Michael Wiese Productions has also collaborated with Raindance on several initiatives, including the publication of the “Raindance Producer’s Lab: Lo-To-No Budget Filmmaking” book. This book, which was written by a team of experienced independent producers, provides practical advice and tips for making a low-budget or no-budget film.
Wiese has also served as a judge for the Raindance Film Festival’s “Web Fest” competition. Raindance Web Fest showcased web series from around the world. In addition to his involvement with Raindance, Wiese has also been an active member of the independent filmmaking community in the United States. He has been a frequent speaker and panelist at film festivals and conferences.
His official bio is full of major achievements:
After producing the highly popular “Hardware Wars” (a Star Wars parody), Wiese was an entertainment executive with Showtime and later Vice President of Vestron Video. He launched comedy lines with Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Crystal, and over 300 other videos. He was responsible for creating video lines for National Geographic, Smithsonian, NOVA, and PBS.
He oversaw Michael Wiese Productions which publishes a line of over 140 professional filmmaking books. These titles include The Writer’s Journey, Shot by Shot, Directing Actors, Save the Cat, and Cinematic Storytelling. They are used in major motion picture studios and in over 600 film courses throughout the world. For over 25 years, he has presented filmmaking seminars for Kodak (at the Cannes Film Festival), The AFI, The International Film & TV Workshops, Raindance, and many others throughout the world.
He recently released The “Sacred Sites of the Dalai Lamas” (Tibet), “The Shaman and Ayahuasca” (Peru) and was in post-production on “Talking With Spirits” (Bali).
Michael! You are missed! But knowing you, I know you’ll always be on my shoulder in your altered state.
Rest in Peace.
Elliot Grove
