Michael Lane

Debut feature director Jay Berman (Christopher Guest), steers cast and crew through a typically tumultuous independent film Home for Purim, an intimate period drama about a Jewish family's turbulent reunion on the occasion of the dying matriarch's favorite holiday. When Internet-generated rumors begin circulating that three of Purim's stars -- faded luminary Marilyn Hack (Catherine O'Hara), journeyman actor and former hot dog pitchman Victor Allan Miller (Harry Shearer), and ingenue Callie Webb (Parker Posey) -- may be perpetrating Award-worthy performances, a rumble of excitement rattles the cast. Once 'Hollywood Now' anchors Chuck Porter (Fred Willard) and Cindy Martin (Jane Lynch) pick up the buzz, Award fever infects the entire production. Unit publicist Corey Taft (John Michael Higgins), talent agent Morley Orfkin (Eugene Levy), and producer Whitney Taylor Brown (Jennifer Coolidge) all smell the sudden potential for a sleeper hit. As does Sunfish Classics President Martin Gibb (Ricky Gervais), who suggests some last-minute changes to the film that he feels will broaden the film's appeal. Meanwhile, Purim's screenwriters, Lane Iverson (Michael McKean) and Philip Koontz (Bob Balaban) grow steadily more horrified as they watch the first film adaptation of their work diverge from their original story. As the hopeful Purim team careens toward the end of production and the upcoming Award season, tenuous relationships and brittle dreams play out in unexpected ways...

Smallville: Season 10: Episode 7 -- The General and Lucy Lane (MICHAEL IRONSIDE and PEYTON LIST) decide to drop in on Lois and Clark for a surprise Thanksgiving dinner. But Rick Flagg (TED WHITTALL) has other plans.

Teaser trailer for Everything and Everyone. This charming and emotional drama from talented local director Tracy D. Smith was shot in Maple Ridge, B.C. Smith brings us an engaging ensemble film starring Gabrielle Rose as a mother quietly coping with dementia and Ryan Robbins as her grown son Noah who still lives at home. Noah's mother, Rose, does her best to hide her mounting struggle with memory loss. Noah is a self-absorbed but affable aspiring actor who is blissfully unaware of his lack of talent. Oblivious to his mother's increasingly obvious illness, he is also unable to relate to his newly discovered school-aged son Ben (the scene-stealing Sean Michael Kyer), whom social services dropped off on the driveway. As we get to know Noah and Rose, we meet a memorable set of interconnected friends and family members also facing pivotal moments of change and challenge in their lives. Themes of love, loss, laughter and acceptance all intertwine within this impressive first feature script from Ian Tang. A compelling story and Smith's skilled, sensitive direction allow the stellar cast to shine as a variety of relationships are explored, including a heartbreaking love story between two men (Chad Willett and Lane Edwards), and a magical grandma-and-grandson dynamic between Gabrielle Rose and Sean Michael Kyer's well-crafted characters.

I produced this when I was going to school at Lane Community College as part of my degree program in broadcast visual design. The assignment was to produce a public service announcement, and I had this concept around guns and domestic violence that i wanted to do in this stylized black and white 16mm film, however, couldn't afford the film at the time so I opted for 35mm film still shots and produced it as a slide show. New Millenium Productions was the imaginary production company that I had to create as part of our assignment. My dear friend Penny Shipp who is now Penny Kowalski wrote this song that, when I she first sang and played it for me back in 1991, floored me so that I cried and felt hope. Of course her 'unplugged' version was a little more country and when we got in the studio we went for a more rock sound. Penny is the voice, I play keyboards and drums, and our friend David Waterbury plays guitar and bass. Shannon Fishwick plays the mom, Laisha Johnson plays the daughter, Skylar Voegele plays the son, and Michael Knight plays the father. The marriage of the two elements, the song, and the slide show made for a very impacting video. I offer this here as an example of some of my early work back in 1999. I dedicate this video to all the women out there whose men have lost themselves to alcohol and guns, who hate the men that they have become, and that take it out on their children and especially their women. May God protect you all!