Michael Moore

Michael Francis Moore, born April 23, 1954, is an American progressive film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. He is best known for creating documentaries that address various social, political, and economic topics. He first gained widespread public attention with his award-winning debut documentary, Roger & Me, which examined the downfall of the automotive industry in Flint and Detroit, Michigan. Across his career, his work has covered subjects including globalization, corporate power, assault weapon ownership, healthcare, capitalism, and American political leaders.

Moore was raised in Davison, Michigan, near Flint. His father worked as an automotive assembly-line worker, and multiple family members worked at General Motors factories. His uncle was a co-founder of the United Automobile Workers union who participated in the Flint sit-down strike. Moore attended parochial elementary school, a seminary for one year, and Davison High School, where he participated in drama and debate. At age 18, he was elected to the Davison school board, becoming the youngest person elected to public office in the United States at that time. He later attended the University of Michigan–Flint before dropping out in his second year.

At age 22, Moore launched an alternative newspaper originally titled Free to Be..., which later became The Flint Voice and The Michigan Voice, supported by singer-songwriter Harry Chapin. In 1986, he briefly served as editor of Mother Jones magazine in San Francisco before being fired following internal disputes. After winning a $58,000 wrongful dismissal settlement, he combined those funds with bingo proceeds and income from editing a newsletter for Ralph Nader to finance his debut film.

That film, Roger & Me (1989), focused on GM plant closures and CEO Roger B. Smith. Moore followed it with the short documentary Pets or Meat: The Return to Flint in 1992, the 1995 feature Canadian Bacon, and the 1997 book-tour documentary The Big One. He also wrote and starred in the satirical news-magazine shows TV Nation and The Awful Truth. In 2002, Moore released Bowling for Columbine, an exploration of American gun culture. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, the Cannes Film Festival Anniversary Prize, and France's César Award.

In 2004, Moore directed Fahrenheit 9/11, a critical look at the George W. Bush administration and the War on Terror. It won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and became the highest-grossing documentary of all time, earning over $200 million worldwide. He followed this with Sicko (2007), an Oscar-nominated examination of the U.S. healthcare system, and Slacker Uprising (2008), a free internet release documenting his campus tour to encourage voting.

Moore's subsequent documentary projects include Capitalism: A Love Story (2009), Where to Invade Next (2015), Michael Moore in TrumpLand (2016), and Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018), which focused on the 2016 election and Donald Trump's presidency. He also served as executive producer of Planet of the Humans (2019). Recognized globally for his impact, Time named him one of the world's 100 most influential people in 2005.