Michael J. Epstein

Michael J. Epstein
Michael J. Epstein on set of Johannes Grenzfurthner's film "Glossary of Broken Dreams" (November 2018)
Michael J. Epstein on set of Johannes Grenzfurthner's film "Glossary of Broken Dreams" (November 2018)
Born 1976 (age 41–42)
Smithtown, New York U.S.
Nationality American
Alma mater Northeastern University
Occupation Artist, filmmaker, writer, actor, songwriter, musician
Spouse(s) Sophia Cacciola
Website Michael J. Epstein

Michael J. Epstein (born 1976), is an American filmmaker, writer, musician, and scientist.

Epstein received a PhD in electrical and computer engineering in 2004 from Northeastern University and joined the audiology faculty there in 2005.[1] Epstein became a tenured professor at the university, studying psychoacoustics, loudness, auditory electrophysiology, and sound design before leaving Boston in 2016 to pursue full-time filmmaking.[2][3][4]

Epstein has also spoken and written about the impact of local media on the arts, music service gatekeeping, effective social networking, and crowdfunding. He writes regular articles for the starter filmmaking site, Filmmaking Fool.[5]

Early life and education

Epstein was born in Smithtown, New York. His father is author Lawrence J. Epstein. Epstein grew up in Stony Brook, New York.[6] and was raised Jewish.[7]

Epstein graduated from Northeastern University.[8]

Epstein comes from a technical background, but shifted toward creative work, saying he, "was building electronics projects and writing adventure games on my VIC-20 in gradeschool... [and] started seeing a lot of commonality between all of this creative work and my more formal training in electrical engineering as my creative skills advanced."[9]

Career

Film

Epstein, in collaboration with his wife, Sophia Cacciola, has directed three feature films: TEN, Magnetic, and Blood of the Tribades and Clickbait.[10] The pair are known for creating sociopolitical genre films[11], and have received numerous festival awards for their work.[12] Their latest film, Clickbait, started playing at festivals in Fall of 2018.[13]


Epstein's approach to filmmaking is thematic, and he describes his process for creating his first feature TEN as, "We really wanted to expand typical characterization themes of using shortcuts and stereotypes to touch on the broader narrative of the film. Because the film is about the arbitrary meaninglessness of identity, we wanted to recontextualize the film itself repeatedly by shifting tone and genre."[14]

The films have also received critical acclaim. Michael Gingold of Fangoria described TEN as, "up to something a little different, looking to subvert audience expectations...and while TEN contains the scenario's requisite blood and nudity, it veers off in directions you likely won't see coming, both in narrative terms and in the way it explores questions of female identity.”[15] Lauren Shiro of Curve (magazine) wrote, "deeper still, the movie takes on a political and sociological stance, examining stereotypes, identity, and also the subtext and themes behind story lines." [16] Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald described TEN, "imagine Scream crossed with The Usual Suspects...The art comes with meticulously framed shots full of color, the enjoyment with puzzling out the crazy plot twists."[17].

Daniel XIII of Famous Monsters of Filmland wrote of Magnetic, "The best way I can get you into the mindset of MAGNETIC is to say, what if instead of Lewis Carroll, 80s-era Gary Numan wrote Alice in Wonderland on an absinthe binge while covered in magnetic tape surrounded by a complete run of Jack Kirby's 2001 comics. Sounds strange, right? Well, the movie is 100 times more insane, in the most f'n glorious way possible!" [18].

Scream Magazine describes Blood of the Tribades as "a considerable achievement visually, with meticulously considered shot compositions and a lush colour palette that enhances and foregrounds the colours of the natural world. Pink skies reflect in slivers of water and nature's various shades of green seem to pulsate from the screen."[19]

Epstein has also directed segments on numerous horror anthologies including Artsploitation's A Taste of Phobia[20], Troma's Grindsploitation[21], and the 60 Seconds to Die series.[22][23]

Epstein also frequently collaborates with other filmmakers, including monochrom's Johannes Grenzfurthner[24], Izzy Lee, Ungovernable Films[25][26], Troma[27], and Tanya Pearson of the Women of Rock Oral History Project.[28][29]

Music

Epstein has played in numerous indie rock bands including The Motion Sick, Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library, Darling Pet Munkee, and Neutral Uke Hotel.[30][31]

The Motion Sick, featuring Epstein on guitar and vocals, were a featured band of the month in 2006 in SPIN Magazine[32] and were selected as the best unsigned band in Boston by commercial radio station WFNX during the Last Band Standing competition.[33] They also won The Boston Phoenix Best Local Band 2009 honor.[34]. A remix of the band's song, "30 Lives" was featured in several Dance Dance Revolution video games. The Motion Sick's music has also been featured on Bad Girls Club, History Detectives, Shane Untamed, Roadtrip Nation, and Chris and John to the Rescue.

Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, featuring Epstein on bass, were awarded the 6th most creative video of 2011 in TIME Magazine.[35]

The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library, with Epstein on guitar and vocals, was selected as a CBS best rock band[36]. The band has focused on collaborations, including an original rock ballet at Dorchester's Strand Theatre with BalletRox[37], Art-Exchange: a collaboration with artists to write songs based on visual works and create visual works based on songs, 37 songs to celebrate speakers at TEDxSomerville (a concept also delivered as an invited presentation at the TEDxSummit Innovations session, and a three-season run as the house band on the franchised Encyclopedia Show[38]. The band was also part of a documentary created by Berklee College Pulse to showcase different processes for songwriting.[39][40]

Epstein also plays in Darling Pet Munkee, a band that writes garage-rock songs about items sold in comic books[41][42][43], and kindie band, Space Balloons[44][45], focusing on children's songs about out-of-place aliens obsessed with moustaches and Kurt Vonnegut[46]

Academia

Epstein was a professor of Audiology/Bioengineering/Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northeastern University from 2005 to 2016. He studies loudness and auditory physiology, often in collaboration with Mary Florentine and has more than 40 published articles and abstracts.[47] He co-authored the Oxford University Press Handbook of Auditory Sciences chapter on Loudness.[48] The book won the George Davey Howells Prize for 2010 for most distinguished published contribution to the advancement of Otalaryngology, presented by the Royal Society of Medicine.[49] His PLOS ONE 2016 article, "Toward a differential diagnosis of hidden hearing loss in humans"[50] was featured in The Wall Street Journal[51] and Scientific American[52]. It helped explain why many people with normal hearing struggle to hear in noisy situations.

Writing

In addition to academic writing, Epstein has written short stories in several anthologies including "The Unnaturals" as part of Hydra Publications' Dystopian Express [53] and a crowdfunding guidebook for the In 30 Minutes series[54], which was a finalist in the Foreword INDIES competition[55] and the Independent Publishers of New England Book Awards.[56]

Art

Together with Sophia Cacciola he was awarded an art residency at Museumsquartier in Vienna, Austria in autumn 2017.[57] He created Nothen für die Tothen, an interactive music art installation for Roboexotica.[58]

Epstein also created sound collage art under the name "M-sli©k da ninjA"[59] and was involved with The Droplift project[60][61], for which CDs with copyright-violating samples were reverse-shoplifted onto store shelves[62][63], Dictionaraoke[64][65][66], songs created with vocals by dictionary readings of words, and the Beethoven Reclamation Society, a piece in which many artists each recreated a segment of Beethoven's 9th Symphony using sound collaging.[67]

Personal life

Epstein is married to filmmaker, artist, and frequent collaborator, Sophia Cacciola.[68] He currently resides in Los Angeles.

