BIO:
After graduating from the German Max-Planck Gymnasium in Wilhelmshaven, Michael completed his degree in mechanical engineering at the Navy-Arsenal Wilhelmshaven and immediately after, joint the German defense forces for four years in the branch of Navy Flyers. During his military career he completed his degree in aircraft mechanics and worked as a board mechanic at the Breguet Atlantic SAR reconnaissance/search and rescue squad Nordholz, Germany. After his honorable discharge he received a scholarship to the Deutsche Angestellten Akademie (DAA) in Düsseldorf, where he completed his bachelor degree as a technical business economist with an understudy in REFA (time management studies). The day after his graduation he started working as a store manager assistant for Tandy Corporation (Radio Shack) in Oberhausen, Germany and was quickly, in only 8 months time, promoted to District Manager for the Frankfurt/Munich District, managing over a dozen stores.
During his work at Tandy, Michael excelled through his natural gift: writing scripts, formulating ads and creating video short clips! Under his leadership, Tandy Corporation implemented radio and TV advertising, store banners and cleverly worded print advertisement for the very first time in the southern part of Germany. Within 11 months Phillips stabilized 15 existing retail stores and increased each single store's profitability to over 47%. He also opened two Radio Shack stores in the Frankfurt/Offenbach area and one store in Munich. That booming success rate didn't go unnoticed in the industry and he was offered a position at Alpine Electronics in Düsseldorf, Germany. ALPINE, a newly emerging Japanese car radio manufacturer, recognized his potential and offered him the opportunity to apply his unconventional methods to implement new marketing strategies in the capacity of European Marketing Manager. Michael was instrumental in closing sales contracts with hi-end car manufacturers such as Mercedes Benz and Lamborghini to have the exotic ALPINE-CAR-AUDIO brand installed as a factory option in new cars. Michael organized and designed exhibition booth and extraordinary displays. His gift to interface with people from all walks of life was a true asset to any major manufacturer.
Fascinated by motion pictures, the silver screen and the "American Dream", Michael decided to leave his home Country and his management career in 1980. He booked a flight to venture out to the US: Los Angeles! Immigrating into the US and leaving everything behind was one of the most risky decisions Michael ever made in his life. Not knowing a single soul, he had a feeling that America will be his new home as soon as he set foot on the ground in L.A. after an 18hr flight in a DC10. Originally, Michael had the dream to be an actor or to work in some capacity in the movie industry. Once in California, he didn't waste any time taking on odd jobs to support himself. He started out by working long hours as a dish washer in a Jewish restaurant, then worked as a bartender at a piano bar and after a year in the States he found himself in the role of Maitre d' at a Palm Springs golf resort. During his early years in America he met shining stars from the silver screen, such as Starsky & Hutch, Goldie Hawn, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Leigh Taylor Young and many more....all while pursuing his dream to become an actor. But lady luck didn't shine on him and he only was hired as an extra and a stand in. Throughout the years he has appeared in a variety of motion pictures as an extra in "An Eye For A Spy", "Footloose" and finally in a stand-in assignment for Richard Jenkins in "The Kingdom" with Jamie Foxx. One night in 1981, Palm Springs, Michael actually "ran" into Telly Savalas at the restroom in Club Cecils. Michael and Telly hit it off and they got into talking...Telly about his career and Michael about his unfulfilled dreams. He was invited to several sets of "Kojak" but never found the right "fit". Michael was offered a scholarship by the Telly Savalas foundation for gifted artists, to attend six semesters of cinematography at USC and he graduated in 1985. Immediately thereafter he started as a freelance contractor for film & video and as of today has directed, edited and was instrumental in the production of over 120 music videos, short films, commercials, documentaries, how-to videos and more. In 1986 he left Hollywood and moved to Phoenix, AZ.
The world of entertainment was different in Phoenix, the Valley of the Sun, and even though he was always ready to participate in front of a camera (click here for his stats), he shifted his goals and started his support for starving artists in the local music scene by offering videotaping services. In the latter part of the nineties he created TV shows for public access at Republic Cable, later known as Dimension cable and today as COX. Public Access was a TV channel created by the government, to allow local film and video producers to broadcast and air their productions free of charge...but also without any pay. He directed a one hour long TV show which aired in 1995, titled "Fashion for Kids". After 20 episodes, Michael decided to create a more entertaining show format and developed an interactive music show concept in 1996, which aired as "Karaoke TV": individuals would come to the Dimension Cable studio and sing Karaoke songs in front of TV cameras and the viewing public would call a specially assigned 800 number to cast a vote for their favorite artist. The show aired once a week and produced a winner every three months until four "finalists" competed between Christmas and New Year to win a recording contract. In 1997, a film crew from 19 Entertainment in California came to Phoenix to shoot a reality show and Michael met the staff, presented his show manuscript to one of the crew members with the request to pass it on....and the crew member obviously did! At the time Michael didn't know that "unprotected" material like this is gold in the industry and four years later, in 2002, a very similar concept debuted on TV with the title "American Idol", produced by 19 Entertainment...the same company Michael gave his script to....and the rest is history.
