Mike Binder (born 1958) is an American screenwriter, film director and actor.
A native of Detroit, Mike Binder grew up in a Jewish community within Birmingham, one of the city's suburbs, and attended Camp Tamakwa, on which he based his 1993 film Indian Summer.
Binder began his career as a standup comedian. This led to his own HBO One Night Stand special. Binder's first screenplay, Coupe de Ville (1990), was directed by Joe Roth. Binder's own directorial debut was with his second screenplay, Crossing the Bridge (1992). He is well known for the HBO comedy series, The Mind of the Married Man, which he cowrote, co-directed and acted in as the central character "Micky Barnes". It was cancelled after two seasons (20 episodes).
Mike Binder wrote and directed three recent films in which he also plays supporting roles. The first, The Upside of Anger, starring Joan Allen and Kevin Costner, premiered at the January 2005 Sundance Film Festival; thirteen months later, Man About Town with Ben Affleck, was first seen at the February 2006 Santa Barbara International Film Festival and, after another thirteen months, Reign Over Me with Adam Sandler, was released in March 2007. The three films were produced by Mike Binder's younger brother, Jack, with whom Mike formed Sunlight Productions.
