Michael Willer
Director/Screenwriter
I'm a director/screenwriter by trade and an editor by necessity. I have a fondness for magical realism, but I'm interested in all genres and styles. Given the choice, I'd rather make ET than Blue Valentine any day of the week.
If I have my druthers, I'll make feature films for a living until the day I die. Nothing makes me happier than the magic on set when everything's finally clicking and everything that lens picks up is golden. If people like my movies, well, all the better.
I'd love to work with other people of similar interests. Particularly, I'm interested in meeting producers and writers with whom I can develop ideas into scripts, and scripts in films. Creative collaboration doesn't always work out, but when it does it makes all the failures worthwhile. Feel free to message me, and if you're in Los Angeles perhaps we can do lunch, as it were.
NFS Score
123
(Sophomore)
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Negotiation Skills for Crew: 12 Tips for Getting What You Need On Set
4 years ago
You set your own standards (part of the advice in this article).
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Avid Finally Drops Free Media Composer Software — Here's What to Expect
4 years ago
Couldn't agree more! I loved Premiere, I work so fast with it, but ever since 2015.3 it's been hell. Might look into what DaVinci had to offer.
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6 Mistakes That Could Kill Your Crowdfunding Campaign
5 years ago
Having run a successful campaign for $20k, these are good tips. I do have a slight problem with #5, setting a high goal can (in some cases) make your campaign take off because a lofty goal is exciting to an audience (crowdfunding is all about psychology). But generally, yes, ask for what you need unless you already have a platform like NSF where people know you.
Also, don't use the lukewarm campaign sites like GoFundMe or IndieGoGo. Those campaigns, statistically, achieve their main goals far less frequently than Kickstarter where it's all or nothing (again, psychology). The exception being only if you don't truly need all the money, if you're okay getting 5% of your ask to offset costs, well, go ahead and use a site that will give you whatever amount you raise.
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The First and Final Frames of Famous Films Can Teach Us a Lot about Good Filmmaking
6 years ago
This is a great insight, and I love the use of American Beauty's score.
My problem with this kind of filmmaking is it essentially passes the buck to the few people you rope into working for you. Having them do 3 different jobs on set is not conducive to getting top quality footage, it'll get you decent footage for cheap.