Mike Bencivenga
Duke of Ellington
Screenwriter, Director, Editor, Playwright and Producer
Astoria, Queens County, New York
August 2019
today
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About Mike
Mike Bencivenga has won over 100 awards for his work as a writer/director/producer in theater, film and TV. His play, BILLY & RAY, was produced in LA and NYC. (both directed by the late, great Garry Marshall) and the screenplay adaptation has been optioned by Academy Award winner Robert Greenhut. Mike has written and directed two feature films, LOSERS IN LOVE and HAPPY HOUR, both of which had theatrical releases. He's also done work for hire for producers in LA and NYC. Most recently his dramatic play, COMPROMISED, was given the top honor by Playwrights-First in NYC and his comedy, TALK OF THE TOWN, won 'Best Play' honors at both the 2022 Austin Film Festival and the 2023 ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition. Mike's hour-long TV pilot, CHASING THE DARK, has won over a dozen awards in the past year and is being developed by Branded Pictures Entertainment. In addition to this, Mike has performed improv comedy from Boston to Austin and his work as an editor and producer at ABC News has earned him three Emmy Awards and The Edward R. Murrow prize for excellence.
Unique traits: Improvisor, Animator, A New Yorker who actually likes LA
Badges
Links
Loglines
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OUT OF NOWHERE Budget: $1M - $5M | Thriller ⋄ Film-noir In a run down section of South Pasadena tragic events involving a young drifter, a homeless girl and a sadistic cop are explored through each character’s perspective to reveal the hidden truth of what happened and why.
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SINGLE BULLET THEORY Budget: $1M - $5M | Romance ⋄ Comedy A conspiracy obsessed young man breaks up with his longtime love only to discover that he was manipulated to do it by his lascivious big brother.
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SPACE-CATION LAND Budget: $10M - $30M | Sci-fi ⋄ Comedy A young, inner city space fanatic wins a 'dream come true' trip on a corporate rocket to the moon only to end up battling a terrorist on board and other perilous problems. It's "Apollo 13" meets "Willy Wonka!"
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HAUNTED HEART Budget: $1M - $5M | Comedy ⋄ Romance When a struggling ghostwriter for motivational speakers is haunted emotionally (then literally) by a lost love, she must find the closure to move on so that her ghost lover can do the same.
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CHASING THE DARK Budget: $10M - $30M | Fantasy ⋄ Thriller When dark, satanic forces arrive in New York, a Russian psychic must partner with a beguiling young man to foresee the future and conquer the evils that lay ahead.
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POKER FACE Budget: $10M - $30M | Comedy A neurotic but brilliant brain expert helps a world champion card shark regain his 'poker face' after an accident destroys his social filter and, while helping him, sheds her own inhibitions and becomes a happier person.
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RUNNING GUN Budget: $10M - $30M | Family ⋄ Western A promising young man has his relationship and future destroyed when he befriends a troubled teenage runaway. The year is 1877. The troubled teenager is Billy the Kid.
Credits
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Great Plains (
2016 )
Film Writer -
Happy Hour (
2003 )
Film (Drama) Director/ Co-Writer -
Losers in Love (
1993 )
Film Writer/Director/Producer -
The Heck with Hollywood! (
1991 )
Film Sound department -
Bad Girls in the Movies (
1986 )
Film Editor -
Yoko Ono: Then & Now (
1984 )
Video Editor -
Born in Flames (
1983 )
Film Actor
Awards
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Best Director - HAPPY HOUR (2004) Desert Reel Film Festival
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Best Screenplay - HAPPY HOUR (2004) Tiburon Film Festival
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Prism Award - HAPPY HOUR (2004) For the accurate depiction of alcohol abuse.
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Best Film (Audience Award) - HAPPY HOUR (2004) Florida Film Festival
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Best Low Budget Feature - LOSERS IN LOVE (1993) Houston Film Festival
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Best Screenplay - RUNNING GUN (2010) Vail Film Festival
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Best Historical Screenplay - BILLY & RAY (2018) PAGE Screenplay Awards
Education
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New York University
(1977-1979) -
Adelphi University
(1974-1976)
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