# Michael Angelo Covino
**Michael Angelo Covino** (born 1984) is an American filmmaker, actor, and producer known for directing, co-writing, and starring in the comedy features *The Climb* (2019) and *[Splitsville](https://www.edgepedia.org/splitsville-film)* (2025), both made with his longtime collaborator [Kyle Marvin](https://www.edgepedia.org/kyle-marvin).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3511834/) *The Climb* premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the jury's Coup de Coeur award (ex-aequo).[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/michael-angelo-covino/) *Splitsville* premiered in the Premieres section at Cannes in 2025.[3](https://irresistiblemagazine.com.au/film-review-splitsville-plus-an-irresistible-interview-with-director-michael-angelo-corvino/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1984[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3511834/) |
| Education | Occidental College, Los Angeles, class of 2008[4](https://www.oxy.edu/magazine/issues/fall-2019/punch-drunk-love) |
| Feature debut | *The Climb* (2019), Un Certain Regard at Cannes; Coup de Coeur of the Jury (ex-aequo)[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/michael-angelo-covino/) |
| Second feature | *Splitsville* (2025), Cannes Premieres section, with Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona[3](https://irresistiblemagazine.com.au/film-review-splitsville-plus-an-irresistible-interview-with-director-michael-angelo-corvino/) • [5](https://apnews.com/article/353855501b550362b33a13b51bc091cf) |
| Producing credits | *Kicks* (2016), *Hunter Gatherer* (SXSW Special Jury Prize; John Cassavetes Award nomination, 2017), *Keep in Touch*, *Babysitter*[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/michael-angelo-covino/) |
| Production company | Watch This Ready, co-founded with Kyle Marvin, with producer Emily Korteweg[3](https://irresistiblemagazine.com.au/film-review-splitsville-plus-an-irresistible-interview-with-director-michael-angelo-corvino/) |
| Upcoming | Set to direct the Netflix comedy *The Last Fix*, from a script by Chuck MacLean[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3511834/news/) |
## Early career
Covino graduated from [Occidental College](https://www.edgepedia.org/occidental-college) in Los Angeles in 2008, then struggled to find work in the film industry and began making his own shorts before moving into advertising, producing and directing commercials.[4](https://www.oxy.edu/magazine/issues/fall-2019/punch-drunk-love) It was in commercials that he met Kyle Marvin, more than ten years before *The Climb*; the two discovered they shared a sense of humor and began making films together.[7](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2020-01-24-interview-with-michael-angelo-covino-and-kyle-marvin-about-the-climb-feature-story-by-richard-mowe)
His producing credits include other directors' projects: *Kicks*, first shown at the Tribeca Film Festival and distributed by Focus World in 2016; *Hunter Gatherer*, which earned a Special Jury Prize at SXSW and received a John Cassavetes Award nomination in 2017; *Keep in Touch*, on which he also had a co-writing role; and *Babysitter*, first shown at SXSW in 2015.[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/michael-angelo-covino/) In 2016, Moviemaker Magazine added him to its 25 Screenwriters to Watch list.[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/michael-angelo-covino/)
## The Climb
The short film *The Climb* premiered at the [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival) in 2018, made as a showcase for financiers, and Covino and Marvin expanded it into a feature from a script the two co-wrote as first-time film writers.[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/michael-angelo-covino/) • [8](https://www.castingnetworks.com/news/on-the-verge-producers-michael-angelo-covino-and-kyle-marvin/) The feature follows best friends Mike and Kyle, played by Covino and Marvin under their own names, across roughly a decade of fallouts, relationships, and family issues, after Mike reveals during a bicycle ride that he has slept with Kyle's fiancée.[7](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2020-01-24-interview-with-michael-angelo-covino-and-kyle-marvin-about-the-climb-feature-story-by-richard-mowe)
**One-take construction.** The film is built as a series of vignettes, each shot in a single continuous take, with major life events such as [Thanksgiving](https://www.edgepedia.org/thanksgiving), Christmas, and a wedding captured without cuts.[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/the-climb-interview-michael-angelo-covino-kyle-marvin) The opening bike sequence, shot on a two-lane road in the South of France, entailed 28 takes.[4](https://www.oxy.edu/magazine/issues/fall-2019/punch-drunk-love) Covino has cited silent comedians such as [Buster Keaton](https://www.edgepedia.org/buster-keaton) and [Charlie Chaplin](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlie-chaplin), and French filmmakers including Pierre Étaix, Claude Sautet, and Eric Rohmer, as touchstones for the film's choreographed camera work and its treatment of relationships.[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/the-climb-interview-michael-angelo-covino-kyle-marvin) • [7](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2020-01-24-interview-with-michael-angelo-covino-and-kyle-marvin-about-the-climb-feature-story-by-richard-mowe)
*The Climb* premiered at Cannes in May 2019 in Un Certain Regard and won the jury's Coup de Coeur (ex-aequo).[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/michael-angelo-covino/) It went on to Telluride, the [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival), and Sundance, and was released theatrically by [Sony Pictures Classics](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures-classics) on November 13, 2020, after a pandemic-related postponement of about eight months.[4](https://www.oxy.edu/magazine/issues/fall-2019/punch-drunk-love) • [8](https://www.castingnetworks.com/news/on-the-verge-producers-michael-angelo-covino-and-kyle-marvin/) • [10](https://thefilmstage.com/the-climb-team-on-comic-timing-one-takes-and-balancing-abrasive-characters/) Covino served on the Un Certain Regard jury at Cannes in 2021.[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/michael-angelo-covino/)
