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Sunday, June 25, 2006
A belated but hearty congratulations to Mike for landing one of the leading roles in the independent short film by Jaki West
and directed by Lynn D'Angona entitled, "Girl Talk"! It is a bittersweet comedy about life's embarrassing moments
in the life of a teenage girl. Michael plays the role of a "blonde, cute young Josh Hartman" teenage boy who climbs
out of a pool and asks one of the girls at a birthday pool party if he can borrow her towel leading to a very awkward moment
for the girl. The film is set in the 1970's and Mike wears a swimsuit he would likely never be caught in under any normal
circumstances!
The director of the movie, Lynn D'Angona, has directed an award winning documentary entitled, "Between the White
Lines," as well as having directed the second unit on such films as "Megiddo, The Omega Code 2," "Leprechaun
IV, Pinocchio's Revenge," and "Backstreet Justice." Her directorial debut film, "Lulu Askew," starring
Lisa Eichorn and Stanley Tucci won the "Audience Favorite Award" at the Palm Springs International Film Festival,
LA Women in Film Festival and the New York Women in Film Festival.
Jaki West is a Line Producer with over 15 years of experience in commercials, music videos and independent films. She
has produced hundreds of commercials and her extensive credits include, "Fair Game," "Cleola and John,"
and "Lost Junction."
The movie was shot in one day (12+ hours) at a location in the Santa Clarita Valley north of Los Angeles. Please be sure
to check out the behind-the-scenes photos of Michael from the filming of this production on our new, "On The Set"
web page. As you can see, there are a LOT of extremely hard working professionals who rarely get the credit they deserve working
behind the scenes to make a film like this successful. We genuinely appreciate all of their incredible efforts as well as
the opportunity provided for Michael by Ms. West and Ms. D'Angona. Mike had a fantastic time and learned a lot from everyone
involved. A special thanks also goes out to all the fine actors and actresses that played background roles in support of the
production. Mike formed several new friendships with the other kids he met during filming.
Finally, after multiple callbacks, Mike just missed landing another Disney television pilot, "Broken House"
and remains in contention for major roles in another television series as well as a major feature film. As casting for those
projects becomes finalized, we will update you with further information. Break a leg, Mike!
Sunday, June 4, 2006
Double Congratulations to our oldest son, A.J.!!!
A.J. recently graduated from film school at the Zaki Gordon Institute for Independent Filmmaking at Yavapai College in
Sedona, AZ. Great job, son! We are proud of you for all of your hard work and dedication...
In addition, all that hard work paid off a week later when one of A.J.'s films he produced, "Television Static,"
won Best Picture at the ZGI Sedona Film Festival!!! Great job, A.J.!!! A.J.'s other film, "The Choice," won Best
Sound Design and A.J. was runnerup for the Best Director Award!!! Heady praise, indeed! All those long hours in post production
paid off! We are so proud of A.J.!!!
After a couple of months of working and recovering, A.J. is planning on joining the rest of us out in Hollywood where
he will be trying to break into the business. With those kinds of awards in tow, we hope the going will be a little easier!
Congratulations again, son! Please check out some of the photos from his graduation and the Sedona Film Festival on our Family
& Friends page.
Monday, May 1, 2006
Big apologies to all for the lack of updates recently! Unfortunately, I have been busy with writing a novel and there has
not been a lot of news to report...
Back in March, Mike was very fortunate to get multiple callbacks for one of the starring roles in the remake of Jules
Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D. In fact, he was one of only about 4-5 actors remaining when
we got the word he missed. We had been told the studio had auditioned virtually every actor in Hollywood for the role and
Mike was the only unknown left. The rest of the actors were all supposedly name actors. Other than Brendan Fraser playing
the father, we are still not sure who landed the role of his teenage son. The movie is going to have a Star Wars-level of
release when it comes out as it will reportedly debut in over 3000 theaters nationwide.
Mike's other project, the movie "Silent Fall," has been postponed until after pilot season due to scheduling
conflicts. Mike has one of the starring roles and plays the brother of the girl who will be played by Hollywood star, Skye
Bartusiak (see link). They have already had a script reading with all the actors and Mike had a blast. He is looking forward
to when the movie goes into production. We will keep you posted!
Finally, we are still waiting to hear about another starring role in a movie for which Mike is still in the running. The
movie is called "The Last Sin Eater" and is going to be directed by Michael Landon Jr. (son of the famous Michael
Landon from Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie fame.) We will keep you posted on the final outcome with that project.
It is set to go into production this month in South Carolina and appears to be targeted for airing on the Hallmark Channel.
Thanks for all the support and as my writing permits, I will try to keep everyone better informed. Of course, if Mike
lands something major, I will get it up as quickly as possible...
Skye Bartusiak on IMDB.com
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Happy New Year to all of you who have been following Michael's career! We appreciate your patience with the updates as a lot
has been happening on the personal front for us which has prevented me from updating the site as often as I would like. We
all had a very busy holiday season visiting with relatives and doing what seemed like endless traveling!
First of all, to those who might have recently sent Mike some email, he has just recently had it forwarded to him and
he should be getting back to you as he has time. He does genuinely appreciate your interest but is quite literally overwhelmed
by his schedule. Keep in mind that he is now in the beginning of pilot season. This is an extremely busy time for actors as
new television series pilots for next fall are now being cast and shot in the next few months. All that is in addition to
the usual amount of auditions for print, commercial and film projects.
For instance, Mike has just recently been invited to accept the lead role of Trevor in the new film by director Jennifer
Campbell and producer Cheryl Tkach called, "A Silent Fall". We are very excited for this opportunity and proud of
his accomplishment. We will let you all know more as we get closer to production.
Anyway, Mike has just had new headshots made (once again by the venerable Robert Kazandjian) as the older ones were made
back when he was 13. Please check back as his website will be undergoing some changes to incorporate the new photos as well
as providing a new and improved message board where friends can post messages and discuss Mike's career. We hope you will
like the changes. Please let us know your opinions once we get the new site online.
Thanks again for your continued patience and support!
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