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Mike Costanza is a writer, director, and producer known for his innovative and genre-defining work.
Mike attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a B.A. in Film & Television. He began his career in the Art Department on feature films at Paramount Pictures before transitioning into directing short films and music videos.
Mike's recent project is "El Cruce", a drama that explores migration through the experience of a Guatemalan farmer. Told in a poetic yet unflinching style, the film immerses the viewer in the physical and emotional terrain of migration, a journey marked by violence, hope, and the desperate will to survive.
"Mama Said" is Mike's award winning short film that reconstructs a 1963 girl group television performance, intercut with archival footage of civil unrest. The juxtaposition builds to a haunting collision of pop culture and historical reality. The film screened at Sundance, Edinburgh, and in competition at Cannes where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or. "Mama Said" went on to win Best Short Film at the Torino Film Festival, establishing Mike as a distinctive new voice in independent cinema.
Mike is also the writer/director of the acclaimed indie horror film "The Collingswood Story". Years before Zoom and FaceTime, "The Collingswood Story" was built entirely around online video chats, a then-radical concept that helped pave the way for later films such as "Host" and "Unfriended". Today, the film is widely recognized as the first screen-life film.
"The Collingswood Story" was released on Blu-ray and made available on Shudder, AMC+, and Prime Video, further cementing its reputation as a landmark in independent horror. In 2022, Bloody Disgusting reaffirmed the film’s legacy, calling it "the first true screen-life horror flick." Upon its initial release, Collingswood was championed by outlets including Empire Magazine, Dreamwatch, SFX, and critic Kim Newman.
Mike is also the creator of the LGBTQ supernatural series "Dante's Cove" and has directed several music videos.
