Rex Sikes' Movie Beat

Michael Sajbel is a feature film writer, producer and Director whose career has now spanned over three decades. Wraith (2018) is his most recent film, shot in Neenah, Wisconsin, starring Lance Henriksen, Jackson Hurst and Ali Hillis.

Michael is perhaps best known for The Ultimate Gift, starring James Garner, Brian Dennehy and Abigail Breslin. He also directed, One Night with The King, a faithful retelling of the Biblical story of Esther, starring Omar Sharif, John Rhys-Davies, Tiffany DuPont, John Noble and Peter O’Toole. 

Altogether Michael has worked in the above capacities or as a Director of Photography on over 40 feature films and over 400 television episodes. 

Michael is currently in production on The Mulligan, based on the Ken Blanchard & Wally Armstrong book of the same name. The film stars Eric Close (American Sniper, Nashville) and Pat Boone (Journey to the Center of the Earth.)

He was born and raised in Wisconsin and is married to Susan Allen, MD, (Anesthesiology) with three children. He attended UCLA where he was named to the Dean’s List all quarters and graduated summa cum laude. He divides his time between Wisconsin and Hollywood and currently has several films in development.

Michael Sajbel is a feature film writer, producer and Director whose career has now spanned over three decades. Wraith (2018) is his most recent film, shot in Neenah, Wisconsin, starring Lance Henriksen, Jackson Hurst and Ali Hillis.

Michael is perhaps best known for The Ultimate Gift, starring James Garner, Brian Dennehy and Abigail Breslin. He also directed, One Night with The King, a faithful retelling of the Biblical story of Esther, starring Omar Sharif, John Rhys-Davies, Tiffany DuPont, John Noble and Peter O’Toole. 

Altogether Michael has worked in the above capacities or as a Director of Photography on over 40 feature films and over 400 television episodes. 

Michael is currently in production on The Mulligan, based on the Ken Blanchard & Wally Armstrong book of the same name. The film stars Eric Close (American Sniper, Nashville) and Pat Boone (Journey to the Center of the Earth.)

He was born and raised in Wisconsin and is married to Susan Allen, MD, (Anesthesiology) with three children. He attended UCLA where he was named to the Dean’s List all quarters and graduated summa cum laude. He divides his time between Wisconsin and Hollywood and currently has several films in development.

Michael Sajbel is a feature film writer, producer and Director whose career has now spanned over three decades. Wraith (2018) is his most recent film, shot in Neenah, Wisconsin, starring Lance Henriksen, Jackson Hurst and Ali Hillis.

Michael is perhaps best known for The Ultimate Gift, starring James Garner, Brian Dennehy and Abigail Breslin. He also directed, One Night with The King, a faithful retelling of the Biblical story of Esther, starring Omar Sharif, John Rhys-Davies, Tiffany DuPont, John Noble and Peter O’Toole. 

Altogether Michael has worked in the above capacities or as a Director of Photography on over 40 feature films and over 400 television episodes. 

Michael is currently in production on The Mulligan, based on the Ken Blanchard & Wally Armstrong book of the same name. The film stars Eric Close (American Sniper, Nashville) and Pat Boone (Journey to the Center of the Earth.)

He was born and raised in Wisconsin and is married to Susan Allen, MD, (Anesthesiology) with three children. He attended UCLA where he was named to the Dean’s List all quarters and graduated summa cum laude. He divides his time between Wisconsin and Hollywood and currently has several films in development.

Rod Lurie wrote & directed the Academy Award & Golden Globe Award nominated thriller “The Contender” starring Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges, Gary Oldman & Christian Slater which was honored by the Broadcast Film Critics with the first-ever Alan J. Pakula Award. Lurie created the TV series “Commander In Chief”  nominated for the Best Drama Series Golden Globe. Geena Davis won the Best Actress Golden Globe. Recent projects include directing “The Outpost” starring Scott Eastwood, Caleb Landry Jones & Orlando Bloom based on the book with same title by CNN anchor Jake Tapper. The remake of “Straw Dogs” starring James Marsden, Kate Bosworth & Alexander Skarsgard, “Nothing But the Truth” starring Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda & Matt Dillon, “Resurrecting the Champ” starring Samuel L Jackson & Josh Hartnett. He created and executive-produced “Line of Fire,” FBI drama for ABC, and directed “The Last Castle“ starring Robert Redford, James Gandolfini &Mark Ruffalo. Lurie made his writing and directing debut in 1998 with the Atlanta FIlm Festival Award Winning BEst short “Four Second Delay.”  In 2000 he directed first feature “Deterrence” starring Kevin Pollak & Timothy Hutton. He graduated from the United States MilitaryAcademy at West Point in 1984 and served four years in the U.S. Army. After the military, Lurie enjoyed success as a film critic and entertainment reporter. He was a frequent contributor to magazines as Premiere, Movieline and Entertainment Weekly and  worked as a film critic, investigative reporter and contributing editor to Los Angeles Magazine from 1990-1995. Lurie authored thebook Once Upon A Time in Hollywood in 1995.

