ArtistInfo

Nicholas J. Michalak

I, Nicholas J. Michalak, created RavensFilm Productions in Spring, 2004 as a serious statement that filmmaking would be my life's passion. What began as a focus on comedic shorts eventually veered toward more dramatic and noir style narratives born from my evolving fandom of the work of Chicago born filmmaker Michael Mann. Thief was the first, but it was Collateral that solidified my deadset interest in the crime genre. Hitmen, criminals, syndicates, lawmen, private detectives, and vigilantes have all become common subject matter since then. Other influences upon my work include John Carpenter, Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Clive Barker, Russell Mulcahy, and Kevin Smith, just to name a few. These influences have driven my creativity far, but the desire is always there to branch out into other genres. RavensFilm Productions is aided by an array of highly talented actors and filmmakers across Chicagoland. My closest and most trusted collaborator is Cinematographer, Videographer, and SteadiCam Operator Eric Woltman of Voltage Visual Studios and Steadi Zephyr. His expertise, technical knowledge, and artistic eye have benefitted my endeavors greatly, and the favor has been returned many times. Beyond a great collaborator, he is a valued friend, and that is the relationship I like to spark with everyone I work with. RavensFilm Productions also has a long standing and ever expanding collaboration with Chicago heavy metal band HEMI. Numerous music videos have been produced for the band by me, I have designed their entire official web site, shoot nearly all of their live shows since April of 2011, and in 2012, I recorded, produced, edited, and mixed their first live album, The Chosen Ones: Live in the Fire, along with designing all of the interior artwork for the CD release. The friendship with the band has officially made me the fifth member of the band. As of 2011, RavensFilm Productions is a registered Service Mark in the State of Illinois. That only further legitimizes RavensFilm Productions in my eyes, and the expansion to offering a variety of video production and web design services aimed at the burgeoning artist has broken the possibilites wide open for what RavensFilm Productions can grow into becoming. The future is starting to develop more and more with the release of Dead Of Night on Special Edition DVD, the impending completion of The Fixer on the horizon, and several promising scripts in development. The year of 2013 brought high definition finally into the grasp of RavensFilm Productions, and several new YouTube video series were launched including Forever Cinematic video movie reviews and the Leftover Junk series where I feature abandoned, alternate, or unreleased footage from my projects that need a little context. The future holds many exciting opportunities and possibilites for everything I hope to do with RavensFilm Productions.

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