Manny Fantasma

Michael Carnick is a screenwriter and playwright from San Diego, California. In 2005, while studying Theatre and Dance at UCSD, Michael was unanimously voted for first place at the 50th anniversary of the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards. He was the first undergrad to ever receive this prestigious award.

After graduating from UCSD, Michael continued to write screenplays and stage plays, many of which have been turned into live performances. While attending UCR for his MFA in Creative Writing for the Performing Arts, Michael was selected as a Finalist for the Kennedy Center ACTF Region VIII New Play Festival two years in a row. In 2012, his play Marlon and Momma was performed at UCR's New Play Festival. Michael graduated from UCR's MFA program in 2012.

At the end of the year, Michael wrote the short film Rolling Romance. In 2013, it was independently produced and shot on location in LA. David Conley was brought on board to direct the film. Rolling Romance was a passion project produced by enthusiastic young filmmakers on a modest budget. Rolling Romance was featured in several film festivals both locally and internationally, and won many awards, including Best Screenplay from the Malibu Film Festival and Indie Fest's Best in Show.

In 2015 Michael independently produced a feature film based on his Goldwyn award winning script Who's Driving Doug. The film was directed by David Conley and starred RJ Mitte as the titular Doug. Who's Driving Doug is semi-autobiographical and centered on personal events from Michael's life. Focusing on his struggle with Muscular Dystrophy, this drama / dark comedy takes an unflinching look at the social implications that come from being disabled as Doug tries to find love and understand his place in the world. Who's Driving Doug was sold to Netflix for online streaming rights in 2016. It made its theatrical worldwide premiere at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

In 2018, Michael directed and wrote the independent TV pilot Manny Fantasma. It premiered at the Santa Monica Film Festival on December 8th.

Michael was born with a rare physical disability which confines him to an electric wheelchair. His work is often centered around the themes of disability awareness and the human experience of being a minority.