Michael Selditch

writer / producer / director


photo: Martin Copping

Michael Selditch, writer/producer/director has created and/or showrun numerous documentary and non-scripted television series since 2000. His work has explored a multitude of topics including fashion, food, architecture and the rebuilding of American cities such as New Orleans and Detroit. Selditch has produced for many networks and streamers: CNN, NBC, Netflix, MSNBC, HBO, MTV, VH1, F/X, Sundance Channel, Bravo, Lifetime, Discovery, Esquire, Planet Green, Logo, Style, LMN, TLC and PBS.

A two-time Emmy Award nominated producer and winner of the International Documentary Association Award, Selditch has directed/produced three independent feature films. He’s in development on his 4th, with a script he wrote based on true events.


television

Selditch was co-executive producer (showrunner) on American Style an original documentary series for CNN. He was executive producer of I Love You... But I Lied which ran for three seasons. All 50 self-contained dramatic stories were directed by Selditch, improvised by actors and shot to feel like a follow-doc. This unique series which originally aired on LMN then moved to Lifetime as it gained popularity. Selditch co-showran Season 3 of MTV's Catfish: The TV Show

For Bravo, Selditch was executive producer for numerous reality series including The New Atlanta, 9 By Design and Project Jay. His first work for Bravo was as a director for the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy on a recurring basis during its 100-episode run. Selditch co-executive produced and directed a pilot for HBO (with executive producer Bill Maher) called Talk Nerdy To Me. The documentary series Architecture School which Selditch created, executive produced and directed for the Sundance Channel, won the International Documentary Association Award for “Best Limited Series” and was named one of the “Top 10 TV Series of 2008” by Time Magazine. Also for the Sundance Channel, Selditch was showrunner of Season 3 of Big Ideas For a Small Planet. Selditch was the showrunner and one of the creators of PBS's acclaimed magazine series, Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie winning the James Beard Award for "Best National Television Food Series" two years in a row. 

Selditch writes for Wondery and Luminary on the podcast series, Imagined Life, Hollywood & Crime and MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries.

feature films

Selditch’s narrative feature film directorial debut, Fixing Frank dealt with conversion therapy. Based on a stage play by Ken Hanes, Fixing Frank enjoyed a successful theatrical run in selected cities and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. The film also won “Best Feature Special Interest” at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. Selditch followed it up with a feature length documentary, Eleven Minutes on fashion designer Jay McCarroll. The documentary had a theatrical run in eight US cities.

Selditch has recently completed a documentary feature film, Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field which he directed and produced on the legendary costume designer, Pat Field (Sex and the City, Devil Wears Prada, Emily in Paris). The film had its world premiere in the official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival 2023. It is now playing in film festivals around the world and has won multiple awards including 3 Audience Awards for Best Documentary and Best Director.

He’s in development on a narrative feature film, In Burton's Shadow which he will direct (with his original screenplay) starring Jarred Harris (Foundation, Chernobyl, The Crown, Mad Men), Alan Cumming (Schimgadoon! The Good Wife, Cabaret, X-Men United) and Patrick Gibson (Shadow and Bone, Good Girl Jane, The OA, Tolkien) based on true events in New York City in 1975.

theater

Selditch’s first full-length play, Reality was a finalist in both the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and The Actors Company Theater’s New Play Festival. Selditch directed Patricia Cotter’s play, 1980 (Or Why I Voted for John Anderson) at TACT’s New Play Festival in 2017. He directed his own play, Express Train at the Strawberry One-Act play festival at Theater at St. Clements in New York City in 2017 winning “Best Play” of the festival. He’s currently writing a second full-length play tentatively titled, The Lie. Selditch is an active member of the Young Vic’s Genesis Directors Network based in London, and spent the five Augusts before Covid (2015-2019) in the UK studying (and seeing a lot of) British theater.

architecture

Prior to his work in television, Michael Selditch received a Masters of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a licensed architect in the state of New York and worked for Mitchell/Giurgola Architects for 4 years after grad school. He practiced architecture for 14 years and was an Associate Professor of Architecture at Pratt Institute in New York and Woodbury University in Los Angeles.



links

DOWNLOAD selditch resume

IMDB selditch

member

DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA
ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES
PRODUCERS GUILD OF AMERICA