Michael Howard

Michael Howard (born Feb 18, 1978) is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, cinematographer, and founder of the film company Invisible Productions.

Background

Howard's acting career began at a young age when he made an appearance on Snowball Satellite TV in Germany and acted in the 'Twas the Night Before Christmas play in middle school. He attended High School at Charles M. Russell High School and was in numerous choirs and did some acting as well. After High School, he was premed in college pursuing a degree in biology in Alaska and became an Emergency medical technician and worked in an emergency room. He landed a lead role in a local play and then after receiving an associate degree from the University of Alaska, Howard promptly quit medicine and started studying filmmaking and acting. In 1998, he read and reviewed scripts for American Zoetrope while writing his first screenplay, Reality of Life. Howard then got his Bachelors degree in Recording Arts at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs and created his own indie film company by the name of Invisible Productions. His company has produced short films, documentaries, and features.

Career

While studying medicine in Alaska, Howard landed a starring role in Jugger's Rain and Tony n' Tina's Wedding which eventually led into his film career. While making films, Howard continued acting in the theatre at times with Theatreworks in Colorado in roles for To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear.

One of Howard's early short films entitled Lost garnered him awards for Best Actor at the 2004 Biarritz International Short Film Festival and Best Screenplay at the 2004 Festival de Cine Internacional de Barcelona. He was also nominated for Best Actor and Best Film at the New York Short Film Festival and Best Performance at the San Francisco Short Film Festival.

His first feature film was that of his first screenplay, Reality of Life. Howard also directed it and took on a supporting actor role and the film went on to play in Los Angeles and New York.

In 2007, Howard was brought onto the Vail Film Festival by Sean Cross and Scott Cross to be the official videographer for the festival and to shoot and edit the festival including promotions, award ceremonies, parties, screenings, red carpet, and interviews. Howard handles the still photography and videography throughout the festival. This also led to editing commercials for Comcast cable including promotions for companies including Cadillac, Stella Artois, and Audi. He continues in the position presently.

Howard created a commercial for Canon that advertised the XL-1. A parody on drug addiction, the commercial showed a camera being borrowed for a short time from a dealer in an alley and as soon as a customer starts running around using it, it is stolen by another camera junkie. In 2008, Howard was invited into the worldwide photography project called The Head Project. Photographers received a mannequin head in the mail to use for two weeks and then sent it to a photographer in a different country. Howard was one of the few chosen from the United States and the only artist from the state of North Carolina.

Due to his success with the Vail Film Festival, Howard was brought onto the Los Cabos International Film Festival as the official videographer for their inaugural edition. It launched in Los Cabos from 14 to 17 November 2012 with Edward Norton as the official festival adviser.

Howard co-directed the 2012 Hint Fiction Film Contest with actor/host Bill LeVasseur, based on the published collection of short stories also entitled Hint Fiction. The contest finalists screened at the Vail Film Festival and Howard and LeVasseur spoke about the contest and filmmaking in the short form afterward. The contest gave aspiring filmmakers a chance to work with stories written by Ernest Hemingway, Édith Piaf, or Eric Hsu in creating their 60-second film. Howard brought on writer/filmmaker Kevin Smith and filmmaker/photographer Tao Ruspoli to be celebrity judges for the contest.

Howard wrote and directed his second feature film entitled Where We're Meant to Be and it stars Blayne Weaver (Manic, Return to Never Land), Tate Hanyok (The Mentalist, Shameless), and Sarah Bousquet. The film travels in and out of the lives of a number of different characters as each one connects to the next during their most pivotal moments. It began its festival run in 2016 and was picked up for distribution by Turn Key Films in 2017. During its festival run, the film won multiple Best Film awards as well as awards for Best Screenplay, Audience Award, and various awards for its castmembers. The film also garnered additional nominations for Best Film and a variety of acting roles. The score was written by Steven Grove and the soundtrack consists of songs from Greg Laswell, Cary Brothers, Jack the Radio, Day at the Fair, Buddy (band), Tom Rosenthal (musician), Butterfly Boucher, and other indie artists from around the world. It was released in the United States and the United Kingdom via Flix Premiere in July 2017. Reviews consisted of lines such as "A thoughtful, beautiful film full of love and emotion…it might just change how you see the world.", "...bravely written script with heartfelt dialogue as well as compelling character development.", “An inventive and exciting approach to storytelling.”, and "Where We're Meant to Be is an indie gem.".

