Montana

Michael Schwartz is a multi-disciplinary storyteller and social activist. As a filmmaker, Michael has directed various narrative, music, documentary and comedy shorts. His award-winning short film, MONTANA, which Film Threat called "Breathtaking and Visually Compelling" and Indie Shorts Mag called "A Powerful Lesson in Hope," premiered at The Brooklyn Film Festival before screening at SeriesFest in Denver and playing film and television festivals across the country. It won "Best Picture - Short" at the Flathead Lake International Cinemafest and "The Spirit of Montana" award at The Bigfork Film Festival. TV projects in development include MONTANA (Finalist - Sundance Episodic Story Lab 2016, Finalist - Sundance New Voices Lab 2018, currently being adapted into a novel series), PAC HEIGHTS (Finalist, Series Fest 2016), AND ONE MORE THING, and SPICE IT UP!

As an award-winning theatre maker, he has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and at Lincoln Center, and directed productions at some of the world’s most notable theatres, including The Old Vic in London, Yale University in New Haven, and the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Michael has also Assistant Directed large-scale theatrical productions for TV and Film, including RESTORING LOVE, broadcast live from the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, and COMPANY, starring Neil Patrick Harris, at the NY Philharmonic, which was broadcast on PBS and distributed internationally in the largest platform ever for a filmed theatre production. He most recently directed segments for The Tony Awards telecast. Michael also has an extensive background in the social impact space. In 2013, he launched All Star Code, a leading tech inclusion and education non-profit that bridges opportunity gaps for young men of color nationwide. His work has been covered by Vogue, Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, Bloomberg, Glamour, Elite Daily, PBS, BizBash, The San Francisco Chronicle and The New York Times. He is a California Arts Scholar, a member of SDC, Lincoln Center Director's Lab, and Old Vic New Voices, and an alumni of the USC Schools of Theatre and Cinema/Television in Los Angeles and The British American Drama Academy in London.