Mike Luciano

Alongside creative partner Phil Matarese, producer, writer and director Mike Luciano was plucked from obscurity by Mark Duplass to bring subversive anthropomorphic animation "Animals" (HBO, 2016-) to the small screen. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Luciano made his own feature film, "SEAN" (2005), aged just 17 and went on to study Film and Video at New York's School of Visual Arts and Communications and Cinema Studies at Northeastern University. After graduating, Luciano directed music videos for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart ("Heart in Your Heartbreak") and Twin Sister ("All Around and Away We Go") and produced various shorts before landing an assistant executive position at production company Marobru Inc. A year later he was appointed video editor at Rooster, the advertising agency where he met copywriter Phil Matarese. Sharing a love of filmmaking, the pair began working together on a series of shorts including "Animals. Horses" (2013), the animated tale of two New York anthropomorphic horses which they then developed into a web series. Luciano and Matarese then submitted the series to the New York Television Festival where it caught the attention of indie darling Mark Duplass, who both generously funded ten brand new episodes and persuaded A-listers such as Jonah Hill, Usher and Jessica Chastain to lend their voices to the project. The pair and Duplass then took the finished product to the 2015 Sundance Festival where it was picked up by HBO. The renamed "Animals" (HBO, 2016-) premiered a year later and became a cult success thanks to its mix of low-budget animation, existential themes and broad range of New York creatures.