Mike J. Marin (Navajo/Laguna Pueblo/Washoe) is an award-winning filmmaker who was born and raised in Oakland, CA. He has been a fan of movies, mainly horror and action, since he was very young. Mike is a self-taught artist, music producer, and filmmaker who sharpened his skills at Chicago's Columbia College, earning his BA in Film/Video.
He began compiling stories of the supernatural in 2005 and began writing the screenplay to his debut horror feature The Smudging in April 2015. The project went underway the following May and was completed in November 2015. In 2021, Mike received a Certificate of Congratulations from Amazon Prime Video for receiving 25 Million worldwide views of The Smudging.
Mike’s documentary short film Cinema Red: Natives & Horror won First Place at the Indie Suspense Horror Sci-Fi Film Fest 2020, his short documentary Unboxed: The Art of Action Figure Photography won Best Director at the Director’s Screen Awards 2020, and his short documentary Cinema Red: Full Native Horror won Second Place at the Indie Suspense Horror Sci-Fi Film Fest 2021 as well as Best Short Film at the 2021 Dreamz Catcher International Film Festival.
Mike now resides in Los Angeles, CA and is currently working on more film projects.