Michael J. Spencer

Michael J. Spencer is not only a writer but also a filmmaker. His first film was "Helium!," a film studying the life of a once-happy balloon gone bad. This short-feature sendup of "The Red Balloon" was chosen to represent the changing face of independent film at the Foundation for Independent Video and Film.

He went on to study film at NYU and UCLA and since then has written and produced a number of award-winning programs for cable and broadcast television. His subjects cover topics as diverse as martial arts to the art of the cocktail, from the frontiers of modern medicine to the culture of tourism. He divides his time between Colorado and New York.

He has authored the book, "Hollywood of the Rockies," an exploration of the American film industry as it traveled westward in the early years of the twentieth century.