Michael D. Akers (born September 5, 1970 in Ephrata, Pennsylvania) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. In 2000, he founded "United Gay Network" (UGN) with his longtime partner, Sandon Berg. Most of his films are LGBT-related.[1]
Michael Akers | |
|---|---|
| Born | Michael D. Ackers Jr. September 5, 1970 |
| Occupation(s) | filmmaker, film director, screenwriter, film editor |
| Website | United Gay Network |
Career
editMichael D. Akers studied at Indiana University of Pennsylvania before moving to Los Angeles to begin a career in the entertainment industry as production assistant and assistant director to work on the cable movie Jurassic Women (1996).[2][better source needed] For three years, he worked with Turner Feature Animation on Cats Don't Dance helping to research and develop animated features.[2] Then he moved to Grand Productions, and later produced at least two episodes of the Lifetime series Intimate Portraits.[2] These included the "Intimate Portraits" of Heather Locklear and Jane Seymour.[3] He became executive assistant to Martin Short on The Martin Short Show[3] and a story and research assistant to Ryan Seacrest's NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies and Anne Robinson's The Weakest Link.[2]
Establishing United Gay Network, he moved to independent film making. In March 2002, Michael D. Akers directing his short B&W w/Splash of Clown in partnership with Sandon Berg. His debut long feature film Gone But Not Forgotten, a script he had begun writing back in 1995 while working for another film production company,[4] premiered at the 9th Annual Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. It was followed by Matrimonium, an improv film about a reality show trying to marry two men for ratings. Phoenix is a symbolic and lyrical film examining why relationships end the way that they do. It focuses on a young man who goes to Phoenix, Arizona to surprise his lover, only to discover his lover's secret other life. Morgan is about a paraplegic man putting his life back together after a bicycle racing accident leaves his paralyzed.[5]
In Gone, But Not Forgotten he was credited as Michael D. Akers. But in all later movies, he used Michael Akers (dropping the middle "D").
United Gay Network
editUnited Gay Network is a production house founded by Michael D. Akers and Sandon Berg. Akers has released his films through the company. [2]
In forming United Gay Network ten years ago, Michael Akers and Sandon Berg aspired not only to promote the genre of "gay films" but also tried to bring gay cinema closer to mainstream cinema. As Berg stated in a radio interview, he and Akers were striving to create stories that would crossover to a broader audience.[6][unreliable source?]
Nowhere is this more apparent than in their latest production Morgan. Berg said: "I think Morgan is a very universal story. I don't think it is gay-specific at all."[7] Morgan is the story of a gay and paralyzed young athlete that defies stereotypes and pushes through boundaries. The lead character, a young athlete, named Morgan Oliver, is first seen wallowing in a state of depression, drowning his sorrows in beer as he watches bicycle racing (the sport that at once defined his sense of purpose and drove him to his catalytic accident) on television.
UGN's first long feature film, Gone, But Not Forgotten,was considered ground breaking and to have set the pace for normalizing the portrayal of gay people in cinema.[4]
Each successive film produced by UGN has increasingly pushed limits and expanded the range of Akers and Berg as filmmakers. With each film, Akers and Berg shook things up.[fact or opinion?] Matrimonium was a foray into comedy that played to reality show hype, while addressing homosexual stereotypes, and Phoenix was yet another step, into the suspenseful and mysterious journey of two jilted lovers following the trail of their mutual betrayer.
Personal life
editAkers is openly gay. His long-term partner is Sandon Berg. They have been together since the late 1990s.[2][relevant?]
Filmography
editDirector
edit- 2003: Gone, But Not Forgotten
- 2005: Matrimonium
- 2006: Phoenix
- 2012: Morgan
- Others
- 2011: The Friends Project of David Raleigh with Alan Cumming, Ari Gold, and Billy Porter to benefit the Ali Forney Center
Producer
edit- 2003: Gone, But Not Forgotten
- 2005: Matrimonium
- 2012: Morgan
Writer
edit- 2003: Gone, But Not Forgotten
- 2005: Matrimonium
- 2006: Phoenix
- 2012: Morgan
Editor
edit- 2003: Gone, But Not Forgotten
- 2005: Matrimonium
- 2005: Flirting with Anthony
- 2006: Phoenix
- 2006: Love Life
- 2010: Going Maverick: The Sarah Palin Story (video short)
- 2011: The Friends Project of David Raleigh with Alan Cumming, Ari Gold, and Billy Porter to benefit the Ali Forney Center
- 2012: Morgan
References
edit- ^ Williams, Ken. "FilmOut: Q&A with Michael D. Akers, director of "Morgan"". San Diego Gay & Lesbian News. Archived from the original on May 21, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f Akers, Michael. "ImageOut Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival". ImageOut. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ a b Hinojosa, Cassandra. "Man with a past;". Corpus Christi Caller – Times.
- ^ a b Kramer, Gary M. (2006). Independent queer cinema : reviews and interviews. New York: Southern Tier Editions, Harrington Park Press. ISBN 1560233435.
- ^ Whittington, Lewis. "New LGBT film tackles sensitive subject matter". EDGE Boston. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
- ^ "The Paul and Matty Show". Modern World Radio. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
- ^ Vorndran, Michael. "The Fenuxe Interview: Filmmaker Sandon Berg". Fenuxe. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012.