About

Michael M. Conti

Michael M. Conti has over 30 years of experience in video production, technical direction, hosting online learning modules, and streaming platform distribution to help tell stories and monetize film content.  As a director, editor, producer, and consultant, Conti’s successful track record, beginning in Hollywood and beyond, is representative of his work through Michael M. Conti Productions LLC.

Director’s Statement

I invite you to learn how I went from art student to auteur.  In filmmaking one always feels like a student as there is always something new to learn and discover.  I particularly like the quote of Steven Spielberg: “Even though I get older, what I do never gets old, and that’s what I think keeps me hungry.” I am still hungry to learn even as I master my craft.  This project allows me to stretch and learn more.

Michael M. Conti
Michael M. Conti Photo by Lisa Siciliano.

In my last two theatrically released films, part of The Unruly Mystic film series, I have established a good reputation with audiences, and have sold out theater venues in multiple US and foreign cities. My films been particularly successful with special niche of educated older audiences yet are relatable to all ages.

People have told me they appreciate that the films can be both experiential and inspirational, while also allow them to learn more about the subject of those films, Saint Hildegard (2014) and John Muir (2018), respectively. They enjoy my unique style and perspective that I bring to my films.  My newest 60-minute film, “Hildegard Specht” premiered in Bad Kreuznach as part of the Hildegard Week events on 13th of August 2022.

In 1982, the impact of creating moving images as an art form was not apparent to me as an art student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, when I studied painting in oils and printmaking.  Like many other young students, I was experimenting with finding my own voice through writing poetry.  Film was something made by Hollywood.  Koyaanisqatsi (1982) was an exception and greatly influenced me as a young filmmaker.

In the beginning, shooting on film was very expensive considering the costs for film, development, and prints. Home video was not affordable in the consumer market.  Yet, I knew that I wanted to transform my poetic storytelling into cinematic exchange with my painting and print work.  The medium of film was just too powerful to ignore.  All those elements would rapidly come together over the next 20 years in the digital revolution.  Through film I was able to see how the audio and visual could be combined into a more powerful experience for the observer. 

My first opportunity to experiment in filmmaking came when I transferred schools and was accepted into The Colorado College in 1984 for my final two years of college.  It was in this higher academic environment I could finally engage with my vision properly. Receiving a small financial grant allowed me to finally create what I had been envisioning, a 16mm film that was based upon a poem I had written.

Entering into Film

My academic advisor for this adventure into the film was Stan Brakhage[1], who is well-known in the film art world through his work in 20th-century experimental film.  Brakhage’s unique style influenced Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ who uses Brakhage’s painted film style to depict the death of Jesus on the cross. I would consider Brakhage the father of poetic cinema.  

The first 16mm film I made was 9-minute long and in black and white, and titled Public Fixture (1985).  Making this film was a very hand felt experience as I was cutting actual film, much like putting paint on a canvas.  This poetic film would become my calling card when I went to Hollywood seeking work as a filmmaker a few years later.

Screen capture from 16mm film “Public Fixture”

My first job was as production assistant for Roger Corman.  He had mentored and given a start to many young film directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdanovich, and James Cameron.  I worked in Hollywood for almost ten years with a variety of companies as a producer and director. 

Over the years I have developed my own craft as a digital video editor. I started with Adobe Premiere 2.0 in the mid-1990s and have continued with Adobe Premiere Pro in 2003.  I edit all of my own projects on the latest software and utilize the best computer hardware.

Looking at own work today as an editor and director, I often think of myself as a composer who is working with moving images instead of music.  I can describe what I would like to have the final composition “sound” like, which will be revealed in this proposal, but the final product will be only truly represented on the screen.  It is necessary for me to explore the details of a “musical phrase” through the editing process. Some questions that occur during the editing process include what the “beats” or pulses or tempo of the storyline are, what is propelling the story at that section, how quickly the story ought to be told during that chapter, and how much breath or pause is required before beginning something more. 

Editing on Premiere Pro

These are intuitive editorial decisions that must be examined many times before the film can considered finished. The end result of the video editor’s timeline might look like the rise and fall of notes in a musical composition, some sections are more fast paced, others slower and more nuanced. As I do film as well as editing, it is always my intention to “film for the edit” as much as possible, but one is never exactly certain what the final composition will actually be like until the editing occurs. Some sections have a rapid tempo, others require more time to contemplate what has been presented.

For the audience, these moving images are part of a poetic composition, a cinematic experience that is both a painting and poem that comes to life during the time that an audience has together in a darkened cinema. In that space the light and sound transport them into another time and place, another reality.

I see this as a sacred space and continue have reverence for the artistry and craft required in filmmaking to transport the audience into that reality and hold their attention. It is as if being inside a living painting. It is experience that I will never grow tired of creating.

Michael M. Conti at The Hippodrome in Scotland for a Director’s Talkback

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Brakhage (Stan Brakhage, 2022)

Meaning behind Crazy Wisdom

My friend, Raji Thron, explained that crazy wisdom was coined in 1971 by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in Boulder. The connection was auspicious rather than incidental. To share the same title with Rinpoche’s book added a deeper layer to my journey as an artist.

In 2011, I watched the film Crazy Wisdom at the Boulder International Film Festival and met the director,  Johanna Demetrakas. The film is an exploration of Tibetan Buddhism told through the story of Chogyam Trungpa, the “bad boy of Buddhism.” Trungpa played a pivotal role in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the West. The film captures the time and energy from that moment in history. The special edition DVD is available here.

Crazy Wisdom venue sign at Boulder International Film Festival 2011.

Exploring the spiritual connections through film & books