Michael Kirk

Michael Kirk is a documentary filmmaker and partial creator of the PBS show Frontline, where he worked as senior producer until 1987. Kirk owns a production company, the Kirk Documentary Group, in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is a former Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard University. He has produced such documentaries as "Inside the Meltdown," about the 2008 financial crisis, "Bush's War," about the Iraq War under George W. Bush, and "The Way the Music Died," about the dire straits of the record industry.

Works

Trump's Comeback

FRONTLINE examines defining moments over Donald Trump’s life and career, his 2020 election loss, felony convictions and his historic comeback.

Release Date:2025-01-22

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:1

The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump

The documentary investigates the lives and characters of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump as they seek the presidency. In a historic election, those who know the candidates best reveal key moments that shape how they would lead America. Award-winning filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team sat down with Trump and Harris’ friends, advisors and critics, as well as authors, journalists and political insiders to present deeply reported narrative arcs of both candidates’ lives, going all the way back to their childhoods. What emerges in FRONTLINE's "The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump" is the story of two fighters: One seeking vindication and promising a return to greatness, and the other seeking to move beyond the past and promising a greater future.

Release Date:2024-09-24

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:6

Biden's Decision

The inside story of Biden’s rise to the presidency, and the personal and political forces that shaped him and led to his dramatic decision to step aside.

Release Date:2024-08-06

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Democracy on Trial

FRONTLINE investigates the roots of the criminal cases against former President Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss. With the presidential race for 2024 underway, veteran political filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team examine the House Jan. 6 committee’s evidence, the historic charges against Trump and the threat to democracy.

Release Date:2024-01-30

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:2

Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power, and the Supreme Court

As controversy erupts around Clarence and Ginni Thomas, FRONTLINE tells the inside story of their path to power. This investigation from veteran filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team traces how race, power and controversy collide in the rise of the Supreme Court justice and his wife and how the couple has reshaped American law and politics.

Release Date:2023-05-09

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Putin and the Presidents

FRONTLINE investigates Russian President Vladimir Putin’s clashes with multiple American presidents as he’s tried to rebuild the Russian empire. Veteran filmmaker Michael Kirk (Putin’s Revenge, Putin’s Road to War) and his team trace the miscalculations and missteps of U.S. presidents over five administrations, culminating in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Release Date:2023-01-31

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:2

Lies, Politics and Democracy

Frontline’s season premiere investigates American political leaders and choices they’ve made that have undermined and threatened democracy in the U.S. In a two-hour documentary special premiering ahead of the 2022 midterms, Frontline examines how officials fed the public lies about the 2020 presidential election and embraced rhetoric that led to political violence.

Release Date:2022-09-06

Department:Production

Job:Producer

Vote Count:2

Putin's Road to War

Release Date:2022-03-22

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:6

Pelosi's Power

An examination of the powerful and polarizing Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, from veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker and chronicler of U.S. politics Michael Kirk and his team. Pelosi’s Power traces Pelosi’s life and legacy, how she has gained and wielded power across three decades, and how she has faced grave challenges to her leadership and to American democracy from Trump and his allies.

Release Date:2022-03-22

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:1

Taliban Takeover

The Taliban take over Afghanistan, and the threat of ISIS and Al Qaeda intensifies. On the ground, reporter Najibullah Quraishi (Leaving Afghanistan, Taliban Country) investigates uncertainty and fear among the Afghan people and revisits the lead-up to the U.S. defeat and the Taliban’s return.

Release Date:2021-10-12

Department:Directing

Job:Director

America After 9/11

From veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker and chronicler of U.S. politics Michael Kirk and his team, this documentary traces the U.S. response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the devastating consequences that unfolded across four presidencies. Drawing on both new interviews and those from the dozens of documentaries Kirk and his award-winning team made in the years after 9/11, this two-hour special offers an epic re-examination of the decisions that changed the world and transformed America. From the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the January 6 insurrection, America After 9/11 exposes the legacy of September 11 — and the ongoing challenge it poses for the president and the country.

Release Date:2021-09-07

Department:Production

Job:Producer

Trump's American Carnage

From his first days as president to his last, how Trump stoked division, violence and insurrection. FRONTLINE investigates Trump’s siege on his enemies, the media and even the leaders of his own party, who for years ignored the warning signs of what was to come.

