Michael Robert Gale (born May 25, 1951) is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, film producer and director. He is best known for co-writing the science fiction comedy film Back to the Future with his writing partner Robert Zemeckis. Gale co-produced all three films of the franchise and later served as associate producer of the animated TV series. Actor Michael J. Fox has referred to Gale as the "gatekeeper of the [Back to the Future] franchise". Early life Gale was born to a Jewish family in University City, Missouri; he is the son of Maxine (née Kippel and died in 2010), an art dealer and violinist, and Mark R. Gale (1922–2018), an attorney. Mark Gale was a World War II veteran and later a University City councilman. Bob Gale has two younger brothers, Charlie, who wrote the screenplay for Ernest Scared Stupid, and Randy. Bob Gale received a B.A. in Cinema in 1973 from the University of Southern California, where he wrote fanzine reviews for classmate Mike Glyer's fanzine, and met Zemeckis, who was his classmate. As a child, Gale dreamed he would one day "go to Hollywood and work for Walt Disney", who was his hero. As a teen, he created his own comic book, The Green Vomit, using spirit duplication; he was the co-founder of a popular comic book club in St. Louis. Later he and his brother Charlie made their own amateur three-film series parody of the Republic Pictures Commando Cody serials, using the character name "Commando Cus". The last two films were made in collaboration with Richard Rosenberg. (Rosenberg had taken over the series with the third, 1973's Commando Cus vs. Kung Fu Killers, in which Gale made a cameo appearance as the title character without his face-covering helmet, and was working on a fourth at the time of his death.) Career Film As screenwriters Gale and Zemeckis have collaborated on a number of films including 1941, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Used Cars, and Trespass. The last one was set in East St. Louis, Illinois near Gale's home town. Gale and Zemeckis were nominated for an Academy Award for their screenplay for Back to the Future. In 2002, Gale made his debut as a feature-film director with Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road. He had previously directed and written the 20-minute theatrical release Mr. Payback: An Interactive Movie. Gale's other work includes the novelization for