Michiel van Ieperen

Michiel van Ieperen was born in Nieuwegein, Utrecht on June 23, 1989. As a kid, van Ieperen always had strong feelings towards film. Playing with old camera's, recording stuff with friends 'just for fun', watching countless of films over and over again, and 'constantly rewinding scenes on his VHS to get a sense how they did it'. Never even thinking about the possibility of becoming an actor or director in the Netherlands, and not wanting to take over the family business (his grandfather and father had their own construction company), van Ieperen had the dream of becoming a journalist. He began his academic career in 2008 at the University of Amsterdam, where he studied Communication Studies. However, during his time in Amsterdam, van Ieperen's passion for film resurfaced. During his bachelor's degree, van Ieperen began working as an editor, producer and PR- and marketing consultant for the Dutch premium cable film- and television network Film1/Sport1, a division of the Chellomedia network. Graduating in 2011, van Ieperen was determined to continue following his ambition to work in the film-industry, and applied for a MA-course at the Dutch Film-academy in Amsterdam. However, van Ieperen was denied on the basis of 'not having enough experience'. He searched for a alternative route to achieve his goals, which he found at the University of Utrecht, where he began following a MA in Film- and Television Studies. While studying for his Master's, van Ieperen started working as a producer for Eyeworks Group, one of the biggest film- and television production companies in Europe. During his Master's in Utrecht and his behind-the-scenes work at Eyeworks, Michiel became more interested in acting, and the process of an actor. Graduating his MA in the summer of 2013, he still had a creative itch to scratch, and started attending several acting workshops in Amsterdam. This however, wasn't enough. Always wanting to go the United States, but never having a chance to do so, now was the time. He packed his bags, and moved to Los Angeles, where he followed an actor's course at the New York Film Academy. Here, van Ieperen truly fell in love with acting and filmmaking. This all led to his first lead acting-project, a 16-minute short film called "Sides", was selected to be shown at the 2014 edition of the famous film festival Cannes in the category Short Film Corner. Since returning to the Netherlands in the spring of 2014, van Ieperen has been working non-stop as an actor & filmmaker in different projects, ranging from commercials, to shorts and music videos. His first feature film roles where for the Dutch drama "Fataal" & "Dunkirk" (uncredited) by Christopher Nolan.