Dan Davies is an internationally acclaimed and award winning writer/actor/producer. He's co-starred, produced or written feature films that have been nominated for a BIFA (British Independent Film Award), the African Academy Award, AIFI's American Indian Best Film Award, Toronto Film Festival Best Film, Raindance Film Festival Best Film etc., and he has won Political Film Society's Best Film (Human Rights and Peace), the AMVCA (African Magic Viewers' Choice Award), AELA (African Entertainment Legend Award) and the Golden Movie Award (Africa) Best Supporting Actor Comedy. He is also the first American to ever be awarded a Golden Movie Award (Top 3 film award on the continent of Africa).

His films have been nationally showcased on PBS, Retro TV Network, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Redbox, Tribeca Shortlist, Walmart, Barnes & Noble etc. He also co-stars in two films that are respectively the No. 6 and No. 32 Highest Box Office Nollywood films of All-Time. Nollywood is the second largest film market in the world and now Dan is considered the No. 1 American Actor in Nollywood.

His film (co-star) "A Trip to Jamaica" just premiered on Netflix in 190 countries (Dec 13th, 2019) and became a Top 10 Most Trended & Popular New Addition for the month of Dec. He has been featured in over 1000 media including CBS (National) News, CNN, BBC, NPR, PBS, PRI, USA Today, RTHK (Radio TV Hong Kong) The Financial Times (UK), Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Forbes etc.

The NIFA Legend Award is named the Blake Award, (Dances with Wolves) Michael Blake. 2019 was the inaugural award show at The Film Forte, Appleton, WI. Oother winners included Sir Sean Connery  (Lifetime Achievement), Multi-platinum artist Neal McCoy (Musical Legend), and Jeff Olm for Post-Production (Lifetime Achievement  - Post-Production).

Susan Sherayko, authored 'Rainbows Over Ruins', is a 3-time Daytime Emmy nominated Executive in Charge of Production/Line Producer of Home & Family on Hallmark Channel. She's a member of PGA & Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She's a Certified psychosynthesist, Empowered Spiritual Life Coach, LifeSuccess Consultant, Power Habits Coach and Afformer. 

Susan Sherayko offers life, success and power habit coaching services, on and offline, that support change from within to overcome your most difficult experiences as you tap into your full potential and attain your goals.

A mudslide destroyed her family’s home. Susan and her family survived. Their recovery inspired her to become a Life, Success and Power Habits Coach who began guiding others to survive major setbacks, rebuild, and ultimately, create a new vision that allows them to create again. Armed with inner strength, you can accomplish anything.

Susan recognized there are common traits between success and survival that enable us to survive and recover, and become successful.These are life skills can be acquired before major setbacks. Sherayko founded Train Your Brain, Claim Your Power. By empowering your mind through training, you can be prepared to take control of any challenge, big or small.  

See “Your Survivor’s Guide:n12 Tips to Gain Inner Peace” at (www.GiftFromSusan.com). She blogs, “To Your Success”, leads workshops and 1-on-1 coaching.  Her online audio course, "Manifesting Your Dreams: A Roadmap to Identify and Achieve Your Goals" is available at www.CourseCraft.net/courses/z9RSY.  

We discuss production and career skills

Producer, Director, and Finisher Jeff Olm started in the business as a cameraman and editor for Green Bay, WI television stations. He moved to Hollywood to work as Flame/VFX artist on movies like Fifth Element, Titanic, Die Hard, Zodiac, Spider-Man, and Armageddon. He was working as a colorist for Dreamworks where he graded Madagascar 3, Puss in the Boots, How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda.

