Michael Lawrence (filmmaker)

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Michael R. Lawrence is an American filmmaker and screenwriter living in Baltimore, Maryland. He has produced documentary films for PBS, HBO, CNN, and the Library of Congress, [1] as well as making independent films.

Contents

Life

While still a teenager, Michael Lawrence performed widely on the guitar and five-string banjo in the Midwest and on the East Coast, both as a folk instrumentalist and vocalist. This included a summer as banjoist with The Stephen Foster Story in Bardstown, Kentucky. Lawrence studied classical guitar with Aaron Shearer, composition with Stephan Grové, and jazz with David Baker. A graduate of the first guitar class at The Peabody Conservatory of Music (The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University). Mr. Lawrence performed widely on the classical guitar - in recitals as well as on radio and television.

Prior to producing films, Mr. Lawrence composed original music for over a dozen films, including Julian Krainin's Emmy Award-winning documentary The Other Americans, which won more awards than any other television documentary in 1969, and was honored with a special screening at the White House.

Lawrence has written, produced, and directed over twenty documentaries. His films have been honored by awards from major film festivals around the world. He has initiated personal film projects that have received production grants from both local and national foundations, including the Ford Foundation. The National Endowment for the Humanities funded three of his productions. Lawrence also serves as film editor on all his documentary productions.

In 1990, Julian Krainin and Michael Lawrence began working together to jointly produce documentaries, television movies, and theatrical motion pictures. Their first project was the documentary The Quiz Show Scandal, which Lawrence directed for American Experience. After seeing the PBS broadcast, Robert Redford became interested in the story and eventually directed the Disney Oscar-nominated feature Quiz Show , starring Ralph Fiennes. Krainin produced while Lawrence assisted by writing an initial dramatic treatment.

Michael Lawrence initiated the 2004 Emmy Award- and Peabody Award-winning HBO original movie Something the Lord Made , for which he wrote an original dramatic treatment and which Mr. Krainin produced. Michael Lawrence wrote and directed the first film ever commissioned by the Library of Congress, titled Memory and Imagination: New Pathways to the Library of Congress.

Lawrence's documentary Bach & Friends [2] [3] combines Lawrence's passion for music and filmmaking and was released in early 2010. Bach & Friends brings together many today's most renowned musicians and captures them playing Bach and discussing his legacy. The variety of performances in the film include Bach renditions on the organ, piano, cello, violin, banjo, guitar, double bass, ukulele, mandolin, glass harp, and string quartet. Among the film's many unique moments is a scene in which musicians are scanned in an fMRI machine in an effort to study the neural basis of musical improvisation.

Filmography

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References

  1. ↑ "Michael Lawrence Films" . Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  2. ↑ White, Judith (14 March 2010). "Celebrate Bach's 325th birthday with fitting DVD set". The Saratogian . Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  3. ↑ Herman, Jan (2 March 2010). "Bach's Brilliant Friends". The Huffington Post .
  4. ↑ "Reviews and Comments on BACH & friends". Michael Lawrence Films. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Rabinowitz, Dorothy (30 December 1991). "When Right Was Wrong". The Wall Street Journal.
  6. ↑ Hunter, Stephen (17 September 1984). "Michael Lawrence brings ideas to life on the screen". The Baltimore Sun.


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