July 29, 2012

PRODUCER | DIRECTOR | WRITER - Today our guest is Michael Akers. Michael started out with the usual on-set jobs of Set Dresser, Production Assistant, Assistant Director, Production Manager. Shifted his focus to development and spent nearly three years with Turner Feature Animation (“Cats Don’t Dance”) helping to research and develop animated features. The Warner Brothers buyout of Turner moved Michael onto the staff of Grand Productions, an independent movie development company headquartered at the HBO offices in Century City. He helped land the Ripley's “Believe It or Not” franchise and worked in developing features for the likes of: David Bowie, Nicolas Cage and the estate of Andy Warhol. He also helped produce the Lifetime series show “Intimate Portraits” of Heather Locklear and Jane Seymour. Thereafter, Michael moved into television production as the Executive Assistant to Martin Short on “The Martin Short Show.” This high profile position enabled him to take positions as Story/Research Assistant to Ryan Seacrest’s “NBC’s Saturday Night at the Movies” and Anne Robinson’s “The Weakest Link.” DISCUSSION TOPICS: What are the 1-2-3 steps you should take when producing a movie? What is the best way to raise money to fund your film project? How do you select the film festivals to enter that are best for your film? What is the best way to get distribution? How long do you continue to extract notoriety out of your individual projects? MICHAEL AKERS WEBSITE: michaelakers.info