The Future is Already Here - Altiqe Consulting

In this episode of Raising The Bar Podcast, Allison talks with Michael Mandeville.

Michael Mandaville has worked for 25 years as a Producer, line producer and UPM. He is also an internet entrepreneur working in the streaming and social media environments. The films he has worked on include “Taken”, “Taken 2” and “Taken 3” written and produced by Luc Besson, “Above Suspicion” with Emilia Clarke directed by Philip Noyce and “Havoc” with Anne Hathaway.

He recently directed “Into the Flames” which was sold at Cannes through Glass House Distribution and “Conviction: Murder in Four Parts” which won the Culver City Film Festival for Best Screenplay. He also produced, directed and wrote “Beer Pong Coach” a webseries. He does presentations for his FilmmakingWithACalcultor course.

The other films that he has worked on are “The Kiss” with Terence Stamp and Billy Zane, (“American History X” (New Line Cinema) with Edward Norton and Edward Furlong, “Friends of Friends” with Bruce Davison and Sherilynn Fenn, “Blood and Wine” (Jack Nicholson, Director: Bob Rafelson), “Millenium’s Child” (Disney/Miramax) with William Windom and Karen Black, “Sensation” with Eric Roberts, Ed Begley Jr., Paul Le Mat and Ron Perlman. “Hail Caesar” with Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey, Jr. and Judd Nelson. “Pumpkin Head II” (MPCA) with Ami Dolenz and Steve Kanaly. Michael also produced “The Almighty Fred”, an independent film. He has directed a recent feature, commercials, shorts, a documentary and industrial films. He has also worked on “Manahi” an Arabic language comedy which was the first film shown in Saudi Arabia in 35 years.

Michael also worked on numerous TV pilots including “Chunks of Life” (ABC), “Criminal Obsession with Telly Savalas and “Wet” with Arliss Howard, Cynda Williams (Directed by Bob Rafelson). “The Double O-Kid” with Corey Haim, Brigitte Nielsen. “Girlfriend from Hell” and “Spirit of the Eagle” with Dan Haggerty and Bill Smith. Michael worked on a CD-ROM Project, “Monty Python’s Holy Grail CD-ROM” with Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam. As an executive with Queens Cross Productions, he worked on “Keys to Freedom” with Jane Seymour and Omar Sharif, “The Tunnel” with Jane Seymour and Peter Weller and “Tapeheads” with Tim Robbins and John Cusack.

Michael is a bondable line producer with Film Finance. He also worked as a Risk Manager at the Motion Picture Bond Company. Through Transcom Productions, Michael has done Scheduling and Budgeting for clients including Relativity, Intl. Sales Organization, Paramount Pictures, Viacom, Bob Rafelson, Kushner-Locke Company, Mark Damon Worldwide, Europacorp, etc., .

Michael follows in the film industry in the steps of his aunt, Molly Mandaville, who worked as legendary film mogul Darryl Zanuck’s assistant for 35 years. He has written numerous scripts for option or for hire. Michael published a Trilogy of technothriller novels under the “Stealing Thunder” series which won the Thrillspy Award for best novel. He also published a mystery novel, “A Cold Death”. Both on Amazon. He has three more novels and several plays in process which usually keeps him out of trouble. He wrote a non-fiction book on counterterrorism. Michael received a Master’s Degree from USC in their prestigious Professional Writing Program. He attended the BA program for Columbia College and received a BA from UCSB in Philosophy.

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Conversation Highlights:

[01:04] How did Michael decide to make Taken?

[06:30] Isn’t your life a movie?

[07:23] How to have the right people on the right seats?

[12:43] What are the similarities between manufacturing and filmmaking?

[18:09] Michael teaches martial arts!

[21:01] Feedback loop is incredibly important.

[26:45] What is Michael’s remarkable achievement?

[31:28] Are you controlling the phone or the phone is controlling you?

[31:38] What’s coming up next in the film industry?

[36:48] You need to do the best with everything you have got. Don’t overlook anything because it might be the thing that your true raving fans love.

[37:09] How was it to work with Eric Idle?

Memorable Quotes:

“The future is already here, just unevenly distributed.”

“Don’t be afraid to talk to people.”

“If you judge somebody fairly, you can improve their life.”

“How do we make something better? One change at a time.”

Novel by Michael: A Cold Knife In a Warm Back: A Nick Blaine Thriller

Special Reminder:

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