Michael Brown has excelled as an adventure athlete and filmmaker in his career. He has been to the summit of Mount Everest five times, each time with cameras rolling. His work as a director and cinematographer covering adventure sports, including caving, kayaking, and mountain climbing, spans all seven continents. His work has won many film festivals and industry awards, including three national Emmy Awards and the Giant Screen Cinema Association (IMAX) ‘Outstanding Cinematography’ Award. Michael is also a recipient of the International Alliance For Mountain Film’s Grand Prix and the Explorers Festival’s Camera Extreme. Michael’s cinematography has captured mountain climbing for giant-screen IMAX movies, ice caves for NOVA, tornadoes for Discovery, science at the South Pole for National Geographic, and avalanches for the BBC. Outside Magazine describes the cerebral filmmaker as a “swashbuckling librarian,” and Men’s Journal calls him “a master of gut-dropping action”. Michael’s previous film at VIMFF, The Weight of Water, was awarded the Best Adventure Film Prize in 2020, and this year he has returned to join the jury.
More than great shots of daring feats, the story makes a film’s greatest impact. In this interactive session, Michael will examine the narrative structure of adventure films. How can you shape your stories, enhance characters, and approach the filmmaking or writing process so that you have a memorable and impactful tale at the end?
Once you have established yourself as a capable filmmaker, consider a career in craft. Luckily for filmmakers, the business is like a chess game where every move has multiple purposes. The same skills that allow one to draw an audience, succeed with film festival entries, and even attract the best talent to collaborate will also allow you to raise the money to make your films. This workshop will look at the art of pitching ideas, raising money, and building excitement about your projects.
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