Michael De Luca

Michael De Luca was an American movie producer and screenwriter whose most notable productions were the Academy Award-nominated films "The Social Network" (2010), "Moneyball" (2011), and "Captain Phillips" (2013). De Luca was born on August 13, 1965 and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Instead of pursuing his degree first, De Luca dived right into showbiz in 1986 as a writer. Just a few years after his start in the film industry, he acted as the associate producer of the horror film sequel "Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III" (1990). He continued to work on other horror-themed productions such of "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" (1991), as both screenwriter and executive producer. As the years progressed, De Luca climbed the ranks of the industry, particularly at New Line Cinema. He was eventually named the company's president of production, with blockbuster films such as "Boogie Nights" (1997) and "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" (1999) released under his watch. Afterwards, De Luca became president of production at DreamWorks, from 2001 until his contract expired in 2004. Sony approached him to start his own production company called Michael De Luca Productions, with the Nicolas Cage-led comic flick "Ghost Rider" (2007) as the company's first release. Beginning in 2010, De Luca was the producer of several films that were recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. De Luca received his first Best Picture Oscar nomination and Golden Globe Award as the producer of "The Social Network" (2010), a fact-based film that told the story of the founding of the social media giant Facebook. The next year, he received another Best Picture nomination for "Moneyball" (2011) which starred Brad Pitt as Oakland Athletics manager Billy Beane. He was nominated once again for "Captain Phillips" (2013), which was based on the Maersk Alabama hijacking near Somalia and starred Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks. By the time that film was nominated, De Luca had moved into a new position as President of Production at Columbia Pictures.