# Michael Williams (film director)

Michael Williams (born June 23, 1987) is an American filmmaker born in West Point, Mississippi.

## Life and career

Williams began creating short films in 2004 and since has consistently produced short films and screened them for audiences at annual film festivals and screenings across the U.S.
He earned his bachelor of arts in film in 2009 from the University of Southern Mississippi and was awarded the Top Film Student of 2009 Award. In 2007, Williams began his professional film career, accumulating a multitude of credits ranging from assistant camera to director of photography for many independent short and feature-length films.
After writing, directing and producing more than 20 short films, Williams broke into the feature-length film territory in 2014 with OzLand, a science fantasy drama inspired by characters and events in L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. While his desire to tell complex stories visually drew him to a career in cinematography, as an artist and storyteller, Williams writes and directs films like OzLand in order to share his stories with those interested in experiencing them while eagerly pursuing the opportunity to bring other people's stories to life as a director of photography.
Today, the filmmaker owns and operates his own company, Shendopen, in West Point, Mississippi. He continues to write and direct his own independent films, produce films by other regional filmmakers and works regionally in the industry as a director of photography. His second feature film, The Atoning, marked his first entry into the horror genre and premiered at the Oxford Film Festival on February 18, 2017. His filmmaking influences include the works of directors Darren Aronofsky, Tim Burton, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Mike Nichols, John Patrick Shanley, M. Night Shyamalan and Steven Spielberg.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Cinematographer | Editor | Notes |
| 2009 | The Mistake | co-director | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film |
| 2009 | The Shovel | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2010 | Treat or Eat | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Short film |
| 2010 | Lukos | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film |
| 2011 | Zion | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2011 | The Fall of Henry | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2011 | Illumination | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film |
| 2012 | Genrevolt | No | No | co-producer | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2012 | Third Shift | No | No | co-producer | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2013 | Last Fall | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2013 | A Mutual Friend | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2013 | S for Sally | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2013 | Kane | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film |
| 2014 | Earthrise | No | No | co-producer | Yes | No | Feature film |
| 2014 | A Horror Movie | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2014 | OzLand | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Feature film; Directorial debut |
| 2015 | Dead Saturday | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2015 | Complacency | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2016 | The Beatdown | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2016 | Poison Tree Blues | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2016 | Freedom Fighters | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2016 | Two Birds | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2016 | Tinker | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2016 | The Hollow | No | No | No | No | No | Feature film, First Assistant Camera |
| 2016 | Bare Knuckle | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2016 | Forced Move | No | No | No | Yes | No | Feature film |
| 2017 | Crucible City | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2017 | Dreamscape | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2017 | The Atoning | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Feature film |
| 2018 | Mississippi Minute | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2018 | A Son Inherit | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2019 | Driven | No | No | No | Yes | No | Feature film |
| 2019 | Hallowed Ground | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Feature film |
| 2019 | Super Science Showcase | Yes | No | No | No | No | Segment: "Tom Sawyer Runs the Gauntlet" |
| 2020 | Doodle | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2020 | Revelation, Alabama | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film |
| 2020 | The Dinner Party | No | No | No | Yes | No | Feature film |
| 2020 | Eternity | No | No | No | Yes | No | Feature film |
| 2020 | A Dixie Darling Dinner | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film; in Post Production |
| 2023 | Payment Received | No | No | No | Yes | No | Feature film |
| TBA | Kin | No | No | Yes | No | No | Short film; in Production |
| TBA | The Star Crossed | No | No | No | Yes | No | Short film; in Production |
| TBA | The Hidden Few | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Feature film; in development |