Michael Lauter

Award-winning motion picture director Michael Lauter began making short Super8 films at the age of ten and further experimented with image, sound, and music throughout his junior high and high school years. In college he studied film and engineering. Alongside academics, he played keyboards in an industrial music group, which performed at the legendary underground club Ground Zero. After completing his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, he directed & photographed a handful of short 16mm experimental films, including the underground cult favorite Mallsoleum (1995), filmed in an authentically derelict shopping mall. In 1996 Michael embarked on the production of his debut feature, Body Gulch (1997), an austere Neo Noir, which subsequently was awarded 'Best Experimental Feature' at the 1997 Denver Underground Film Festival. Having taught himself music composition at the age of fourteen, Michael has scored selected music cues for his films. His film & music background caught the attention of the recording industry; In 2002 the electronica record label Obliq Recordings commissioned Michael to produce 16mm film loops and music videos, accompany their artists' repertoires. This collaboration is known as the Obliq Optik (2002) film project and the 16mm triptych version was exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. In the Autumn of 2003 Michael's controversial sophomore feature film Sleeping Pills (2003) premiered at Egypt's Cairo International Film Festival. Nearly all of the building locations where the film was shot have since been demolished. This fact gives emphasis to the film's underlying theme, whereby the architecture, entities and images forming ones identity are crushed without remorse in favor of new and improved versions. During the years 2004 through 2007 Michael helped other filmmakers bridge the technology gap between traditional photochemical and high-end digital methods. Mr. Lauter gave technical lectures on Digital Intermediate (DI) techniques at Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) meetings. He also digitally restored the landmark 1971 computer animation film Galactic Bridges and Tails by astrophysicist brothers Alar and Juri Toomre. In collaboration with internationally acclaimed music producer/composer Jeff Danos, 2007 saw the release of the experimental short Refraction (2007) with Michael returning to film directing and his visual trademark of stunning, multi-layered images. At the time of its release, it was one of the first films to utilize an entirely 4K Digital Intermediate (DI) process from start through finish (35mm scanning, grading/FX and 35mm film-out). The Starz Denver Film Festival was among the festivals programming Refraction (2007) in their events. At the 2008 Denver Underground Film Festival, Michael Lauter was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to independent filmmaking. In 2011, Michael completed his third feature Spectrauma (2011), which had limited run on Hulu. It was also featured in Washington, DC's Reel Independent Film Extravaganza. A chance meeting with filmmaker Werner Herzog at the 2014 Telluride Film Festival resulted in Mr. Lauter receiving a Master of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa, from Werner Herzog's Rouge Film School. The music industry again reached out to Michael in 2015; Recording Magazine, the highest-circulated professional recording publication in the United States, solicited a feature-length article detailing advanced techniques for synchronizing vintage analog synthesizers (both MIDI and pre-MIDI) to modern DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations). Mr. Lauter's extensive four-page article was published in the magazine's December 2015 issue. In 2017 Michael completed the fashion documentary Art & Style: Mona Lucero (2017), premiering at Landmark's historic Mayan Theatre to sell-out crowds. In 2018, legendary Hollywood finishing house EFilm recruited Mr. Lauter for guidance with advanced Visual Effects & Digital Intermediate workflows including ACES (Academy Color Encoding System), Hybrid-ACES VFX, color LUT (Look-Up Table) design, and HDR (High Dynamic Range) cinema. In Autumn 2019, Michael began filming his latest feature Talent Keyhole, an edgy espionage thriller.