Michael Akers

Michael D. Akers (born September 5, 1970, in Ephrata, Pennsylvania) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and film editor. In 2000, he founded "United Gay Network" (UGN) with his longtime partner, Sandon Berg. Most of his films are LGBT-related.

Career Michael D. Akers studied at Indiana University of Pennsylvania before moving to Los Angeles to begin a career in the entertainment industry as production assistant and assistant director to work on the cable movie Jurassic Women (1996). For three years, he worked with Turner Feature Animation on Cats Don't Dance helping to research and develop animated features. He became executive assistant to Martin Short on The Martin Short Show premiered at the 9th Annual Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. It was followed by Matrimonium, an improv film about a reality show trying to marry two men for ratings. Phoenix is a symbolic and lyrical film examining why relationships end the way that they do. It focuses on a young man who goes to Phoenix, Arizona to surprise his lover, only to discover his lover's secret other life. Morgan is about a paraplegic man putting his life back together after a bicycle racing accident leaves his paralyzed.

In Gone, But Not Forgotten he was credited as Michael D. Akers. But in all later movies, he used Michael Akers (dropping the middle "D").

United Gay Network is a production house founded by Michael D. Akers and Sandon Berg. Akers has released his films through the company.

Regarding the production of Morgan, Berg said: "I think Morgan is a very universal story. I don't think it is gay-specific at all." Morgan is the story of a gay and paralyzed young athlete that defies stereotypes and pushes through boundaries. The lead character, a young athlete, named Morgan Oliver, is first seen wallowing in a state of depression, drowning his sorrows in beer as he watches bicycle racing (the sport that at once defined his sense of purpose and drove him to his catalytic accident) on television.

UGN's first long feature film, Gone, But Not Forgotten, was considered to have set the pace for normalizing the portrayal of gay people in cinema.

Personal life Akers is gay. His long-term partner is Sandon Berg. They have been together since the late 1990s.

Filmography

Director 2003: Gone, But Not Forgotten 2005: Matrimonium 2006: Phoenix 2012: Morgan Others 2011: The Friends Project of David Raleigh with Alan Cumming, Ari Gold, and Billy Porter to benefit the Ali Forney Center

Producer 2003: Gone, But Not Forgotten 2005: Matrimonium 2012: Morgan

Writer 2003: Gone, But Not Forgotten 2005: Matrimonium 2006: Phoenix 2012: Morgan

Editor 2003: Gone, But Not Forgotten 2005: Matrimonium 2005: Flirting with Anthony 2006: Phoenix 2006: Love Life 2010: Going Maverick: The Sarah Palin Story (video short) 2011: The Friends Project of David Raleigh with Alan Cumming, Ari Gold, and Billy Porter to benefit the Ali Forney Center 2012: Morgan