Michael Baumbruck

Michal Baumbruck is a graduate of the FAMU (Academy of Performing Arts in Prague). During his studies he shot several alternative films covering the unofficial art scene in Czechoslovakia. After his graduation, Michael Baumbruck worked as a director and director of photography on documentaries and produced multi-media programs in his native Czechoslovakia, Germany and the U.S.A. He immigrated to the United States in 1985. In the U.S. Michal Baumbruck has worked as a director and cameraman on projects for the Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress and the National Book Awards. In addition, he worked as a cameraman on various projects ranging from PBS specials to war zone reportage in the former Yugoslavia. Since 1993 when he moved back to Prague, he has focused on shooting commercials for multinational companies and clients. He has got several hundred TV commercials in his portfolio, for clients as O2, T-Mobile, Skoda or Orange. Many of his commercials have received prestigious international awards. He loves to light and shoot his own spots but he also works with other DOP's on number of projects. At the same time, he has been working on long term documentary projects covering the changing visual art scene in Czech Republic and a documentary portrait of Czech rock star guitarist and composer Michal Pavlícek. Recently he has shot as a director of photography a feature film released in the fall of 2019. His feature film Pistol with Slovak production company Punkchart Film is scheduled for production in 2022. Since 2019 he has been teaching at FAMU, Department of Cinematography.