Driven by passion for stories and memories, Michael created Arizona Media Service (AMS)....a business geared to preserve people's memories from outdated formats like VHS videos or 8mm/16mm film reels to a new, more durable media like a DVD and to enable the home or business owner to wirelessly stream their messages, memories or movies from a desktop or laptop computer to a big screen television.
Then, in 2008, the economic crash ripped through America and Michael lost everything he worked for. None of his clients could afford video production or post production services any longer. Companies and Corporations filed for bankruptcy protection and workers got laid off from their jobs by the thousands...there was very little spendable income for every household...and so... sales plummeted and he had to close the two location of his business.
In 2010, his unconventional methods and ‘thinking outside the box’ led to a new and uniquely designed product, called the VIDEO PHOTO BOOK SYSTEM, for which he held a patent pending. The video photo book system was a new approach to combine memories from a person’s past with new technology to fit the ever changing digital world. Michael pitched the concept to industry leaders, such as SHOEBOX and KODAK but unfortunately SHOEBOX did not show any interest and KODAK filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012, eliminating the consumer sector.
Michael is a true innovator and has lately refocused his attention to introduce a new product. After his mother's passing in 2012 he developed a unique way of honoring an individual's past by creating a mini-documentary of a person's life and then compressing it into a QR code. He called it the QR Memory Marker. This idea is so unique, even the Department of Defense as well as City and State Officials have shown an interest of incorporating his memory marker concept to honor fallen service men as well as police and fire department heroes....To add to the QR Memory Marker's success, he spend over a decade to merge QR code and video storage into one private access stream: the QR Video Vault...a personal streaming concept...like Netflix..but with the customer memories in mind.
Michael's flow of ideas has never stopped and his mind is constantly working on something new. His never ending desire to communicate effectively and his love for writing, steered him to study journalism for a total of four semesters. He also became a published author in 2006, writing his first book: THE DIGITAL DICTIONARY ranking at position 15 on the front page of the "Dictionary-Section" on Amazon and is available as an e-book.
As of today, Michael is spending his days consulting customers and finding solutions for challenging and demanding tasks as well as promoting QR Video Vault and QR Memory Markers. With unmatched professionalism and over 40 years of experience in the video industry, he can be contacted for worldwide consultation assignments by clicking here.
After graduating from the German Max-Planck Gymnasium in Wilhelmshaven, Michael completed his degree in mechanical engineering at the Navy-Arsenal Wilhelmshaven and immediately after, joint the German defense forces for four years in the branch of Navy Flyers. During his military career he completed his degree in aircraft mechanics and worked as a board mechanic at the Breguet Atlantic SAR reconnaissance/search and rescue squad Nordholz, Germany. After his honorable discharge he received a scholarship to the Deutsche Angestellten Akademie (DAA) in Düsseldorf, where he completed his bachelor degree as a technical business economist with an understudy in REFA (time management studies). The day after his graduation he started working as a store manager assistant for Tandy Corporation (Radio Shack) in Oberhausen, Germany and was quickly, in only 8 months time, promoted to District Manager for the Frankfurt/Munich District, managing over a dozen stores.
During his work at Tandy, Michael excelled through his natural gift: writing scripts, formulating ads and creating video short clips! Under his leadership, Tandy Corporation implemented radio and TV advertising, store banners and cleverly worded print advertisement for the very first time in the southern part of Germany. Within 11 months Phillips stabilized 15 existing retail stores and increased each single store's profitability to over 47%. He also opened two Radio Shack stores in the Frankfurt/Offenbach area and one store in Munich. That booming success rate didn't go unnoticed in the industry and he was offered a position at Alpine Electronics in Düsseldorf, Germany. ALPINE, a newly emerging Japanese car radio manufacturer, recognized his potential and offered him the opportunity to apply his unconventional methods to implement new marketing strategies in the capacity of European Marketing Manager. Michael was instrumental in closing sales contracts with hi-end car manufacturers such as Mercedes Benz and Lamborghini to have the exotic ALPINE-CAR-AUDIO brand installed as a factory option in new cars. Michael organized and designed exhibition booth and extraordinary displays. His gift to interface with people from all walks of life was a true asset to any major manufacturer.
