Miles Doleac PhD
Chair, Assistant Professor-Digital Filmmaking
Education
PhD in Ancient History - Tulane University
Master of Arts in History - University of Southern Mississippi
Bachelor of Fine Arts - North Carolina School of the Arts
Departments
- College of Music and Media
- Film
Expertise
- Film Studies
Bio
MILES DOLEAC, PhD, is a director, actor, writer, and producer in television, theatre, and film, a singer/songwriter, and a historian. As a filmmaker, Miles has written, produced, and directed seven feature films to date: The Historian (2014), The Hollow (2016), Demons (2017), Hallowed Ground (2019), The Dinner Party (2020), Demigod (2021), and the forthcoming Open (2023). He has also produced and directed short films, music videos, commercials, and appeared in numerous films and television shows as an actor. He鈥檚 co-produced feature films, Mindreader (2022) and The Devil鈥檚 Workshop (2022). Miles鈥 feature-length directorial debut, The Historian, won Best First Feature, Best Actor (William Sadler), and Best Supporting Actor (John Cullum) at the 2014 Long Island International Film Expo. Miles鈥 second feature, The Hollow, a southern noir murder thriller, starred James Callis, Christiane Seidel, William Sadler, David Warshofsky, Jeff Fahey, and William Forsythe. Miles won a Best Actor Award at the 2016 Long Island International Film Expo for his performance in the film. The film won Best Narrative Feature at the Sun and Sand Film Festival. Miles鈥 third feature, Demons, won Best Narrative Feature awards at both Rails to Reels and Fear Fete Film Festivals. Miles won a Best Director Award at the New York Film Awards for 2020鈥檚 The Dinner Party. As an actor, credits include TV: American Horror Story: Freak Show (FX), Astronaut Wives Club (ABC), Banshee (Cinemax), Breakout Kings (A & E), Claws (TNT), Complications (USA), Game of Silence (NBC), Halt and Catch Fire (AMC), Legacies (CW), Lovecraft Country (HBO), Miami Magma (SyFy), Mike (Hulu), Mississippi River Sharks (SyFy), NCIS: New Orleans (CBS), Roots (History Channel), Salem (WGN), Santa Jaws (SyFy), Sleepy Hollow (Fox), Storm War (SyFy), Treme (HBO), Underground (WGN), Valor (CW), Watchmen (HBO). Film: Renfield (with Nicolas Cage), The Family Plan (with Mark Wahlberg), Big George Foreman (with Forest Whitaker), The Magnificent Seven (with Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt), Vacation (with Chris Hemsworth, Ed Helms, and Christina Applegate), Vanquish (with Morgan Freeman and Ruby Rose), Off Ramp: Juggalo Road, Don鈥檛 Kill It and Shark Lake (both with Dolph Lundgren), Cat Run 2, Bad Ass 3 (with Danny Trejo and Danny Glover), See Girl Run (with Adam Scott and Robin Tunney), Jake鈥檚 Road (with Eric Roberts), Mighty Fine (with Chazz Palminteri and Andie McDowell), Sequence, The Livingston Gardener, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Miles appeared in the recurring role of 鈥淐aptain Lee Scott鈥 on the CW鈥檚 (and Julie Plec鈥檚) Containment. He was a guest vocalist on Megadeth鈥檚 Grammy-winning Dystopia album (on 鈥淐onquer or Die鈥) and has written a number of original songs (along with composer/collaborator, Clifton Hyde) for his films.
In the world of theatre, Miles co-founded New York鈥檚 Southern Playwright鈥檚 Theatre Project in New York and starred in their off-off Broadway production of Horton Foote鈥檚 1918 and produced and starred in an acclaimed production of Julius Caesar at Los Angeles鈥 Lillian Theatre. Miles has directed theatrical productions of Into the Woods, Cabaret, The Wizard of Oz, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Evita, The Rocky Horror Show, and Oliver! As an actor, he has appeared in productions of Les Miserables (as 鈥淰aljean鈥), Jesus Christ Superstar (as 鈥淛udas鈥 and 鈥淛esus鈥 on alternating nights), Cabaret (as 鈥淭he Emcee鈥), Camelot (as 鈥淎rthur鈥), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (as 鈥淗edwig鈥), 鈥淢acbeth鈥 in Macbeth, 鈥淪heldrake鈥 in White Christmas, 鈥淐aptain Walker鈥 in Tommy, 鈥淪am鈥 in Mamma Mia, 鈥淏ill Sykes鈥 in Oliver! among others. Miles also served as Executive Director of the Hattiesburg, MS-based, FestivalSouth Film Expo from 2015-2019. He is a member of SAG, Equity, DGA and WGA. He holds a BFA in Drama from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, an MA in History from the University of Southern Mississippi and a PhD in Ancient History from Tulane University. He has studied the history of antiquity all over the world, including at the American Academy in Rome, the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and the Goethe Institute in Munich, Germany. Miles鈥 book on Alexander the Great, In the Footsteps of Alexander: The King Who Conquered the Ancient World, is currently available at retail outlets such as Books-A-Million and Barnes and Noble. His films are available on numerous streaming platforms and in retail outlets such as Amazon, iTunes, Tubi and Wal-Mart on DVD and/or Blu Ray.