Biography
Michael Hoy is an award winning director, editor and entertainment content producer. Michael has directed a dozen feature-length scripted movies, including TV-movies for Lifetime Channel, Lifetime Movie Network, and the Lifetime Movie Club App, as well as Vertical Micro-Dramas for popular vertical entertainment apps including ReelShort and DramaBox.
Michael's short-form content which includes comedy, drama, scripted, unscripted, and branded content, has garnered more than 300 million video views on digital social channels, and over twenty mentions on the monthly YouTube Ads Leaderboard listing the "top ten ads that people choose to watch." Michael has contributed to the digital content world with tenure at top influential media companies including BuzzFeed, ATTN:, and NBCUniversal, and has professional experience across digital, social media, theatrical film, television, music, and advertising.
From Chicago, IL, Michael got his start in motion pictures as the assistant to producer Sean McKittrick (Get Out, BlacKkKlansman, Us) and director Richard Kelly on the set of the cult-phenomenon feature film "Donnie Darko," while still enrolled as an undergraduate student at The University of Southern California. In his early career, Hoy cut his teeth working production on independent feature films and went on to spend several years as a motion picture talent agent executive assistant at Creative Artists Agency.
After selling a feature-length screenplay option, Hoy began writing and directing short-form content and digitally self-publishing. His first digital short, a spoof trailer of the movie Limitless called "Limited: Official Trailer" starring Jonathan Sadowski, Arielle Kebbel, and Ben Feldman went on to be featured on the homepage of Adam McKay and Will Ferrell's popular comedy content site Funny or Die. Hoy's short-form comedy content became regularly featured on FOD, including the comedy web series The Best of Craigslist, later nominated for Best Web Series by LA WEEKLY and appearing as a segment on Rachel Dratch's "Late Night Snack" on TruTV.
Hoy was hired as a full-time writer/director/editor at popular media and entertainment company BuzzFeed, where he wrote, directed, edited, produced, and photographed hundreds of pieces of short-form entertainment and branded content for over four years, winning top industry awards and working with leading brands including Nestle, Purina, Friskies, MINI Cooper, Toyota, Hyundai, Chevrolet, Ford, Procter & Gamble, Gerber, The Walt Disney Company, Universal Parks & Resorts, TNT, NBA, IBM, Beats, Coppertone, Clorox, and more.
Recognized with several awards, most notably for "Dear Kitten" a branded content partnership with BuzzFeed and Purina Friskies that went "mega viral" with over 9 million views in less than 48 hours, had more than 400 mentions in the press, became a regional super bowl commercial, and launched a digital content franchise that garnered over 55 million series views and more than a million content shares. "Dear Kitten" was recognized as the #1 top ad by a YouTube content creator in 2014, winner of the Digiday Best Creative Award in 2014, a 2015 Webby for Best Branded Content, and a nomination for "favorite YouTube ad of the past decade" from Google's YouTube.
Hoy was also recognized with two Daytime Emmy® Awards by The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his contributions as a Senior Digital Video Editor on Oustanding Daytime Talk Series winner The Kelly Clarskon Show at NBC, and was awarded a 2018 ThinkLA Idea Award for Best Video Campaign, a 2017 Summit Emerging Media Visionary Award for Best Internet Video Campaign, and a 2014 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Best Video / Projection Design for a live theatrical stage performance, and selected as a semi-finalist for the 2020 Commercial Directors Diversity Program.
