Michael Carnick is a screenwriter and director from San Diego, California. In 2005,
while studying Theatre and Dance at UCSD, Michael was unanimously voted for first
place at the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards. He was the first undergrad to ever
receive this prestigious award. 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 2015, Michael independently produced a feature film based on his Goldwyn award
winning script “Who's Driving Doug”, starring RJ Mitte as the titular Doug. “Who's
Driving Doug” is semi-autobiographical and centered on personal events from
Michael's life. The film 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”,
which premiered at the Santa Monica Film Festival on December 8th, garnering the
Emerging Director Award. It has since screened at over a dozen festivals worldwide,
picking up several awards, including the Los Angeles Film Awards' Best Web/TV Pilot.

The following year, Michael directed the feature length drama “The Forbidden Wish", starring Sammi Rotibi (Django Unchained). It was distributed by Conduit Now in 2021, available on Amazon and many major streaming platforms.

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. He often highlights disability,
LGBTQ+, and race inequality using empathy and deep self reflection of the human spirit.