Jeff is always willing to experiment and master new technologies. He was one of the first people to grade stereoscopic 3D or 360 VR. He' s also one of the first to take the process of dailies to the next level while working on movies like Revenant. He developed Virtual Machines and Cloud workflows with Eclipse Tech for Universities, Studios, and streaming services. Currently Jeff is utilizing these tools on 3 Wisconsin based projects.

He has 5 Wisconsin based projects in development. One,"Farm State" which currently is in production has farmers telling their family farm stories in the Midwest, It includes interviews and footage from FarmAid 2019 shot in East Troy, Alpine Valley, Wisconsin.

His company Perfect Pictures, LLC has a Premier/Resolve post suite in Spring Green, WI.

Producer, Actor, Author Peter Sherayko makes himself available to colleges and universities to share his 40 years in the business with those who wish a career in entertainment. Peter acts and produces for both film and television, appearing in over 81 films and 200 television and stage shows. Peter was a producer on the film Bone Tomahawk with his longtime friend, Kurt Russell. His last two productions are Soldier’s Heart to be released in June, 2020 and Shooting Star currently in post-production. Spring of 2020, Peter is consulting producer for the INSP series, Wild West Chronicles. 

John Milius told him once, “Before you write, you have to have something to say.” Peter waited until he had over 30 years experince to do that. He's authored fTombstone: The Guns and Gear, describes in detail all the firearms and props his company Caravan West supplied for the iconic film Tombston. His second book, The Fringe of Hollywood, is a fact filled instructional guide to assist writers, directors and actors in making Western films. It explains the period correct firearms, saddles and costumes, as well as working with animals and other nuances specific to creating a Western.   

Peter provides a wide range of services geared specifically to the Western genre: acting, stunt coordinating, producing, writing, advising and supplying for all these venues. He spends 365 days a year busy and fulfilling his dreams. His website is www.CaravanWest.com.

To be successful in the movie business you need to known and understand the movie business. It is a profit driven manufazturing process of creative content. You need to know how to find or raise money to make get your projecgs done. You need to know where to go and what to do to get your projects released, distributed to the markets so you can see a return on your investment. If you want to make a living making movies and television you must listen to Michael Feifer as he gives you tips, methods and know-how to be more successful. Mike is President of Feifer Worldwide, Inc.A Production Company. He's produced/Line Produced more than 100 feature films and directed more than 60 feature films. He's written more than 40 feature films. His past experience includes VP of Sales & Distribution for Vista Street Entertainment. Was Head of Production & Development-Vista Street Entertainment (1992-1998) VP of Home Video for Vista Street Entertainment (1993-1998) and President of Flat Iron Multimedia an (Entertainment Graphics Company) (1997-2001) Michael knows his stuff. Let him help you move ahead. Join us.

Michael Feifer grew up in a show biz family.  His father was Head of Television Research for 20th Century Fox in the late 60's and 70's. After graduating college Mike decided to take advantage of the fact that his father was producing independent films.  After working on only three projects, at twenty-four Mike produced his first feature. 

Eventually, Mike began producing films for others and has now produced more than seventy-five feature films.  When a director dropped out of a film he was producing, he finally got his shot to direct.  The film was called Lethal Eviction and it starred Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter, The Exorcism of Emily Rose) and Judd Nelson (Breakfast Club).

His ability to move his crew quickly and make concise decisions on set allow Mike to get an incredible amount of set-ups shot per day. Mike is considered an actor's director because of his innate ability to collaborate with his talent yet lead them.  But, he's also considered a producer's director due to his ability to bring in films on budget, on-time, and with amazing production quality.

Mike has directed stars such as Val Kilmer, Brittany Murphy, Tom Arnold, Tom Skerritt, Peter Bogdanovich, and many more.  He has worked in a producing and assistant-directing capacity with stars such as Al Pacino, Lorraine Bracco, and Danny Glover. 

Since directing that first feature, Mike has gone on to direct many more films in a wide variety of genres from horror to thriller to drama to comedy. His films are seen regularly on channels such as Lifetime, Hallmark, ION, Uplift TV, and more.  His films are sold in every territory throughout the world.