## Splitsville
Covino's second feature, *Splitsville*, premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival's Premieres section, his return to Cannes six years after his debut.[3](https://irresistiblemagazine.com.au/film-review-splitsville-plus-an-irresistible-interview-with-director-michael-angelo-corvino/) He directed, co-wrote with Marvin, produced, and stars as Paul, opposite Marvin as Carey, Dakota Johnson as Julie, and [Adria Arjona](https://www.edgepedia.org/adria-arjona) as Ashley, in a comedy about two couples whose relationships come under pressure after one couple divorces and the husband discovers his friends are in an open marriage.[5](https://apnews.com/article/353855501b550362b33a13b51bc091cf) • [11](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/splitsville-is-the-shocking-romantic-comedy-of-the-summer) Neon released the film in select theaters on August 22, 2025, going nationwide September 5.[11](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/splitsville-is-the-shocking-romantic-comedy-of-the-summer)
The film includes an extended single-take fight sequence between the two leads, which Covino described as the physical manifestation of jealousy, escalating rather than resolving through dialogue.[3](https://irresistiblemagazine.com.au/film-review-splitsville-plus-an-irresistible-interview-with-director-michael-angelo-corvino/) One sequence placed Marvin, holding bags of goldfish, in water on a roller coaster with a 35 mm camera strapped to the front; because the camera malfunctioned and no digital recording existed, the crew waited days for the lab to process the film to learn whether the shot was usable.[5](https://apnews.com/article/353855501b550362b33a13b51bc091cf)
## Acting and other work
Covino appeared as an actor alongside [Tom Hanks](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-hanks) in [Paul Greengrass](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-greengrass)'s western *News of the World* (2020), playing the villain Almay, and used the experience to observe Greengrass's directing process.[2](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/michael-angelo-covino/) • [8](https://www.castingnetworks.com/news/on-the-verge-producers-michael-angelo-covino-and-kyle-marvin/) His screen credits also include *Riff Raff* (2025), *Notice to Quit* (2024), and *80 for Brady* (2023) as executive producer.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3511834/) • [12](https://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/michael-angelo-covino/20299942/filmography/) He appears in the [Jean-Michel Basquiat](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-michel-basquiat) biopic *Samo Lives*, directed by Julius Onah, which wrapped production in 2025.[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3511834/news/)
Following *Splitsville*, Covino was set to direct the Netflix comedy *The Last Fix*, a script by Chuck MacLean about a Boston political fixer who learns he has six months to live, produced through his company Watch This Ready with Emily Korteweg and Kyle Marvin.[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3511834/news/)
## Style and collaboration
Covino and Marvin's films combine slapstick and physical comedy with dramatic stakes, drawing on filmmakers such as [Blake Edwards](https://www.edgepedia.org/blake-edwards), Elaine May, and [Mike Nichols](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-nichols) alongside broader-audience comedies.[5](https://apnews.com/article/353855501b550362b33a13b51bc091cf) Covino has said he does not plan to build entire features from single takes again, calling that constraint specific to *The Climb*, but that camera perspective remains central to how he stages comedy.[9](https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/the-climb-interview-michael-angelo-covino-kyle-marvin) The two write each other's characters, each pushing against the other's portrayal.[7](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2020-01-24-interview-with-michael-angelo-covino-and-kyle-marvin-about-the-climb-feature-story-by-richard-mowe)
## References
1. [Michael Angelo Covino, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3511834/)
2. [Michael Angelo Covino, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/p/michael-angelo-covino/)
3. [Film Review: Splitsville Plus An Irresistible Interview with Director Michael Angelo Covino, Irresistible Magazine](https://irresistiblemagazine.com.au/film-review-splitsville-plus-an-irresistible-interview-with-director-michael-angelo-corvino/)
4. [Punch Drunk Love, Occidental College Magazine, Fall 2019](https://www.oxy.edu/magazine/issues/fall-2019/punch-drunk-love)
5. [Behind 'Splitsville,' the year's funniest relationship comedy, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/353855501b550362b33a13b51bc091cf)
6. [Michael Angelo Covino News, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3511834/news/)
7. [On the bumpy road to bromance, Eye For Film](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2020-01-24-interview-with-michael-angelo-covino-and-kyle-marvin-about-the-climb-feature-story-by-richard-mowe)
8. [On the Verge: Producers Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin, Casting Networks](https://www.castingnetworks.com/news/on-the-verge-producers-michael-angelo-covino-and-kyle-marvin/)
9. [Visions of Friendship: Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin on The Climb, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/the-climb-interview-michael-angelo-covino-kyle-marvin)
10. [The Climb Team on Comic Timing, One-Takes, and Balancing Abrasive Characters, The Film Stage](https://thefilmstage.com/the-climb-team-on-comic-timing-one-takes-and-balancing-abrasive-characters/)
11. ['Splitsville' Is the Shocking Romantic Comedy of the Summer, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/splitsville-is-the-shocking-romantic-comedy-of-the-summer)
12. [Michael Angelo Covino Movies, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/michael-angelo-covino/20299942/filmography/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Film and television directors › Directors of the United States and Canada › Contemporary film directors › Directors debuting in the 2010s and later*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license