Miles Millar ( ; born 1967) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

, producer, creator, developer, and director. He is best known as the creator of

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

's 2022 live-action

comedy horror Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

series ''

Wednesday Wednesday is the day of the week between Tuesday and Thursday. According to international standard ISO 8601, it is the third day of the week. In English, the name is derived from Old English and Middle English , 'day of Woden', reflecting ...

,'' the

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...

helmed '' Addams Family'' spin-off. It holds the record as the most-watched

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

series in the history of Netflix. Alongside his longtime writing/producing partner

Alfred Gough Alfred Gough ( ; born August 22, 1967) is an American screenwriter, producer, writer, director, showrunner and creator. He is the developer of The WB/The CW's Superman-prequel television series ''Smallville (TV series), Smallville''. Alongside lo ...

, Millar also created, produced, wrote, and developed other television programs like

The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

-prequel

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

hit series ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...

'',

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

's 2015 wuxia-influenced dystopian television series '' Into the Badlands'' and

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's 2016 epic

fantasy drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

series ''

The Shannara Chronicles ''The Shannara Chronicles'' is an American fantasy drama (film and television), drama television series created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. It is an adaptation of The Sword of Shannara Trilogy, ''The Sword of Shannara'' trilogy of fantasy ...

'' (based on '' The Sword of Shannara Trilogy'' book trilogy by

Terry Brooks Terence Dean Brooks (born January 8, 1944) is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly high fantasy, epic fantasy, and has also written two film novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times Best Seller List, ''New York Times'' ...

). He also co-wrote other feature films like Tom Dey's ''

Shanghai Noon ''Shanghai Noon'' is a 2000 martial arts western action comedy film directed by Tom Dey in his feature film debut, written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and starring Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson and Lucy Liu. It is the first entry in the ...

'' and its sequel ''

Shanghai Knights ''Shanghai Knights'' is a 2003 martial arts action comedy film. It is the sequel to ''Shanghai Noon'', and the second installment of the ''Shanghai'' film series. Directed by David Dobkin and written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, it stars ...

'', Sam Raimi's ''

Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of Spider-Man. Directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story conceived by Michael Chabon and the writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles ...

'' and

Rob Cohen Robert Alan Cohen (born March 12, 1949) is an American director and producer of film and television. Beginning his career as an executive producer at 20th Century Fox, Cohen produced and developed numerous high-profile film and television progr ...

's blockbuster action-adventure film '' The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'', as well as Tim Burton's '' Beetlejuice Beetlejuice'', the sequel to the iconic 1988 movie. He has worked alongside his writing/producing partner Alfred Gough since they met at

USC School of Cinematic Arts The USC School of Cinematic Arts is an academic unit of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. With a history that dates to the first years of Sound film, talkies, the school descends from America's first ...

Early life

Miles Millar grew up in Sydney, Australia but emigrated to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

when he was 9 years old. He was educated at Claremont Fan Court School, and is a graduate of

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

. He attended

The Peter Stark Producing Program The USC School of Cinematic Arts is an academic unit of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. With a history that dates to the first years of talkies, the school descends from America's first program to confer a college degree in ...

at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

where he teamed up with his writing/producing partner, Alfred Gough. They sold their first script while still studying at USC. "Mango", a buddy-cop story where a cop who was allergic to animals was paired with an orangutan, sold to

New Line Cinema New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...

for $400,000. The film was never made, but proved to be a professional launching pad.

Career

Miles Millar and his professional partner Alfred Gough are prolific writers/producers. The films Millar and Gough have written or produced have a combined global box office in excess of one billion dollars. Their feature credits include Sam Raimi's ''

'', Tom Dey's action-comedy ''

'', as well as its sequel, ''

,'' starring

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...

and

Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has frequently worked with filmmaker Wes Anderson, with whom he has shared writing and acting credits on the films '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and ''T ...

. Other credits include

's 2008

'' The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'', '' Herbie: Fully Loaded'',

Richard Donner Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg; April 24, 1930 – July 5, 2021) was an American film director, producer and actor. Described as "one of Hollywood's most reliable makers of action blockbusters", Donner directed some of the mo ...

's 1998

buddy cop Buddy cop is a film and television genre with plots involving two people of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process. ...

action ''

Lethal Weapon 4 ''Lethal Weapon 4'' is a 1998 American buddy cop action film directed and produced by Richard Donner, and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock, and Jet Li (in his international film debut). It is the fourth ins ...

