film School. He spent seven years in the United Kingdom going to film school and then working on commercials along with contemporaries Alan Parker, Ridley Scott and Adrian Lyne. In 1968, footage he shot of the Paris student revolt for a documentary, Insurrection, aired on NBC's First Tuesday news program and he developed his '68 experiences into the short film "Juanpuri," which won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1970.Mann returned to United States after divorcing his first wife in 1971. He went on to direct a road trip documentary for ABC, 17 Days Down the Line. Three years later, Hawaii Five-0 veteran Robert Lewin gave Mann a shot and a crash course on story structure while he wrote the first four episodes of Starsky and Hutch and writing the pilot episode for Vega$. Around this time, Mann worked on a show called Police Story with cop-turned novelist Joseph Wambaugh. Police Story concentrated on the detailed realism of a real cop's life and taught Mann the essential for first-hand research to bring authenticity to his work.His first feature movie was a made-for-TV special called The Jericho Mile. His television work also includes having acted as director and producer on such shows as Miami Vice and Crime Story. Contrary to popular belief, he is not the creator of these shows but the executive producer. However, his influence is felt throughout each show in terms of casting and style.üMann is now known primarily as a feature film director and he is considered to be one of America's top filmmakers. He has a very distinct style that is reflected in his works: his trademarks include ethereal synth scores, such as Jan Hammer's theme to Miami Vice or the New Age score to Manhunter. Dante Spinotti is a frequent cinematographer of Mann's pictures. Mann has an affinity for stark urban landscapes and a visual style which often places an emphasis on soft blues and harsh, sterile whites.His biggest critical successes came at the end of the 1990s with the release of Heat in 1995 and The Insider in 1999. The films, both of which featured Al Pacino along with Robert DeNiro in Heat and Russell Crowe in The Insider, showcased Mann's visual style and adeptness at creating rich storylines. The Insider was nominated for several Academy Awards as a result, including a nomination for Mann's direction.With his next film Ali in 2001, he started experimenting with digital cameras. On Collateral he shot all of the exterior scenes digitally (with the Viper FilmStream camera) so that he could achieve more depth and detail during the night scenes while shooting most of the interiors on film stock. The film helped catapult Jamie Foxx to fame, and he was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance. Since Collateral Mann has made Miami Vice, the film adaptation of the hit TV series of the same name which Mann executive produced. It stars a completely new cast with Colin Farrell in Don Johnson's role and Jamie Foxx filling Philip Michael Thomas' shoes.
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