Michael’s education and career have been centered on the experience and business of being captivated by story.He received a B.A. from Stanford University in Modern Thought and Literature with an Honors degree in Humanities. He then proceeded to teach high school English in the California public schools while gaining a M.A. in Education from Stanford.
He next attended USC Graduate Film School’s MFA Production Program, before beginning a long career as a literary agent. He apprenticed with the 89 year old literary agent H.N. Swanson who had been the most important co-agent in Hollywood beginning in 1934 looking after the rights to the likes of William Faulkner, F Scott Fitzgerald and James M Cain. Michael began his own literary management production company (MSA) in 1991, and began representing outstanding storytellers including John Le Carre, Martin Amis, T.C. Boyle, Michael Cunningham, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Tyler, Philip Roth, David Foster Wallace and Elmore Leonard.
Michael took his clients to CAA 1995 where he worked in their literary department, and then brought his clients to a leading management/production company Brillstetin Grey where he formed and headed up their literary department and also was co-head of their film production company.
He returned to running his independent management/production company (MSA). In 2000 he formed Ooblio, an aspirational company dedicated to creating new kinds of digital storytelling experiences that enrich the imaginative lives of children and support their experience of growing up. Ten years ago he committed his full attention to children’s storytelling and the business of family entertainment. He has represented leading children’s author including the Estate of Roald Dahl (James and the Giant Peach), William Joyce (Santa Calls), and Lauren Child (Charlie and Lola) and has helped establish Moonbot Studios in Shreveport LA that won this year’s Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and is an industry leader and innovator in storytelling apps.
He is the Executive Producer of films including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) and Dreamworks Animation’s Fall 2012 release Rise of the Guaridans. He is a Founder member of 5D a group of forward thinking architects, designers and storytellers. He lives in Santa Monica CA with his wife and two children.