Michael James Canales

Creative leader and media strategist with over four decades of experience spanning screenwriting, publishing, live performance, and digital content. Award-winning screenwriter, Nicholl Finalist, Disney Fellow, and industry insider, with deep ties to both the film industry and the Corpus Christi creative community. Professional musician and designer with a track record of bringing industry attention to regional talent and helping international films reach U.S. audiences.

Selected Honors & Recognition

·      Recipient, Disney Feature Fellowship (highly competitive screenwriting program)

·      Finalist, Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)

·      Winner, 1997 Breckenridge Film Festival Screenwriting Competition, Family Category

·      The Hit List selection for screenplay Ghost Lights (prestigious, annual ranking of best unproduced scripts in Hollywood)

·      Nominated twice for Disney Writer-in-Residence program

·      Fiction Runner-up in Hispanic Magazine's 1989 New Voices competition

·      Three stories published in Saguaro, a literary journal, a bilingual literary journal of the Mexican American Studies and Research Center at the University of Arizona, 1986-1990

·      Placed in nearly 40 national and international screenwriting and fiction competitions

Studio Development Projects

Developed two screenwriting projects at Sony Pictures:

·      Collaborated with Rob Minkoff, director (The Lion King, Stuart Little 1&2) on my screenplay King of the Blitz, a project Minkoff was set to direct

·      Collaborated with producer Sid Ganis, former Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President during his tenure on One Wish, a script written at Disney, acquired by Sony

·      Rewrote the stage musical The Calico Buffalo, which had previously struggled to gain traction for producers. Within three months of completing the rewrite, the project attracted a Grammy-winning composer and secured a Broadway table read with top producers and veteran Broadway actors. The show was ultimately selected for the prestigious 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), where it enjoyed an extended run, played to full houses, and won the prestigious Audience Award for Best of Fest.

·      Mentored under Kim Henkel, co-creator/owner of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Close associate on various projects, most recently writing a feature film for Kim to produce.

Independent Film & Consulting

·      Set up distribution for two international independent films: Christian Dreadful (Finland) and Johnny Ghost (Australia). Both films acquired at the STUFF (South Texas Underground Film Festival) in Corpus Christi

·      Professional script doctor and rewrite specialist for producers. Most recent rewrite is The Caller Returns by Nigerian director Samson Ali, shot in Montana/L.A., currently out for distribution

·      Created pitch decks, TV treatments, and sales materials for production companies and authors. Two of the projects Defending A Serial Killer: The Right To Counsel, based on the non-fiction book by Jim Potts and Lindy Ryan, and Clownhunt, based on a forthcoming novel by Me were acquired by veteran showrunners Phil Conserva and Louis Milito (CSI, Gotham, The Exorcists, Superman & Lois

Graphic Design/Promo/Marketing

WHAT I BRING TO THE TABLE

Tested industry experience in dealing with studios and production companies with a clear understanding of the professional realities of studio interaction/production. Over the years, I have worked with and developed relationships with a vast network of producers and production companies, both as a screenwriter and a graphic designer, all of whom are open to assisting me in making Corpus Christi a filmmaking destination.