Mike Mitchell

Mike Mitchell (born October 18, 1970) is an American film director, writer, producer, actor and animator. He directed the films Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Surviving Christmas, Sky High, Shrek Forever After, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (live-action sequences), Trolls and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. Early life Mitchell was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the son of lawyer and former chairman of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, Robert Mitchell and Julia Baker. According to his father, "Mitchell's gifts for artistic imagery were discovered early." He graduated from Putnam City North High School, and during this time was very much involved in the arts, then subsequently moved to Los Angeles to attend the California Institute of the Arts. During his time there, there was a demand for young animators, which led him into television. Working for such filmmakers as Tim Burton and Spike Jonze, Mitchell became an illustrator. He has one older sister, Suzanne Mitchell Robertson. Career He started his career as director for Matt O'Callaghan's The Itsy Bitsy Spider. He first gained critical attention when he co-wrote, produced and directed the short film Herd, which won several film festival awards, including the Spirit of Slamdance Award at the 1999 Slamdance Festival. That same year, he made his feature film directorial debut with the comedy Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, starring Rob Schneider. He worked for various companies including Disney, DreamWorks, MTV, Nickelodeon, Universal and Sony.