Michael caught the film making bug at the age of ten. He got his first 8mm camera from a garage sale and shot his very first movie with Star Wars action figures in his basement, using talcum powder for snow.  He found his niche.  As an adult, Michael left the corporate world (not hisniche) to pursue his dream of becoming a director.

He has been working in the film industry for 12 years, mostly in commercials, as an art director and eventually creating his own video assist company, working with A-level directors as an on-set editor.

 “I’d like to think of myself as a “transitionalist”.  It’s exciting for me to transition from one scene to the next using a constant thread or tie-in to motivate the next scene.  Shapes and colors can be used to create these transitions, but tying this in is the real challenge in which I enjoy and excel.  If there weren’t any challenges, I’m not sure I would want to direct.  I love the process of figuring out how I’m going to make something work and how to do it in a clever way to get the audience’s attention and win loyalty to brand recognition.”

His latest spec, Heinz Sight, was chosen out of over 4,000 entries as a Top 15 semi-finalist in the “Heinz Top This TV Challenge”.   As an editor, he assisted director Olivier Gondry on a Beringer Wine commercial that received “Spot of the Week” by Shoot Magazine.  He has also directed two PSAs for the 1736 Family Crisis Center, one a 2 minute trailer in theaters, and the other a 30-second cable television release featuring Brad Garrett