|
|
"I am a film composer, which means that when a director says, "I would like the music in this scene to sound like Mahler..."
More about Mike
|
-
Schools (Other):
Carnegie Mellon, New York University, University of Southern California
-
College/University:
Carnegie Mellon University, Attended - , Class of , Other
-
Occupation:
Film composer
-
Affiliations:
ASCAP, SCL, uh... Costco
-
Hobbies and Interests:
Film, film music, songwriting, reading, running, cognitive science, musical theater, epistemology, travel, sci-fi/fantasy, philosophizin', objectivism, cartooning, cartooning badly, sesquipedalianism
-
Favorite Books:
The Fountainhead, the works of O. Henry, Cryptonomicon, Dave Barry, the first couple of Wheel of Time Novels, Economics in One Lesson, lots of Heinlein, His Dark Materials Trilogy, Hitchhiker's Guide, lots else.
-
Favorite Movies:
The original Star Wars trillogy, Defending Your Life, Dead Poets Society, Chocolat, Scent of a Woman, Amelie, The Shawshank Redemption, Braveheart, Swingers, The Little Mermaid, many others
-
Favorite Music:
Mussorgsky, Elliot Smith, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Eminem, Genesis, The Cars, Thomas Newman, John Williams, Kid Rock, Tori Amos, Billy Joel, Tom Lehrer, Cheryl Crow, Radiohead, and, of course, mine.
-
Favorite TV Shows:
Six Feet Under, Buffy (RIP), Firefly (RIP), E.R. (as of eighty seasons ago), Seinfeld, Monty Python, The Simpsons, Frasier
-
Zodiac Sign:
Cancer
-
About Me:
I am a film composer, which means that when a director says, "I would like the music in this scene to sound like Mahler meets The Cure meets Ugandan yodeling, but catchier," I'm the guy who must maintain a professional demeanor and nod knowingly. I spent a few of the crazier dot com years as a part-time software developer, splitting my time between Boston and Los Angeles, but eventually realized that this is more fun to describe than actually do. I have a wildly incoherent (I like to say "diverse") set of side interests, including epistemology, running, extremely amateur cartooning, songwriting, and being an occasional lecturer on film music and other questionable topics. I supplement my professional life with numerous other creative projects, and regard it as perfectly okay that I plan about ten times as many as ever get implemented.
I like to think of myself as an enlightened nerd, meaning that I can quote passages from the Hitchhiker's Guide, but can feign a certain degree of social grace and maturity when required. My prized possessions are a full orchestral score of the Star Wars concert suite, my iPod, and a set of kazoos (solely for the reason that I was legally able to tax-deduct them). People say I am full of wit, intellectual sophistication, and joie de vivre, though bear in mind that I have secretly paid those people $5.
-
Who I Want to Meet:
I'm always up for meeting smart, creative, fun people.
If those are unavailable, minions and fawning sycophants
will do.
|
 |
How you're connected:
| You |
 |
Mike is in your extended network |
|
Mike |
Featured Sponsor
See results for Mike Shapiro
|
things. Well, okay, it's about the big
things, too, but let's focus on the little
things! :) Ahem. Like his
passionate love for peanut butter, or
better yet, peanut butter *and*
chocolate! Mmmm! His penchant for
Table Top Theatre; his delight in the
obscure; the little gleam in his eye
when he gets an idea; the fact that
we have so many weird, random
things in common ("I actually prefer
the Aeneid to the Illiad." "Wow,
really? Me, too!"); his ability to run
circles around me intellectually and
get me to completely rethink my
positions, well, at least for a moment
or two! He is a man of great wit as
everyone else has said, true, but he
is also a man of deep integrity,
incredible passion (just listen to his
music), and sincere tenderness.
What does this equal up to? Well, to
use the basic accounting equation of
assets = liabilities + fund balance, or
more simply put, assets - liabilities =
balance, we get the following:
(wit + integrity + passion +
tenderness + All the Little Things +
All the Big Things)
-
(the potential for getting sand in your
shoes when you walk on the beach)
=
one great time with an amazing
person!
in my crop, the wind beneath my wings.