Fascinated by motion pictures, the silver screen and the "American Dream", Michael decided to leave his home Country and his management career in 1980. He booked a flight to venture out to the US: Los Angeles! Immigrating into the US and leaving everything behind was one of the most risky decisions Michael ever made in his life. Not knowing a single soul, he had a feeling that America will be his new home as soon as he set foot on the ground in L.A. after an 18hr flight in a DC10. Originally, Michael had the dream to be an actor or to work in some capacity in the movie industry. Once in California, he didn't waste any time taking on odd jobs to support himself. He started out by working long hours as a dish washer in a Jewish restaurant, then worked as a bartender at a piano bar and after a year in the States he found himself in the role of Maitre d' at a Palm Springs golf resort. During his early years in America he met shining stars from the silver screen, such as Starsky & Hutch, Goldie Hawn, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Leigh Taylor Young and many more....all while pursuing his dream to become an actor. But lady luck didn't shine on him and he only was hired as an extra and a stand in. Throughout the years he has appeared in a variety of motion pictures as an extra in "An Eye For A Spy", "Footloose" and finally in a stand-in assignment for Richard Jenkins in "The Kingdom" with Jamie Foxx. One night in 1981, Palm Springs, Michael actually "ran" into Telly Savalas at the restroom in Club Cecils. Michael and Telly hit it off and they got into talking...Telly about his career and Michael about his unfulfilled dreams. He was invited to several sets of "Kojak" but never found the right "fit". Michael was offered a scholarship by the Telly Savalas foundation for gifted artists, to attend six semesters of cinematography at USC and he graduated in 1985. Immediately thereafter he started as a freelance contractor for film & video and as of today has directed, edited and was instrumental in the production of over 120 music videos, short films, commercials, documentaries, how-to videos and more. In 1986 he left Hollywood and moved to Phoenix, AZ.
The world of entertainment was different in Phoenix, the Valley of the Sun, and even though he was always ready to participate in front of a camera (click here for his stats), he shifted his goals and started his support for starving artists in the local music scene by offering videotaping services. In the latter part of the nineties he created TV shows for public access at Republic Cable, later known as Dimension cable and today as COX. Public Access was a TV channel created by the government, to allow local film and video producers to broadcast and air their productions free of charge...but also without any pay. He directed a one hour long TV show which aired in 1995, titled "Fashion for Kids". After 20 episodes, Michael decided to create a more entertaining show format and developed an interactive music show concept in 1996, which aired as "Karaoke TV": individuals would come to the Dimension Cable studio and sing Karaoke songs in front of TV cameras and the viewing public would call a specially assigned 800 number to cast a vote for their favorite artist. The show aired once a week and produced a winner every three months until four "finalists" competed between Christmas and New Year to win a recording contract. In 1997, a film crew from 19 Entertainment in California came to Phoenix to shoot a reality show and Michael met the staff, presented his show manuscript to one of the crew members with the request to pass it on....and the crew member obviously did! At the time Michael didn't know that "unprotected" material like this is gold in the industry and four years later, in 2002, a very similar concept debuted on TV with the title "American Idol", produced by 19 Entertainment...the same company Michael gave his script to....and the rest is history.
Driven by passion for stories and memories, Michael created Arizona Media Service (AMS)....a business geared to preserve people's memories from outdated formats like VHS videos or 8mm/16mm film reels to a new, more durable media like a DVD and to enable the home or business owner to wirelessly stream their messages, memories or movies from a desktop or laptop computer to a big screen television.
Then, in 2008, the economic crash ripped through America and Michael lost everything he worked for. None of his clients could afford video production or post production services any longer. Companies and Corporations filed for bankruptcy protection and workers got laid off from their jobs by the thousands...there was very little spendable income for every household...and so... sales plummeted and he had to close the two location of his business.
In 2010, his unconventional methods and ‘thinking outside the box’ led to a new and uniquely designed product, called the VIDEO PHOTO BOOK SYSTEM, for which he held a patent pending. The video photo book system was a new approach to combine memories from a person’s past with new technology to fit the ever changing digital world. Michael pitched the concept to industry leaders, such as SHOEBOX and KODAK but unfortunately SHOEBOX did not show any interest and KODAK filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012, eliminating the consumer sector.
Michael is a true innovator and has lately refocused his attention to introduce a new product. After his mother's passing in 2012 he developed a unique way of honoring an individual's past by creating a mini-documentary of a person's life and then compressing it into a QR code. He called it the QR Memory Marker. This idea is so unique, even the Department of Defense as well as City and State Officials have shown an interest of incorporating his memory marker concept to honor fallen service men as well as police and fire department heroes....To add to the QR Memory Marker's success, he spend over a decade to merge QR code and video storage into one private access stream: the QR Video Vault...a personal streaming concept...like Netflix..but with the customer memories in mind.
Michael's flow of ideas has never stopped and his mind is constantly working on something new. His never ending desire to communicate effectively and his love for writing, steered him to study journalism for a total of four semesters. He also became a published author in 2006, writing his first book: THE DIGITAL DICTIONARY ranking at position 15 on the front page of the "Dictionary-Section" on Amazon and is available as an e-book.
As of today, Michael is spending his days consulting customers and finding solutions for challenging and demanding tasks as well as promoting QR Video Vault and QR Memory Markers. With unmatched professionalism and over 40 years of experience in the video industry, he can be contacted for worldwide consultation assignments by clicking here.