David Michaels

Michaels earned his first stripes as a personal assistant to Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. supervising the productions of various iconic cult films such as Sid and Nancy. After experiencing first-hand the rewards associated with quality filmmaking, he sought more personal creative freedom and set out to create his own identity.

This led to a position as the Senior Vice President for Lancit Media Entertainment, where he supervised the development and production of three television series which accumulated six Emmy wins during his tenure. He also ran its motion-picture division and acquired the subsidiary rights of children's picture books and young adult novels and subsequently developed them for the big and small screens.

These projects include The Giver (Walden Media, Weinstein Company), The Watsons (CBS, Sony, Hallmark, Walden Media), Taxi Dog (Warner Brothers, Radar Pictures), Reading Rainbow (PBS/Lancit Media Entertainment), The Puzzle Place (KCET/PBS/Lancit Media Entertainment), and Outward Bound (Discovery Channel/Lancit Media Entertainment).

Functioning as both executive and producer, he continued to acquire and develop a large number of intellectual properties for film and television. During this time he effectively packaged projects with Robin Williams, Cameron Diaz, Jeff Bridges, Whoopi Goldberg, Danny DeVito, Cathy Schulman, Rick Yorn, Michael Menchel, Pamela Abdy, David Lynch, Howard Rosenman, and Stacey Sher.

These projects include The Marx Brothers (Universal Pictures, Jersey Films), Fenwick's Suit (Fox 2000, John August), Dry Fire (HBO, Penny Marshall), Sleepless Beauty (Warner Brothers, Larry Wilson), The Guardian Angels (MGM, John Avildsen), Surveillance (Magnolia Pictures, Mark Cuban, Warner Brothers), Shelter Island (Showtime Networks), and Murder at the Cannes Film Festival (Merv Griffin, E! Entertainment). Surveillance premiered to critical acclaim on the red carpet in the Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008.

Ultimately finding his foothold, Michaels took the leap as an independent producer and screenwriter. Since this pivotal moment, he has acquired, developed, packaged, and set for production a number of films in partnership with Michael Benaroya (Lawless, Margin Call), Cassian Elwes (Dallas Buyers Club, The Butler), David Lynch (Mulholland Drive), Sandy Stern (Being John Malkovich), Gerard Butler (Olympus Has Fallen), and Alan Siegel (London Has Fallen).

These projects include Seasons of Dust (w/Chloe Grace Moretz, James Franco, Robert Redford), Last Summer (w/Sharon Stone) and A Fall From Grace (w/Forest Whitaker, Vincent D'Onofrio). He has also partnered with producer Laila Nabulsi to launch a live multimedia stage adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and he's executive produced the award-winning documentary Despite the Gods which follows filmmaker Jennifer Lynch as she fights an array of daunting obstacles while attempting to film a movie in Bollywood (India).

As a screenwriter, Michaels' inaugural effort entitled "M" has inspired a number of high-profile actors to passionately join the project. These thespians have included Woody Harrelson, Anjelica Huston, Ryan Gosling, Giovanni Ribisi, Eddie Izzard, Juno Temple, Tim Roth, Alanis Morissette, Kieran Culkin, Jason Lee, Katie Holmes, Lili Taylor, and Jim Broadbent. In addition, Grammy award-winning musician Dave Matthews has written and recorded 6 original songs based on that screenplay.

Michaels' next screenplay "Sold" has been green lit for production by the French studio Gaumont. Award-winning filmmaker Olivier Dahan (La Vie En Rose, Grace of Monaco) will direct. Marion Cotillard won the Oscar for Best Actress in La Vie En Rose. The studio is casting the movie with A-list American talent in the leading roles.

When not working, Michaels continues to mentor the exceptional talent pool of students emerging from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, and he also curates art-driven charitable events which benefit the David Lynch Foundation.