We met on a dare over late-night
pancakes, and fell in like-at-first-
sight. I admire his rapier wit, his
keen intellect, his cool logic, and his
effortless charm. I have often
appreciated his support and
encouragement and his ability to see
hidden truths. I believe, in the
parlance of our times, he is what is
commonly referred to as a "catch" --
and ladies, at these prices he won't
last long. ACT NOW.
can give Mike is that he should have
been a philosopher. Not that there's
anything amiss about him being the
kick-ass musician and composer that he
is, mind you, just that he has an
amazing talent for thinking in abstract
terms and knowing how to relate them
back to the real world. The man has no
graduate education in philosophy, and I
do, and he's so good that he forced me
to revise my own positions on more than
one occasion. He's a mind.
I certainly don't want to give you the
idea that he's all brain and no fun.
I've been with the man at many a party,
and he definitely knows how to loosen up
and have a good time. It's a very
smooth transition, really, nothing like
Bruce Banner. Talk epistemology here,
grab another glass of wine, tell a joke
in total dead pan (with all parties
laughing so hard that beer, wine or
other beverages spill out of their
respective noses) - he does it all. So
he's an all-purpose party-goer, and if
you need him at your party, I understand
his rates are quite low. If you hire
him as a musician, you can qualify for a
package-deal. Only don't ask him to
play any Andrew Lloyd Webber - he hates
that.
anyway? in fact, i have no reason to believe
that mike exists. i have a rich, internal life,
and there is absolutely no proof that my
mind hasn't completely fabricated the perfect
alter ego: l.a. vs. s.d.---film vs. concert hall---
further evidenced by the fact that we still get
along.
seriously, though, ive never met him.
is a cool, laugh-out-loud-and-sometimes-
uncomfortably funny, and inadvertently
hip dude. It's obvious he's a smartie
pants. However, in another life he
served in Caligula's empire (and no,
not as a Praetorian guard, but as the
official court lyrist). Echoes of this
past life resound in the Mike we all
know and love today.
long, spanning from "SQUARE to COOL."
Mike has industriously spent a lifetime
travelling at super-sonic speeds in
pursuit of the SQUARE direction... but
here's the thing. In doing so, he's
somehow managed to break through the
limit of it, and find himself standing
at the absolute other end of the
spectrum. Not unlike the way one might
travel from one side of the screen to
the next in ASTEROIDS. Mike's capacity
for cold, cruel, Spock-like logic and
super-quick wit belie an inner
sweetness and gentility of spirit that
he would most probably vehemently deny,
or disavow. But don't listen to that
hooey. He's a sofie at heart, who loves
cute things like kittens and puppies.
(But not babies.) Around this sand-
grain-irritant of a "soul," Mike has
constructed an elaborate and shiny,
well near perfect pearl of Intellect.
But it is the center, I think, that
gives it its shape.
See, Mike is the kind of guy who would
delight in defeating this analogy by
explaining that pearls are in fact
produced when the larvae from a
parasitic flatworm, which comes from
seabirds, burrows inside the oyster.
And that's why I loves the guy.
Despite this, he is actually a very
cool and funny guy. He has great
musical talent and the ability to hold a
pen when it comes to cartooning.
Unfortunately, he is like a wormhole in
the delta quadrant that only appears
every 12 years, but whenever I do
actually find myself in the same place
as him at the same time I am highly
entertained. Of course soon he will
acheive fame and the people's ovation
forever and forget about us
non-Hollywood types.
I'M, COOL.
Mike's pretty cool too. He must stay
on the west coast and I on the east,
maintaining the balance.
about a year ago, and remembered him
as a very serious guy- like maybe he
needed a really good tickle or
something. I met him again this year
and realized that he is actually so
funny (like he's really tickling all
of us all the time!) that it took me a
whole year to grow a sense of humor
sophisticated enough to appreciate
Mike's funniness qua Mike's funniness.
But then again it also took me quite a
while to figure out which Frogbert to
put my coconuts in..
hilarious people, but Mike is easily in
the top 1% when it comes to brilliance,
creativity, and hilarity. I'm not sure
it's possible to hang out with Mike and
NOT have fun...at least it's never
happened to me.