Michael Berliner | Producer

Michael Berliner | Producer

Michael describes himself as having fallen headfirst into producing. Initially wanting to be a director, Michael got an opportunity in 2008 to produce a friend’s script on a budget of £2k. That film won him a cash reward, which went into producing another film, thus beginning a domino run of 14 shorts in four years. Of that period, Michael says “those first films are so important for learning your craft and proving to yourself that you can actually do this professionally.”

In 2013 after being mentored by Mark Herbert — producer of the This Is England series — Michael knew the time had come to produce his first feature. To get there he would need to make one more short, this time to satisfy funders that he and his debut writer-director could deliver a full-length project. The short was Emotional Fusebox, which earned Michael BAFTA and BIFA nominations, and led to his debut feature Adult Life Skills, starring Jodie Whitaker and released theatrically in June 2016.

Despite the sometimes gruelling dedication being a producer demands, Michael insists he is still fanatical about films, adding “you can’t get a better memento of your working life than a film. It lives on forever.”