Filmography + Film credits Year Film Role Notes 2001 Chronic Jaywalking Actor 2001 Nemesis Rising: The Airband Director, Actor Winner: Best Comedy - BlissfestWinner: Best Narrative Short - Denver Underground Film Festival 2001 Pushed Director, Actor Nominated: Judge's Pick - Panhandle Picture Show 2001 Suicide Run Script Supervisor 2002 Reality of Life Director, Writer, Actor 2002 Simon Actor 2002 Beccerra Director of Photography 2003 Lost Director, Writer, Actor Winner: Best Actor - Festival de BiarritzWinner: Best Screenplay - Barcelona Cinema FestivalNominated: Best Film - New York Short Film FestivalNominated: Best Actor - New York Short Film FestivalNominated: Best Actor - San Francisco Short Film Festival 2011 Let Tyrants Fear Actor 2012 The Flower Cinematographer (Co) 2012 Baby Shoes Director, Screenwriter Winner: Best Film - Denver Underground Film FestivalWinner: Best Editing - Denver Underground Film FestivalHonorable Mention: Best Short Film - WV Mountaineer Film Fest 2013 The Agent Actor 2013 Box Brown Actor 2014 The Session Actor 2014 Split Second Writer 2015 Beyond the Blue (docu.) Self 2015 Halcyon Assistant Editor 2016 Where We're Meant To Be Director, Writer, Actor Winner: Best Film - filmSPARK Film FestivalWinner: Best Film - Eastern NC Film FestivalWinner: Best Feature Film - Raleigh Film FestivalWinner: Audience Award - Los Angeles CineFestWinner: Best Screenplay - Cape Fear Independent Film FestivalWinner: President's Award - North Carolina Film AwardsWinner: Audience Award - Eastern NC Film FestivalWinner: Best Supp. Actor (Seth Gore) - Eastern NC Film FestivalWinner: Best Supp. Actress (Anna Nalepka) - Asheville Film FestivalWinner: Best of Fest & Best Dramatic Trailer - Skyphire Film FestivalNominated: Best Film - Los Angeles CineFestNominated: Best Film - Cape Fear Independent Film FestivalNominated: Best Film - Asheville Film FestivalNominated: Best Film - Garden City Int’l Film FestivalNominated: Best Supp. Actor (Jack Harrison) - Asheville Film FestivalNominated: Best Actress (Tracey Coppedge) - Eastern NC Film FestivalNominated: Best Supp. Actor (Blayne Weaver) - Eastern NC Film FestivalNominated: Best Supp. Actress (Anna Nalepka) - Eastern NC Film Festival 2017 Vigilance Actor 2017 The Believers Actor 2019 Poppy and Margot Actor 2019 In Limbo Actor 2019 Going Down Slow Actor 2020 Epiphany Road Actor 2021 Bind Writer Winner: Best Writing, Runner-up - Greensboro 48 Hour Film Project 2021 Mallory (docu.) Editing Supervisor 2022 History's Heroes: The Rusty Bucket Kids Actor

+ Television credits Year Show Role Notes 2009 Backyard Genius Editor Episode 1.2, "Marlin Condo" 2012-2013 Revolution Actor Episode 1.4: "The Plague Dogs" Episode 1.17: "The Longest Day" Episode 1.18: "Clue" 2013 American Detours Cinematographer/Editor Episode 1.5 and 1.6: West Virginia Special Edition: New Jersey: Hurricane Sandy (1.7 and 1.8) Episode 2.1 and 2.2: Lake TahoeEpisode 2.3 and 2.4: IowaEpisode 2.5 and 2.6: Texas (Editor only) 2015 The Setlist Camera Operator 2019-2020 The Disappearance of Robert Bee Writer/Editor Season 1, Episodes 1-10 2020 The Ericka James Show Cinematographer 2022 The Shepherd Actor In production