Biography

Mike Olenick makes perverse genre films focused on photography, forbidden desire, reproduction, transformation, memories, and outer space. His films have screened at Fantastic Fest and Fantasia, streamed on MUBI, played on Dutch television, and have won awards at the Slamdance Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Cinematexas, Big Muddy Film Festival, and Nightmares Film Festival, among others. In 2016 he was one of the inaugural fellows at Shudder Labs, where he developed a script for a sci-fi / horror feature. Mike has worked as an editor of projects for Guy Maddin (including The Forbidden Room and Keyhole), Michael Robinson, Kelly Reichardt, the Quay Brothers, Lucy Raven, and Sadie Benning. Since 2003 he has edited numerous works for Jennifer Reeder, including A Million Miles Away, Blood Below the Skin, and Knives and Skin. Works he's edited are in the collections of MoMA and the Tate. Mike received his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art with an emphasis in Photography and a BFA in Media Studies from the Columbus College of Art & Design. He was a fashion “do” in Vice Magazine and his love of cats has been documented on Buzzfeed. When he is not putting together a jigsaw puzzle or drawing cats he is working on the script for a sci-fi / soap opera / thriller.

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