Michael Paxton (born March 29, 1957) is an American filmmaker and writer. He has

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, produced, and

written Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

several films, both

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

and

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

, as well as

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

s and

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...

s. His feature documentary '' Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life'' received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for Best Documentary Feature and a Golden Satellite Award for Best Documentary film in 1997. Paxton currently works as Multimedia Producer for the

Ayn Rand Institute The Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism, commonly known as the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit think tank in Santa Ana, California, that promotes Objectivism, the philosophy developed by Ayn Rand ...

Early life and education

Michael Paxton was born Michael Anthony Palumbo on March 29, 1957 in Kingston, New York. In 1975, Paxton began attending the

University at Albany, SUNY The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in philosophy in 1979. He then attended the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

, where he received a Master of Fine Arts in for Film & Television in 1988. Paxton's graduate thesis film, ''Forbidden Fruit'', won awards for Best Screenplay and Best Editing at the 1988 NYU Film Festival.

Career

In 1989, Paxton co-produced and directed the world premiere of Ayn Rand's play ''

Ideal Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considere ...

'' at the Melrose Theater in Hollywood, and in 1991, he adapted and directed a dramatic presentation of Rand's futuristic novella '' Anthem''. In 1995, he was the assistant director on the live-action/animated feature ''

The Pagemaster ''The Pagemaster'' is a 1994 American live-action/animated fantasy adventure film starring Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Whoopi Goldberg, Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy, Frank Welker, Ed Begley Jr., and Mel Harris. The film was produced ...

'' for

Turner Pictures Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for turni ...

. In November 1996, Paxton released the feature documentary '' Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life''. The documentary takes its name from the concept of a ''sense of life'', a concept that Ayn Rand developed and defined as a "pre-conceptual equivalent of metaphysics, an emotional, subconsciously integrated appraisal of man and of existence. It sets the nature of a man’s emotional responses and the essence of his character." In 1997, ''Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life'' was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the

69th Academy Awards The 69th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) took place on March 24, 1997, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the cerem ...

. It also won the

Golden Satellite Award The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

for Best Feature Documentary of 1997. Paxton also co-produced the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to ''Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life'' and was Visual Effects Supervisor on '' Stuart Little 2''. He was the Associate Producer on ''

The Lion King 1½ ''The Lion King 1½'' (also known as ''The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata'', or ''The Lion King III: Hakuna Matata'') is a 2004 American animated direct-to-video musical comedy film produced by the Australian branch of Disneytoon Studios and release ...

'' for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, '' Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows'' for Miramax, and ''Smallville Legends: Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton'' for

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

. In addition to his film and theater work, Paxton has written four books: ''Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life (The Companion Book)'' and three children's books for Disney based on classic animated features: ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'', ''

The Rescuers Down Under ''The Rescuers Down Under'' is a 1990 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 29th Disney animated feature film and the second movie to be produced during the Disne ...

'', and ''

The Aristocats ''The Aristocats'' is a 1970 American animated romantic musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. The 20th Disney animated feature film, the film is based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom R ...

''.

Works

Films

* '' Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life'' (1996), writer/director/producer * ''A Place in the Circle'' (2000), co-director/co-producer * '' Stuart Little 2'' (2002), visual effects coordinator * ''Ideal'' (2004) (V), writer/director/producer * '' Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows'' (2005), associate producer * ''Smallville Legends: Kara and the Chronicles of Krypton'' (2008) (V), line producer

Animation projects

* ''

Rover Dangerfield ''Rover Dangerfield'' is a 1991 American animated musical comedy film starring the voice talent of comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who also wrote and co-produced the film. It is about a street dog named Rover, who is owned by a Las Vegas showgirl. ...

'' (1991), production coordinator * ''

'' (1994), assistant director * ''

'' (2004), producer * ''

Roxy Hunter and the Mystery of the Moody Ghost ''Roxy Hunter'' is a fictional character played by Aria Wallace in four television films for Nickelodeon in the United States: ''Roxy Hunter and the Mystery of the Moody Ghost'' (2007), ''Roxy Hunter and the Secret of the Shaman'' (2008), ''Roxy Hun ...

'' (2007) (TV), associate producer * ''

Roxy Hunter and the Myth of the Mermaid ''Roxy Hunter'' is a fictional character played by Aria Wallace in four television films for Nickelodeon in the United States: ''Roxy Hunter and the Mystery of the Moody Ghost'' (2007), ''Roxy Hunter and the Secret of the Shaman'' (2008), ''Roxy Hu ...

'' (2008) (TV), associate producer * '' Roxy Hunter and the Secret of the Shaman'' (2008) (TV), associate producer * '' Roxy Hunter and the Horrific Halloween'' (2008) (TV), associate producer

Plays

* ''

'' (1989), writer/director/producer * '' Anthem'' (1991), writer/director/producer

Books

* ''Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, The Companion Book'', writer (1998) * ''The Aristocats'', writer (1999) * ''Cinderella'', writer (1999) * ''The Rescuers Down Under'', writer (1999)

References

External links

* *
''Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paxton, Michael Living people American film directors American film producers Objectivists Tisch School of the Arts alumni 1957 births University at Albany, SUNY alumni