MICHAEL LANGE
Director

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I was born . . . Not much happened the first few days. I wanted another take on the actual birthing thing . . . way too gooey. Take two only works in movies, though. This fact made a big impact on me. I directed my first production in kindergarten (this is true). It was a circus play. I also wrote it and played the part of the Ringmaster. The acting wasn’t that satisfying, so I pursued directing. I was dramatically inclined all through school, so it was a natural progression that in college I majored in pre-med. After all, I’m a Jew. After failing chemistry, I switched to music, then with parental pressure I switched back to the Jew thing . . . pre-law. I felt I was too honest. So I switched to Directing. It stuck.

After college I had to get a real job, so I started a regional theater company in Teaneck, New Jersey. We went bust after two shows. Next scene . . . The Advertising Business. I rose quickly to an agency producer position at Cunningham & Walsh on Madison Avenue. I learned to love film. After eight years producing at C & W, then as head of production at Creamer Advertising, I quit (to the horror of my family and most of my friends- after all I was a pretty big wig) and headed to California to follow my dream to direct.

I landed a post-production assistant job on “The Fall Guy” and, within a year, was directing the second unit action sequences (explosions, crashes, chases, helicopters, fights, cars turning over, etc.) all the time wondering how a nice Jewish boy from New York who studied theater ended up working fist by jowl with a bunch of redneck stunt people, breathing lots of dust and dodging helicopter blades.

After a season and a quarter of that, I got my first opportunity to direct an actual show. (Well, not that actual). “Riptide.” Heavy on action, chases and beach babes. After a few seasons of action/adventure shows, I made the leap to quality television on a show called “Life Goes On.” I directed 16 episodes, and I’m proud of each one. The show epitomized what I felt television should strive to be. It was entertaining and enlightening. Each episode potentially caused viewer to see some issue in a new way and therefore become a little more open to the differences between us.

Since then, I’ve had a very eclectic mix of shows from “The X-Files” to “The Larry Sanders Show” to “Northern Exposure” to “Tracey Takes On . . .” My background in theater, music, advertising . . . and circus has made me quite a rounded director with the ability to communicate to a variety of talented (and not-so-talented) people what I want to see in each of my films.

And now, the goal has been reached . . . I’ve directed my first feature film, “Intern,” a satirical romantic comedy starring Dominique Swain and Kathy Griffin, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2000, and I’ve just finished my second film, “Jumping Ship,” for the Disney Channel.

It’s like working in a sandbox. We all get into the sandbox — cast, crew and me — we throw the sand around, build fabulous castles, moats, rivers, forests, and other things, knock them down and start all over and finally, after some blood, much sweat, and a few tears, we end up with something to be proud of, something that will reverberate and ring true with the audience, something that will make us all a little smarter, a little more compassionate, and have just a bit more fun.

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