Michael Sarnoski

Michael Sarnoski is an American filmmaker and director from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, recognized for moving between intimate character drama and large-scale franchise storytelling. He rose to wider attention as the writer-director behind the acclaimed feature Pig (2021) and later for helming the franchise entry A Quiet Place: Day One (2024).

Raised in Milwaukee, Sarnoski attended the University School of Milwaukee before continuing his studies at Yale University. Early in his career, he contributed behind the scenes as an executive producer and editor on the 2015 documentary short The Testimony, directed by Vanessa Block—experience that helped shape his grounded, detail-focused approach.

Sarnoski made his feature directorial debut with Pig, starring Nicolas Cage alongside Alex Wolff and Adam Arkin, released in 2021. The film’s restrained tone and emotional precision quickly positioned him as a director to watch. In 2022, he was tapped to write and direct A Quiet Place: Day One, expanding the universe with a prequel/spin-off led by Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn.

He is also associated with the aliases The Sharnasky Brothers and The Sharnasky Bros., and has credits including Rings and Fight Night Legacy (as “The Doctor”).