MICHAEL JOSEPH MURRAY
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Marcel The Muscle Man

6/21/2022

 
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Life update -

I just graduated from the MFA - Filmmaking program at City College of New York. The pandemic put a damper on many an endeavor, but my peers and I prevailed!

I'm happy to introduce to the world my thesis film, Marcel The Muscle Man. It's about a muscular but meek fella who strains under the pressures of masculinity and struggles to find work. After serendipitously landing a circus strongman gig, he proves a talented performer, but has reason to doubt if he's really man enough for the job. 

The flick runs thirteen minutes and change, was ambitiously shot in a single room (spcifically, room 290 inside the cathedralesque Shepard Hall), and took a great deal of efforts and energies from a number of fine folks (to whom I give my sincerest thanks) to bring to the screen.



The film was warmly received at City Film's showcase, Cityvisions, at the SVA Theatre on 23rd St in NYC on Jun 20, 2022


.... and ...

​
Marcel The Muscle Man was awarded Best Cinemagraphy at Cityvisions!


Kudos to Ayoub El Jamal, our DP!


Marcel's IMDB
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Happy to "HoHoHo" in "Blood/Sweat/Tears" !

6/18/2022

 
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Donning the Santa hat again for Ali Keller (writer, lyricist), and Emily Rose Simons (composer), under the direction of Rebecca Aparicio for the reading -- this time WITH MUSIC!!! Produced by HARP Theatricals at Ripley Grier Studios on June 18, 2022 with the creative gang above! 

Ali explains her experimental theatre piece best: 
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BLOOD/SWEAT/TEARS is a horror movie, inside of a musical, inside of a play about Ginny (and her movie and musical counterparts – the show is triple cast across the worlds) – Ginny is a bookwriter & lyricist, who’s fighting to get the final draft of her musical script approved to go into rehearsals. But as Ginny’s creative team insists on changes, she begins rewrites that drastically impact the plot of the musical and therefore the horror movie. Turning a story that should be one of determination and success into a disturbing tale about survival, as reality and fiction begin to blur during Ginny’s final evaluation. 

BLOOD/SWEAT/TEARS is like if Inception and Whiplash had a baby – and that baby sang like 50% of the time.

Winter Film Awards 2021 ... in early autumn!

10/6/2021

 
This fall, due to a pandemic postponement, we held the long awaited Winter Film Awards International Film Festival. The 2021 WFA festival ran from Oct 23 - Nov 2 with screenings once again at Cinema Village, and also included free education sessions, Q&A panels, and giveaways. The staff, made up of volunteers such as myself, pulled off yet another one, making it a successful 10th annual WFA!


photo credit: Fernando Camacho  
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"BLOOD/SWEAT/TEARS" reading both streaming and in-person!

8/17/2021

 
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Here's a smart, really neat, new work from my pal, Ali Keller (writer, lyricist), and Emily Rose Simons (composer, sound designer), under the direction of Rebecca Aparicio. 

In perhaps the simplest terms, the play follows Ginny, a bookwriter and lyricist, through her arduous endeavor of adjusting her script for approval ... a script that happens to be a musical ... about the making of a horror movie, in which yours truly plays the murderous, sadistic Santa Claus! 

It's a unique pleasure to be involved in this reading at The Tank, as it is my first time back onstage since the pandemic's onset. I am immensely grateful.

Wednesday, August 18 at 7pm
​streaming and in-person
​TICKET INFO

Zero Issue Q&A at 2021 GeekFestToronto!

2/14/2021

 

​​Had a great time in the GeekFestToronto Q&A talking about our superhero mockumentary,  Zero Issue, with my pals: Ali Keller (producer), Jim Fagan (director), and Adam Harum (VFX).
We streamed on Facebook Live HERE! 
We come in at 00:31:05.

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UPDATE: 
Congrats to the whole gang for being awarded Best Mockumentary! Special kudos to Adam for Best VFX!

Secret Identity July 3 benefit reading!

7/6/2020

 
It was a blast to play the superhuman Paladin again in Chris Wiekel's Secret Identity! Organized by TOSOS and A Star Is Bored podcast, and directed by Mark FInley, we did a Facebook Live reading to benefit The Okra Project and ended up raising over $300 to support Black Trans people in need!

Here's a nice little publicity piece from Broadway World!
Note on article: Antwayn Hooper's role of Guise was read by Keno Golaub.
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April 25th, 2020

4/25/2020

 
I'm SUPER excited to share the short film Zero Issue from New York Picture Company with the world! It was a pleasure to be a part of the HERCULEAN effort, and I hope you enjoy it! 

NYICFF 2020 Screenings

3/19/2020

 

​It was a pleasure to help out at this year's New York International Children's Film Festival! While the Covid-19 pandemic put a damper on the final weekend of screenings, the previous weekends were hits!

​I'm grateful that--amid wafts of buttery popcorn--I got to see smiling faces on so many kids, excited about their trip to the movies.
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Winter Film Awards 2020

3/3/2020

 
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This winter, I joined the Winter Film Awards team. The 2020 WFA festival ran from Feb 20 - 29, and featured a variety of films from around the world, in addition to free educational discussion panels and workshops right in the heart of New York City. It was a pleasure being involved so extensively in the preparation and production of this celebration of diverse and independent filmmaking.

I Loved Volunteering at Imagine This Women's International Film Festival!

11/24/2019

 
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This November, I had a great experience volunteering for ITWIFF, and was exposed to excellent screen works by women from all over the world. I even had the surprise pleasure of stepping in to read for ITWIFF's Inaugural Screenwriting Competition and Live Reading at Firelight Studio in Brooklyn.

Here I am with fellow actor, Robert Resnikoff.
Photo credit: Millie Gillana
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