'', and D. J. Caruso's 2011

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

action ''

I Am Number Four ''I Am Number Four'' is a young adult fiction, young adult science fiction novel by Pittacus Lore (the pseudonym of James Frey and Jobie Hughes) and the first book in the ''Lorien Legacies'' series. The book was published by HarperCollins on Aug ...

''. Millar and Gough also produced '' Hannah Montana: The Movie'', which was based on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

smash hit teen sitcom TV series of the same name starring

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

. The feature marked the first film for the duo's

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

-based

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

. Millar and Gough’s work also spans the world of television. The duo created and served as executive producers/showrunners of the

-based television action-adventure series ''

'', which aired from October 16, 2001 to May 13, 2011. It is the longest-running

live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

comic book-based television series of all time, and was the No. 1 show in the history of

. Millar and Gough left the series in 2008, after seven seasons, breaking the news of their departure with an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

posted to a ''Smallville'' fan site. In 2010, the duo filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against WB Television, claiming that Warner Bros., the studio that produced ''Smallville'', had undercut potential profits by selling the series to WB network which it owned, thereby cutting the duo out of tens of millions of dollars. The lawsuit was finally settled in May 2013, mere weeks before a scheduled June trial; the terms of the settlement were not made known to the public. In 2015, Millar and Gough began creating and producing the epic fantasy television series ''

'' for

. It is an adaptation of The Sword of Shannara trilogy of fantasy novels by

. It follows three heroes as they protect an ancient tree to stop the escape of banished demons. The series was filmed in the Auckland Film Studios and on location elsewhere in New Zealand. The series starred

Austin Butler Austin Robert Butler (born August 17, 1991) is an American actor, singer, and model. Butler began his career on television, first in roles on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, most notably on ''Zoey 101'' (2007–2008), and later on teen dramas, ...

, Ivana Baquero and Manu Bennett.

Jon Favreau Jonathan Kolia Favreau ( ; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as ''Rudy (film), Rudy'' (1993), ''PCU (film), PCU'' (1994), ''Swingers (1996 film), Swingers'' (1996), ''Very ...

was one of the executive producers along with Dan Farrah. The pilot episode was directed by

Jonathan Liebesman Jonathan Liebesman (born 15 September 1976) is a South African film director and screenwriter. He is known for directing the films ''Darkness Falls (2003 film), Darkness Falls'' (2003), ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning'' (2006), '' ...

. The first season of ''The Shannara Chronicles'' premiered on MTV in the United States on January 5, 2016, and consisted of 10 episodes. MTV originally greenlit a second season in April 2016; however, in May 2017, it was announced that the series would relocate to Spike (now Paramount Network). The second season premiered on October 11, 2017, and concluded November 22, 2017. On January 16, 2018, it was announced that the series had been cancelled after two seasons and that the producers were shopping the series to other networks. The series was later considered officially concluded but has since generated a cult following on

. In June 2015, the duo began creating and producing the wuxia-influenced dystopian television series '' Into the Badlands'' for

AMC Networks AMC Networks Inc. is an American mass media and entertainment corporation headquartered in 11 Penn Plaza, New York City. The company owns and operates the AMC cable channel, BBC America, IFC, Sundance TV, and We TV. It also owns the art ho ...

. The martial arts drama was set in a gun free post apocalyptic America where warring barons had personal armies of lethally trained fighters. The series was notable as one of the only hour long dramas in American television history to feature an Asian American (

Daniel Wu Daniel Wu Neh-Tsu (; born September 30, 1974) is an American actor. He is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese language film industry. Since his film debut in 1998, he has been featured in over 60 films. A three- ...

) as its lead. The show was a ratings hit, but received a mix response from critics.

Nick Frost Nicholas John Frost (born 28 March 1972) is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He has appeared in the '' Three Flavours Cornetto'' trilogy of films, consisting of '' Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), ''Hot Fuzz'' (2007), and '' The World's ...

joined the cast in season two and proved a very popular addition to the fans of the series. The show's mythology was very loosely based on the classic Chinese text, ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the Classic Chinese Novels, great Chinese novels, and has been described as arguably the ...

