Known for Directing
Michael "Mike" Tollin (born June 10, 1955) is an American film director and film/television producer. His career highlights included Radio, Coach Carter, and Varsity Blues. He frequently collaborates with Brian Robbins in which they own a production company together called Tollin/Robbins Productions. They created and produced such shows like All That, The Amanda Show, Kenan & Kel, One Tree Hill, Smallville, What I Like About You, The Bronx is Burning and a few others. Tollin was the producer of the weekly highlights show for the United States Football League, the springtime football league which played from 1983 through 1985. In 2009, he served as executive producer for the hour-long documentary Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? for ESPN's 30 for 30 series. He was also part of a number of the series films, as one of the production members. Tollin is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Tollin, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Born
October 6, 1955 (age 70)
Birthplace
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Filmography
55 films, 31 shows


Unraveling George
2025 · 1h 30m
country: United States
An intimate documentary about Civil Rights leader, entrepreneur and Hall of Fame Coach George Raveling.


Rolling Along
2023 · 1h 30m
country: United States
Bill Bradley has experienced many lives and has worn many hats throughout his lifetime. After becoming an accomplished college and professional basketball player, he made a major move into Democratic politics and advocacy. This might sound like an unexpected career change, but to Bradley it was the next logical step. The same can be said for how he worked on an oral history of his life and career for three years, excruciatingly committing it to memory, before premiering it in New York City in December 2021. Rolling Along is the live theatrical recording of this monumental performance. Interspersing archival footage with Bradley’s performance, the film honors a uniquely American life, paying tribute to the act of storytelling in a way that hasn’t been done in a very long time. In our times of division and uncertainty, perhaps we can all learn something from Bradley’s stories about perseverance, acceptance, and unity.


Improbably Gibson
2018
country: United States
An entertaining and fresh retrospective of Gibson's historic walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.


Morningside 5
2017 · 1h 17m
country: United States
In 1992, a young filmmaker named Mike Tollin chronicled one season in the lives of the Morningside High basketball team in Inglewood, California. They were the defending state champions, and all five starters were returning for their senior year. They seemed a shoo-in to win a second straight state title, and the five guys all thought they were on a path to become “the next Jordan.” However, the season didn’t go quite as planned. But the film, produced with Brian Robbins, was an award-winner and a hit on the film festival circuit. Tollin would go on to direct and produce feature films (Varsity Blues, Radio, Coach Carter) and popular TV series such as Smallville, One Tree Hill and Arli$$. He never forgot, though, the magic of the Morningside 5 In fact, he returned a decade later to see how they were doing and made a follow-up film on their various exploits.


Tose: The Movie
2015 · 16m
country: United States
The late Leonard Tose was a genius and a fool, a saint and a sinner, but most of all the former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles was the man who took his team from the depths of the NFL all the way to the Super Bowl.


Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?
2009 · 53m
country: United States
In 1983 the upstart United States Football League (USFL) had the audacity to challenge the almighty NFL. The new league did the unthinkable by playing in the spring and plucked three straight Heisman Trophy winners away from the NFL. The 12-team USFL played before crowds that averaged 25,000, and started off with respectable TV ratings. But with success came expansion and new owners, including a certain high profile and impatient real estate baron whose vision was at odds with the league’s founders. Soon, the USFL was reduced to waging a desperate anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL, which yielded an ironic verdict that effectively forced the league out of business. Now, almost a quarter of a century later, Academy Award-nominated and Peabody Award-winning director Mike Tollin, himself once a chronicler of the league, will showcase the remarkable influence of those three years on football history and attempt to answer the question, “Who Killed the USFL?”
Unstrung
Unstrung
2007 · 1h 35m
country: United States
Unstrung exposes the dramas of the juniors tennis world, hitting the road with a handful of teenage competitors as they head for the national championship.


Radio
2003 · 1h 49m
country: United States
In the racially divided town of Anderson, South Carolina in 1976, football coach Harold Jones spots a mentally disabled African-American young man nicknamed Radio near his practice field and is inspired to befriend him. Soon, Radio is Jones' loyal assistant, and he becomes a student at T.L. Hanna High School. But things start to sour when Coach Jones begins taking guff from parents and fans who feel that his devotion to Radio is getting in the way of the team's quest for a championship.


Summer Catch
2001 · 1h 44m
country: United States
Local boy Ryan Dunne, now a pitcher for Boston College, meets Tenley Parrish, the daughter of a wealthy couple who summer on the Cape. Ryan and Tenley fall in love, much to the chagrin of their families, while Ryan clings to one last hope of being discovered and signed to a pro baseball contract.


Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream
1995 · 2h
country: Unknown
1995 American documentary film follows baseball slugger Hank Aaron's pursuit of Babe Ruth's all time record for homeruns.


Hardwood Dreams
1993 · 45m
country: Unknown
A 1990 California high school basketball team aspires to repeat their state championship while dealing with their many issues on and off the court.


Great Sports Moments of the 80's
1989 · 44m
country: Unknown
Experience the thrill as your favorite teams and heroes triumph again! Great comebacks, rivalries and record-breaking performances are here to watch over and over again.


The Final Season
1989 · 1h 50m
country: Unknown
The true story of one season in the life of a pro football team. As one man fights for his life, a group of fifty young men struggles to hold onto a dream.