Release Date:2021-01-26

Department:Directing

Job:Director

President Biden

FRONTLINE tells the story of how crisis and tragedy prepared Joe Biden to become America’s next president. Those who know him best describe the searing moments that shaped President-elect Biden and what those challenges reveal about how he will govern.

Release Date:2021-01-19

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:2

The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden

A look into what has shaped President Donald Trump and presidential candidate Joe Biden, where they came from and how they lead.

Release Date:2020-09-22

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:10

United States of Conspiracy

How trafficking in conspiracy theories went from the fringes of U.S. politics into the White House.

Release Date:2020-07-28

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:3

Frontline: America's Great Divide

A deep look into the growing divide in America from the Barack Obama era through the presidency of Donald Trump.

Release Date:2020-01-13

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:5

Americas Great Divide: From Obama to Trump

a 2020 two-part television documentary film about the political divide between the United States Democratic and Republican Party in the early 21st century. Produced by the investigative journalism program Frontline on PBS, it charts how the two major political parties became increasingly adversarial to each other due to factors of race, media, and misinformation, from the 2008 presidential election to the presidency of Donald Trump. The film was directed by Michael Kirk and written by Kirk and Mike Wiser, and was first aired on PBS in two parts on January 13 and 14, 2020.

Release Date:2020-01-13

Department:Creator

Job:Creator

Zero Tolerance: How Trump Turned Immigration into a Political Weapon

"Zero Tolerance" - FRONTLINE investigates how President Trump turned immigration into a powerful political weapon that fueled division and violence. The documentary goes inside the efforts of three political insurgents to tap into populist anger, transform the Republican Party and crack down on immigration.

Release Date:2019-10-22

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Predator on the Reservation

For more than twenty years, Doctor Stanley Patrick Weber was suspected of taking advantage of his activity as a pediatrician officiating on Indian reservations to sexually abuse many children. How is it possible that Dr. Weber, despite being repeatedly accused of abusing his young patients, was able to continue to practice, simply transferred from reserve to reserve?

Release Date:2019-02-12

Department:Directing

Job:Director

McCain

Senator John McCain's complicated relationship with President Trump and his own Republican party. A look at McCain's life and politics, from POW in Vietnam, to choosing Sarah Palin as running mate, to his dramatic vote against the GOP's health care bill.

Release Date:2018-04-17

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:1

Poutine contre les USA

Release Date:2018-01-16

Department:Creator

Job:Creator

Trump's Road to the White House

An investigation of how Donald Trump defied expectations to win the presidency -- and what it suggests about how he will govern.

Release Date:2017-01-24

Department:Writing

Job:Scenario Writer

Vote Count:3

Frontline: Divided States of America

Review the partisanship that gridlocked Washington and charged the 2016 presidential campaign.

Release Date:2017-01-17

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:1

Frontline: President Trump

The key moments that helped shape President-elect Donald Trump.

Release Date:2017-01-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:2

The Choice 2016

An interwoven investigative biography of U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump that draws on dozens of interviews from those who know them best—friends and family, advisers and adversaries—as well as authors, journalists and political insiders.

Release Date:2016-11-05

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:6

The Secret History of ISIS

Recently released top secret files from the early 2000's expose the lies told to the American people by senior US government in this PBS documentary, which outlines the real creators of ISIS.

Release Date:2016-05-17

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:1

Netanyahu at War

The inside story of the bitter clash between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Amid violence in the Middle East, the film traces Netanyahu's rise to power and his high-stakes fight with the president over Iran's nuclear program.

Release Date:2016-01-05

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:1

Secrets, Politics and Torture

“Secrets, Politics and Torture” unspools the dueling versions of history laid out by the CIA, which maintains that its now officially-shuttered program was effective in combating terrorism, and the massive Senate torture report released in December of 2014, which found that the program was brutal, mismanaged and — most importantly — didn’t work

Release Date:2015-05-19

Department:Production

Job:Producer

Losing Iraq (Frontline)

Examines the unfolding chaos in Iraq and how the U.S. is being pulled back into the conflict. Drawing on interviews with policymakers and military leaders, the film traces the U.S. role from the 2003 invasion to the current violence, showing how Iraq itself is coming undone, how we got here, what went wrong, and what happens next.

