Michael Hirst (1952)

Michael Hirst is an English screenwriter, best known for his films Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age .

Hirst was head writer, creator and executive producer of the Showtime television Drama Series The Tudors which aired from 2007 to 2010. It tells the story of King Henry VIII and his Six Wives as well as his court and the dilemmas throughout his kingdom during his reign.

Hirst is one of the co-writers on the screenplay for the James Dalessandro book, 1906. The story follows a young man who discovers a series of secrets and lies that left San Francisco highly vulnerable to the fires that engulfed it in the aftermath of the historical 1906 earthquake. It is set for release in 2012.

Hirst had been chosen to write the movie adaptation of Stuart Hill's best selling book: The Cry Of The Icemark before it was put on hold and is also set to adapt the Bernard Cornwell's book Azincourt, which tells the story of King Henry V of England and the Battle of Agincourt.

Hirst will be producing two new television series for Showtime. The first went on the air in 2011: The Borgias tells the story of the notorious Borgia family. It stars Jeremy Irons as Pope Alexander VI, his first series-regular role. The show is created by Neil Jordan and began filming in the summer of 2010.

Hirst will be writing a new television series for Starz, Camelot, a contemporary re-telling of the Arthurian legend. The production will also be done with Morgan O'Sullivan.
On June 30, 2011 Starz announced it was not going to order new seasons of Camelot, citing significant production challenges, predominantly scheduling conflicts with some members of the cast, including Joseph Fiennes, Jamie Campbell Bower and Eva Green.