References

  1. ↑ "Northeastern University Alumni Magazine feature".
  2. ↑ "Musical artist is leaving for LA; just no future in Boston area".
  3. ↑ "Financial strains, limited options for artists push powerhouse creatives out of the area".
  4. ↑ "Longtime Fixtures in the Boston Arts Scene Explain Why They're Leaving Town".
  5. ↑ Filmmaking Fool
  6. ↑ Rice, Lewis. "Music to His Ears". Northeastern Alumni Magazine.
  7. ↑ "Four Questions with Musician Michael J. Epstein". Jewish Boston.
  8. ↑ Rice, Lewis. "Music to His Ears". Northeastern Alumni Magazine.
  9. ↑ Interview with Michael J. Epstein (published by TrainWreckdSociety)
  10. ↑ Information about "Clickbait" on withoutyourhead.com
  11. ↑ "Erotic vampire movie BLOOD OF THE TRIBADES sees release".
  12. ↑ "IMDb Awards for Michael J. Epstein".
  13. ↑ "Meet Michael J. Epstein of Launch Over in Hollywood".
  14. ↑ An Interview with Michael J. Epstein, Writer and Director, and Sophia Cacciola, Writer, Director and Star of Ten
  15. ↑ "TEN in Fangoria issue 335".
  16. ↑ Curve Mag: "No One Is Who They Seem. Not Even You: A Pig in Pandora's Box"
  17. ↑ "Getting Cheap Thrills from Indie Flick TEN".
  18. ↑ "THE OUTRE EYE OF DANIEL XIII FEATURING: MAGNETIC, KUNG FU TRAILERS OF FURY, THE BEES, FROM PARTS UNKNOWN AND MORE!".
  19. ↑ "Blood of the Tribades review at Scream Magazine".
  20. ↑ Screamfix: "Artsploitation Films Acquires EuroObscura’s A Taste of Phobia"
  21. ↑ Info on Troma's Grindsploitation
  22. ↑ Information on "60 Seconds to Die" on horrorsociety.com
  23. ↑ Information on "60 Seconds to Die" on screenanarchy.com
  24. ↑ Sophia Cacciola & Michael J. Epstein, "Vienna Round-Up! Our adventures in Austria in November"; January 17, 2018
  25. ↑ Interview with Paul M. McAlarney by TrainWreckdSociety
  26. ↑ Info about "The Ungovernable Force"
  27. ↑ Interview with Michael J. Epstein by TrainWreckdSociety
  28. ↑ Michael J. Epstein on staff page of "Women of Rock Oral History Project"
  29. ↑ "Meet Michael J. Epstein of Launch Over in Hollywood".
  30. ↑ Putting The Uke In Neutral Milk Hotel
  31. ↑ Concert Review: Neutral Uke Hotel at Brighton Music Hall in Allston, MA
  32. ↑ "SPIN Magazine".
  33. ↑ "Last Band Standing".
  34. ↑ "Boston Phoenix".
  35. ↑ "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling "Episode 1: Arrival" - 6th most creative video of the 2011 in TIME".
  36. ↑ "CBS Boston's Best Local Rock Bands".
  37. ↑ Boston Survival Guide, Balletrox Saturday Night Soiree
  38. ↑ Scout Somerville, Encyclopedia Show
  39. ↑ berklee.edu: "Banded: Behind the Making of a Song"
  40. ↑ Berklee Grove: "What Happens When 5 Boston Bands Bare Their Creative Souls to a Berklee Film Crew?"
  41. ↑ Darling Pet Munkee's monster songs
  42. ↑ DARLING PET MUNKEE…It’s A Band Based On Old Ads Found In the Back of Comics…You’re Gonna Like Them
  43. ↑ SHOCK THE DARLING PET MUNKEE!!! - Horror Rock with an Original Theme
  44. ↑ Local musicians cater to all ages with ‘kindie’ rock
  45. ↑ Somerville media monarchs float toward children’s TV with ‘Space Balloons’ songs
  46. ↑ An artistic tribute to Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
  47. ↑ "Google Scholar Profile of Epstein".
  48. ↑ "Oxford Handbook of Auditory Science: Hearing".
  49. ↑ "Professor Dave Moore bio".
  50. ↑ "Toward a differential diagnosis of hidden hearing loss in humans".
  51. ↑ "Can't Hear in Noisy Places? It's a Real Medical Condition".
  52. ↑ "Can You Hear Me Now? Detecting Hidden Hearing Loss in Young People".
  53. ↑ " The Unnaturals, Michael J. Epstein
  54. ↑ In 30 Minutes/Crowdfunding by Michael J. Epstein
  55. ↑ Michael J. Epstein, finalist, Foreward INDIES
  56. ↑ Michael J. Epstein, finalist, Independent Publishers of New England Book Awards
  57. ↑ Museumsquartier/Quartier21 AiR programme, Sophia Cacciola & Michael J. Epstein
  58. ↑ Vienna Art Week 2017, artist project descriptions
  59. ↑ M-sli©k da ninjA: Aphorisms on Aphonia and Aphasia: Your Cure For Aphagia (A Collection of 39 Works 1994 – 2000)
  60. ↑ The Droplift Project on the Free Music Archive
  61. ↑ The Droplift Project
  62. ↑ Shopdropping aka Droplifting: Guide to Reverse Shoplifting
  63. ↑ Shoplifting in Reverse
  64. ↑ Dictionaraoke
  65. ↑ Dictionaraoke on NPR
  66. ↑ Dictionaraoke on WIRED
  67. ↑ The Beethoven Reclamation Society presents The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125
  68. ↑ Vanyaland: "Longtime fixtures in the Boston music and arts scenes explain why they are leaving town"; Februar 17, 2016
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