By the age of ten he had decided to dedicate his life to one thing, making movies. He approached his teachers as early as 5th grade and negotiated school credits for video projects designed around the lessons in English and Theology. He took it upon himself to gather his peers for several of these projects. As a result, video became a popular option for school projects that was soon both being req
uested by students and offered by teachers. An innate and outstanding sense of directing started growing at an early age as he began to help other students with their video assignments when they were overwhelmed. Michael decided one day that he would become a director. He realized that there were many intricate aspects that went into a film such as lighting, camera angles, acting, writing, music, sounds, etc. With each of these aspects came a person or department a director would have to utilize to bring his/her vision to reality. In order to gain the respect of himself and the people who would one day be working for him, Michael decided to step into each of these shoes first and learn first hand what it took for all of these people to complete their jobs. For example, though he didn’t necessarily want to become an actor, he signed up for and dedicated much of his time to a theatrical role in “Our Town” as a freshman in high school. It was during this time that Michael began learning the high end and current industry standard video editing software (such as Adobe After Effects, Premiere, and Photoshop). Every year he continued his strategy of making videos for course projects. Throughout his attendance at Bishop Hendricken High School, Michael regularly produced videos for many classes. One such project was for a history class where he used a green screen to appear as if he was walking his viewers through a gothic cathedral. He did this to creatively point out and explain the detailed characteristics of what made these structures so unique. After graduating high school, Michael went on to attend the University of Rhode Island to study film media. He excelled in all his film classes and took it upon himself to learn more on his own. He began buying books for all the film courses he could find whether he was taking the class or not and continued to teach himself the art he fell in love with as a child. Michael was drawn to film over and above other forms of art because he recognized a fundamental difference between film and any other art form: it was the only one that had the ability to utilize all other arts. The notion that understanding other art forms would contribute to his education in film was prevalent in the approach to his studies. Michael decided to learn as much as he could about as many other arts as possible so he could apply them to his own style. He studied painting to learn color theories and how they can affect mood. He studied music to master sounds, marketing to understand his audiences, and creative writing to understand story telling. But what stories would he tell? What would his content be about? Michael recognized quickly that his deep intrigue of philosophy would fill this gap. So he sought philosophy classes, for example: Logic, The Philosophy of Religion, Modern Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, and Metaphysics. He decided that he wanted to use stories to draw connections between the deep essences he saw in seemingly different situations and character drives. By doing this Michael believed he could expose a much deeper feeling and understanding of the world that cannot be exposed merely in words. He did not let his schoolwork keep me from making movies. Every semester Michael made at least one movie, often outside the context of course assignments. He invested $1000 into one project that was shot on 16mm film, just to understand the very foundations of his art form. He explains that there is a very limiting feature in the medium of film compared to video where the images being captured cannot be previewed until after they are developed. This aspect forces the filmmaker, for instance, to measure all the levels of light in the frame as well as understand their color temperatures all in relation to each other in order to calculate how the image will look before ever seeing it. In this way Michael grew significantly in his ability to recognize the intricacies of lighting. After college, he decided to learn hands on by working with professionals in the industry. He was a production assistant, a grip, a best boy electric, a gaffer, and a cameraman, but soon fell right back to where the majority of his expertise lied, editing. Since most of this work was volunteer or very low pay, Michael soon turned to the wedding industry to continue his passion in a more economically viable position. The work he performed began to draw many eyes. Through word of mouth, wedding companies began requesting he work for them. Filming weddings allowed Michael to practice his editing techniques including coloring and multi-camera editing. He also learned vital rules and boundaries while at these weddings, such as how to get the necessary shots while remaining invisible. However, all along he missed fully creating his own films. So Michael decided to explore the level of his capabilities after all he had experienced, by making his own short film. He focused on creating a story that would be simple and achievable. He thought of all the locations he had at his disposal and formed a story around them. Michael then went though the connections he had made and began calling in favors. He was able to put together a professional cast and crew that volunteered their time to help fulfill his vision. Since everyone was volunteering his or her time, Michael was forced to work around everyone’s schedule; it took over a year to complete seven days of shooting, but he stuck with it and got it done. Michael named the film “Great Blue.” With this film came the start of his company. For the name he formulated a new word – “enue.” He explains how he liked that it sounded like “a new” because it gave the company an immediate sense of freshness, originality, and constant progression. He wrote it all in lowercase and flipped the first “e” upside down so as a logo the entire word could appear upside down, but would still look exactly the same. Just as with the films he is determined to make, Michael had created something that would be viewed at many different angles, yet still lead all that witnessed to the same place. And with that, Enue Studios was born.
