Name	Phil Donlon
Height
Naionality	Australian
Date of Birth	?
Place of Birth	Australia
Famous for

As a teenager, Phil was flipping through the channels on the family television and stumbled across Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. Having never heard of the film – or Spike Lee for that matter, Phil was immediately drawn into the story of racial tension erupting on a hot summer day in Brooklyn. There was something in the way that Spike Lee told his story, something in the way he moved the camera. Phil fell in love with it. In that moment Phil knew he wanted to make films. He wanted to draw in an audience and bring stories to the screen in the same manner as Spike Lee.

From there Phil found himself at The Theater Conservatory in Chicago studying acting. Perhaps not as focused on his academic success as most students, Phil skipped out on classes to meet with investor’s as a way to get his Gilead Theater Company off the ground.

That happened.

The critically acclaimed and award winning Gilead Theater Company went on to produce plays such as; Bent, Balm In Gilead, among many others. The company was praised by The Chicago Sun-Times and The Chicago Tribune. It was there that Phil wore the collective hats of actor, producer, writer, director and everything in between. To be sure, it was an education far from what school could ever offer.

Still needing to pay the bills, Phil found himself acting on camera. Landing parts in national commercials, indie films and roles on television.

L.A. called.

Phil garnered the attention of casting directors and found himself in Hollywood network testing for two pilots with NBC, and ABC. Phil picked up a manager and stayed in LA.

Auditions. Auditions.
The network television stardom wasn’t happening over night. In fact, Phil was becoming increasingly restless and finding himself bored with the scripts that were coming his way.

Alone for months in a friend's house (who was out of town) reading dull script after dull script, Phil began asking the big questions.

“What would Spike do?”

Okay, maybe he didn't ask that question, but Phil did recall that night, flipping channels and being captivated by Do the Right Thing.

Some people wait. Other’s make it happen.

Phil began to write his first film script. Wrestled, a short film. Written, directed and starring Phil Donlon.

Wrestled is a gritty story of an urban missionary crossing paths with a prostitute. Tying in elements of faith, redemption and brokenness.

With a script in hand, actors cast, camera’s and film bought and borrowed, Phil teamed up with his longtime writing partner Christopher E. Ellis and together, one summer, they shot Wrestled on the streets of Chicago. Perhaps making movies sounds easy. It isn’t. Phil emptied his savings account in order to finance Wrestled.

Phil ran out of money, and had no choice but to shelve the project and head back to L.A. This time around, he was being represented by the renowned William Morris agency.

Phil eventually returned to Wrestled. He found some money and an editor named Steve Ordower and found himself jetting between auditions in L.A. and editing Wrestled in Chicago. It was worth it. In 2003, Wrestled premiered at the Slamdunk Film Festival [a fest that runs alongside Sundance], where only 30 films in total are accepted.

Phil’s directorial debut drew instant comparisons to his first influence, Spike Lee and early Martin Scorsese.

Accolades.

Wrestled won the Grand Goldie award for excellence in filmmaking, The Orion Award for best direction and acting, and also garnered positive reviews from NBC and the Chicago Reader.

Phil was later interviewed by NBC, Relevant, Bottle Breaker, Paste and Infuze Magazines. To Phil’s surprise, Wrestled even caught the attention of Spike Lee, who wrote Phil a letter encouraging him to continue making films. Wrestled was also added to Roger Ebert’s Made on a Mac series, profiling filmmakers who use Final Cut Pro to create new and exciting film.

The ball now rolling, Phil launched his own production company, Under The Influence Inc. Its mission is to produce and nurture films in the spirit of Phil’s favorite directors: Scorsese, P.T. Anderson, Lars Von Trier, Coppola, Truffaut, and Fellini (just to name a few). Phil and his company were hired to direct another short film entitled A Series of Small Things.

Due to the tight budget and a rush to finish the film to meet festival deadlines, Phil cast himself in the lead role. Once more, Phil found himself acting, directing, and producing. Series went on to gain acceptance in the nation’s most important short film fest: The Palm Springs International Film Festival which is recognized by the Academy (The Oscars).

During this time Wrestled was sold to The Independent Film Channel.

Phil was quickly developing his style and voice as an emerging new filmmaker. Other people thought so too, as Phil was asked to speak at several Universities, including Pepperdine.

In addition to directing and writing Phil continues to act. Phil’s on-screen credits include Unbroken opposite Rachel Bilson (The O.C.) and Following Paula which he starred opposite Justina Machado (Six Feet Under). On stage Phil recently performed with The Blank Theater (LA) in Shon Little’s original play My Ass. Phil’s TV credits include Friends and Early Edition.

Phil resides in Los Angeles.