Michael Gracey
Michael Gracey is an Australian filmmaker. He is best known for directing the films The Greatest Showman and Better Man.
Early life and career
Gracey grew up in Melbourne – in Carlton then Kew – then started working in visual effects and music videos before making his reputation in advertising, gaining a name for himself with his Christmas commercials in the UK and US.Gracey worked for two years at animation and visual effects studio Animal Logic from 1994 to 1996 as an animator and visual effects compositor. He left the company to work at Complete Post, during which time Gracey met and began working with director Baz Luhrmann, who invited him to work on Moulin Rouge!. "We worked on what we called 'visual scrapbooks'," Gracey told shots.net. "Baz would shoot some footage of Nicole Kidman singing or something and we'd do little mock-ups, and cut mood reels together."
Career
Gracey made his feature directorial debut in 2017 with The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman as P. T. Barnum.Gracey was also slated to direct an adaptation of manga series Naruto, but was replaced by Destin Daniel Cretton, and an adaptation of the novel Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which fell in development hell.
In 2022, Gracey directed a short film for Tourism Australia, G'Day, starring Rose Byrne and Will Arnett, with cameos from Hamish Blake & Andy Lee. The commercial is the salient feature of the 'Come and Say G’day
Gracey is a member of the Australian production company: FINCH.
Gracey directed the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man.
Filmography
Visual effects| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1997 | Amy | Digital artist |
| 1998 | The Genie from Down Under | Visual effects artist |
| 2001 | Cubbyhouse | Digital compositor |
| 2002 | Double Vision | Digital compositor |
| 2003 | Ned Kelly | Digital compositor – Complete Post Visual effects supervisor – Complete 2003 Post |
| 2005 | The Magician | Visual effects supervisor |
Director
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
| 2017 | The Greatest Showman | ||||
| 2021 | Pink: All I Know So Far | Documentary film | |||
| 2024 | Better Man |
Executive producer
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2019 | Rocketman | Originally attached to direct the film before being replaced by Dexter Fletcher |
| 2023 | Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie | Also song lyrics |
Special thanks
- ''The Square''