Wiese’s “Onward” free to read!
Wish to pass some of those remaining summer hours with additional literature in the C-U Blogfidential realm? Urbana native Michael Wiese, an award-wining filmmaker, publisher, and speaker whose company has issued books advising on all aspects of movie development, production, marketing, and distribution for nearly 40 years, recently made available an ePDF of his memoir, Onward & Upward: Reflections of a Joyful Life, to help celebrate his birthday! Go here and subscribe to the Michael Wiese Productions general mailing list; your immediate reward will be a link from which to download the book for free. Specifics about ordering the print edition can be found here.
First published in June 2013 by MWP, Onward & Upward is the author’s free-form musing about his life’s journeys and accomplishments, starting with his upbringing in Urbana-Champaign and eventual discovery of the arts, filmmaking in particular. “The images move, and breathe, and are more engaging than stills … [a]ll summer, whenever I can, I work at night on my own little films,” writes Wiese on p.30 about his increasing appreciation of the cinema as a teenager. “That same summer I discover foreign films at The Art Theater [at a time when they played] mostly ‘new wave’ French and Italian films. They open me up to the sights and sounds of other cultures, and different lifestyles that I’d not imagined. They are shot in a more intimate and realistic way than Hollywood films and are about life, not fantasy.”
After spending his early adult years traveling the globe, Wiese worked in the nascent cable television and home video industries as producer and promoter. Successes included his efforts with The Movie Channel and Vestron Video as well as independent films like DOLPHINS a.k.a. DOLPHIN ADVENTURES, produced with conservationist Hardy Jones, and the famous STAR WARS spoof HARDWARE WARS, directed by Ernie Fosselius. In recent years, MWP vice president Ken Lee has overseen hundreds of titles written by dozens of authors with entertainment industry credentials, while Wiese has stepped back to shepherd personal projects such as Onward & Upward and documentaries about alternative health and spirituality. The latter include THE SACRED SITES OF THE DALAI LAMAS, TALKING WITH SPIRITS, LIVING WITH SPIRITS, and THE SHAMAN & AYAHUASCA.
Wiese lives with his wife Geraldine and daughter Julia in Cornwall, England. The offices of Michael Wiese Productions reside in Studio City, California.
~ Jason Pankoke
