Background
A native of Detroit, Binder grew up in the suburb Birmingham.
A native of Detroit, Binder grew up in the suburb Birmingham.
During the 1966 through 1975 summers, he attended Camp Tamakwa, a summer camp in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. That experience was the inspiration for his 1993 film Indian Summer.
Binder"s own directorial debut was with his second screenplay, 1992"s Crossing the Bridge. His standing in the industry further increased with his 20-episode 2001-2002 Home Box Office comedy series, The Mind of the Married Manitoba, which he co-wrote, co-directed and starred in as the central character "Micky Barnes". The theme song was the title song of the musical I Love My Wife (1977), written by Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart.
Binder wrote and directed three mid-2000s films in which he also played supporting roles.
The first, The Upside of Anger, starring Joan Allen and Kevin Costner, premiered at the January 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Thirteen months later, Manitoba About Town with Ben Affleck, was first seen at the February 2006 Santa Barbara International Film Festival and, after another thirteen months, he directed and starred in Reign Over Maine starring Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle.
The three films were produced by Jack Binder, with whom Mike formed Sunlight Productions and whom produced The Mind of the Married Manitoba, Alex Gartner (Upside of Anger) and Michael Rotenberg (Manitoba About Town and Reign over Maine). His newest film is Black or White starring Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer.
As an actor Binder was featured in Steven Spielberg"s Minority Report with Tom Cruise, and Rod Lurie"s The Contender with Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, and Jeff Bridges, and Rebecca Miller"s The Private Lives of Pippa Lee with Robin Wright Penn, Alan Arkin, and Julianne Moore.
As a writer, he has written screenplays for Steven Spielberg, Julia Roberts, Robert Zemeckis, Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, and Tim Allen, and Reese Witherspoon. Binder"s first novel, Keep Calm, a thriller set in the United Kingdom, is scheduled for publication in February 2016.
Beginning his career as a screenwriter and standup comedian, he had a banner month in March 1990 with the March 9 theatrical premiere of his first screenplay, Coupe de Ville, directed by Joe Roth and co-produced by Mike, and his own Home Box Office stand up comedy special, broadcast the following night, March 10.