Release Date:2014-07-29

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:3

United States of Secrets (Part One): The Program

Last year Edward Snowden downloaded tens of thousands of top-secret documents from a highly secure government computer network. The revelations that followed touched off a fierce debate over the massive surveillance operations conducted by the National Security Agency. Through exclusive interviews with intelligence insiders, cabinet officials, and government whistle-blowers, the film reveals how the U.S. government came to monitor the communications of millions of Americans and to collect billions of records on ordinary people around the world.

Release Date:2014-05-13

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:5

United States of Secrets

FRONTLINE reveals the dramatic inside story of how the U.S. government came to monitor and collect the communications of millions of people around the world, and the lengths they went to as they tried to hide this massive surveillance program from the public. The series is gripping viewing for those who want to understand the context of the Snowden affair—and what it means for all Americans.

Release Date:2014-05-13

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:2

Vote Count:1

League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis

Drawing on the book of the same name, League of Denial crafts a searing two-hour indictment of the National Football League’s decades-long concealment of the link between football related head injuries and brain disorders.

Release Date:2013-10-08

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:7

A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley

This documentary takes a look at some of the most horrible and despicable murders in modern British history. From Jack the Ripper in the 1880s to Agatha Christie's best known stories.

Release Date:2013-09-23

Character:Himself

Episode Count:3

Vote Count:1

Top Secret America - 9/11 to the Boston Bombings

Journalist Dana Priest traces the battle against terrorism in the United States, from Sept. 11 to the April 15, 2013 bombings at the Boston Marathon.

Release Date:2011-09-06

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Cheney's Law

Inside the bruising closed door battles within the Bush administration over the power of the presidency and the rule of law.

Release Date:2007-10-16

Department:Directing

Job:Director

The Grudge 2

A young woman encounters a malevolent supernatural force while searching for her missing sister in Tokyo, a mean high school prank goes horribly wrong, and strange things begin happening in a Chicago apartment building.

Release Date:2006-10-12

Department:Production

Job:Co-Producer

Vote Count:1032

Karl Rove: The Architect

One of the most polarizing figures in 21st Century American politics is examined in Karl Rove - The Architect, an hour-long PBS profile of the man generally regarded as President George W. Bush's most trusted and influential advisor. Whether one admires or deplores Rove's tactics, few would argue that they aren't effective.

Release Date:2005-04-12

Department:Directing

Job:Director

The Grudge

An American nurse living and working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim.

Release Date:2004-10-22

Department:Production

Job:Co-Producer

Vote Count:2972

The Man Who Knew

Agent John O'Neill considers assassinating bin Laden before al-Qaida could act, prompting his separation from the FBI and his hiring as World Trade Center security director, just weeks before his death in the attacks.

Release Date:2002-10-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Misunderstood Minds

A look at children who have trouble learning in school.

Release Date:2002-03-27

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:1

American Porn

It's one of the hottest industries in America. Easier to order at home than a pizza, bigger than rock music, it's arguably the most profitable enterprise in cyberspace. AT&T has been in the business. Yahoo! has profited from it. Westin and Marriott have made more money selling it than selling snacks and drinks in their mini-bars. And with estimates as high as $10 billion a year, it boasts the kind of earnings that most American businesses would envy. It's pornography.

Release Date:2002-02-21

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:1

The Killer at Thurston High

In May 1998, a year before the massacre at Columbine High, 15-year-old Kip Kinkel murdered his mother and father, and then opened fire at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, killing two fellow students and wounding 25 others. In this first in-depth television examination of a school shooter, FRONTLINE reveals the intimate inside story of how the “shy and likeable” Kip Kinkel from a solid middle-class family became the boy police call “a cold-hearted killer.”

Release Date:2000-01-18

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

L'homme qui murmure à l'oreille de Trump

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Trump président, une création fatale

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Frontline

Since it began in 1983, Frontline has been airing public-affairs documentaries that explore a wide scope of the complex human experience. Frontline's goal is to extend the impact of the documentary beyond its initial broadcast by serving as a catalyst for change.

Release Date:1983-01-17

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:9

Vote Count:41

Danger! Women at Work

Three women inherit a 10-ton truck and decide to go into business. Hi jinks ensue.

Release Date:1943-08-23

Character:Tommy

Vote Count:1