''. Each episode featured intricate martial arts fights that were staged and directed by legendary Hong Kong fight choreographers Huen Chiu Ku (aka Master Dee Dee Ku) and Andy Cheng. The series starred Daniel Wu, Marton Csokas, Emily Beecham, Aramis Knight and Orla Brady. The first season was filmed in New Orleans, but subsequent seasons were shot in and around Dublin, Ireland. ''Into The Badlands'' ran for 32 episodes and was cancelled due to a regime change at AMC Networks. Millar directed episodes 13 and 14 in season three of the series. In October 2020, Millar and Gough sold a series to

based on the character of Wednesday Addams. The series was created by Millar and Gough, but

teamed with the duo as an executive producer and directed the first four episodes. ''

'' represents Burton's first foray into television and stars Jenna Ortega in the title role. The series also stars

Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones (; born 25 September 1969) is a Welsh actress. Recognised for her versatility, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Tony Award. In 2010, she was appointed Comm ...

Morticia Addams Morticia Addams (née Frump) is a fictional character from the '' Addams Family'' multimedia franchise created by American Charles Addams in 1933. She plays the role of the family's reserved matriarch. Morticia Addams has been portrayed by se ...

Luis Guzman Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

Gomez Addams Gomez Addams is the patriarch of the fictional Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for ''The New Yorker'' magazine in the 1940s and subsequently portrayed on television, in film, and on the stage. Cartoons In Charles Addams's ...

as well as

Gwendoline Christie Gwendoline Christie (born 28 October 1978) is an English actress. She is known for portraying Brienne of Tarth in the HBO fantasy-drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019), and the First Order (Star Wars), First Order Stormtrooper (Star War ...

as Larissa Weems. Since the show's premiere, it has become the most viewed English-language series on Netflix at 1.7 billion streaming hours. The show was a critical hit and was recognized with numerous awards. Millar and Gough were nominated fo
Golden GlobeBAFTA
an
Emmy
awards. The show was nominated for 12 Emmys and won four. It was awarded th
Saturn Award for best Fantasy SeriesCritics' Choice Super Award for Best Limited SeriesKid’s Choice Award for Favorite Family TV Show
Millar, Gough, Burton, and Ortega collaborated again on '' Beetlejuice Beetlejuice'', set for release in September 2024. In May 2024, it was announced that the second season of ''Wednesday'' had commenced production in Dublin, Ireland. A promo featuring Thing delivering scripts and announcing the new cast was directed by Millar, as well as returning cast, Jenna Ortega, Emma Myers, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman, Hunter Doohan, Georgie Farmer, new additions include Steve Buscemi, Joanna Lumley, Thandiwe Newton, Heather Matarazzo, and Evie Templeton. Millar and Gough signed a first-look deal with

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

in April 2024 to develop films through the Millar/Gough Ink banner. Millar and Gough were also known as the producers of

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

's 1999-2000 American action drama ''

The Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...

'' (starring Sean Patrick Flannery) and ABC's 2011 action crime drama ''Charlie's Angels'', with the final episode of the latter series left unaired in the United States. Millar and Gough also began operating the production company, Millar/Gough Ink, back in October 1999. Millar and Gough also produced the unsold

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

, ''

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles ...

'' (which initially premiered on July 25, 2006 on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

), which was based on the

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

character of the same name, and it has been run as a standalone episode.

Filmography

Film

Writer * ''Double Tap'' (1997) * ''

'' (1998) * '' Made Men'' (1999) * ''

'' (2000) * '' Showtime'' (2002) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2004) (Story only) * '' Herbie: Fully Loaded'' (2005) * ''Aquaman'' (2006) (Unsold pilot; Executive producer and writer) * '' The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'' (2008) * ''

'' (2011) * '' Beetlejuice Beetlejuice'' (2024) Producer * ''E=mc2'' (1996) (Associate producer) * ''Aquaman'' (2006) (Unsold pilot; Executive producer and writer) * '' Hannah Montana: The Movie'' (2009) * '' Bullet to the Head'' (2012)

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Millar, Miles Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Australian male screenwriters British male screenwriters Living people USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Place of birth missing (living people) People educated at Claremont Fan Court School 1967 births Showrunners Australian television directors Australian television writers Australian television producers Australian film producers Australian animated film producers Australian film directors Australian animated film directors Australian male television writers British television directors British television writers British television producers British film producers British animated film producers British film directors British animated film directors British male television writers