Filmmaker Archive for: Mike Ambs

Mike Ambs moved to Los Angeles in February 2004, from the small town in south eastern Michigan where he grew up. He is a certified graphic designer and a naturally talented editor, with a truly unique ability to capture life through a camera lens. In 2007 Mike won 1st place in the Network 2 “how to watch internet TV” video contest and in 2008 was a finalist in the Cannes Babelgum online film festival. Mike has worked as an editor and camera operator for NBC.com and is currently working as editor for the amazing internet show Epic-FU.

Assembling a Distribution Team

The Filmmaker Summit is just two days away tomorrow - the event is a collective effort of the teams behind the Workbook Project, Open Video Alliance and Slamdance. I’ve been spending some of my free-time keeping up with the discussions on WBP, many of which dealing with festivals, distribution methods, social media, and DIY culture [...]

*this* meets *this*

Amanda and I had already been struggling to get Pedal off the ground for 3 years by the time we released Episode One (in Dec of 06). Even at that stage in pre-production, the story driving the feature length film had evolved quite a bit since day 1 of planning.

The project was always growing, and [...]

Leaps and Bounds

There are days, weeks even, where this project can feel stuck in the mud. That no matter how hard I try; I just spin in place - and it goes without much saying that it’s a difficult feeling to put up with. Whether it’s accurate or not.
And I’m not writing this post to whine or [...]

Five films that inspire FToM

Kickstarter is a special site - and it has fostered a special community. I’ve always loved the internet, if not simply for it’s unique ability to inspire. Anyone, anywhere in the world, can start sharing their labor of love - and stumbling across these hard-to-find projects usually leads to new ideas and new relationships.

I first [...]

Character Flaws

It’s interesting how people can go on considering something a “character flaw” or a “weakness” for years, and that something as simple as a single sentence can turn that all on it’s head.
Perhaps it’s more to do with double standards - that something I struggle with myself; something I would label or consider a flaw, [...]

There’s more than one kind of free

I just finished watching a really inspiring video, twittered by Zak Forsman, of Nina Paley at the Phily DIY Days meet-up, that I mentioned recently, presenting the revenue results for her Creative Commons free-distribution approach. Yep, that’s right, she has made money by giving her film away for free.

My favorite part of her presentation was [...]