Mike Winkler — Director | Biography, Movies & Career

Biography

Mike Winkler is a 36 year old filmmaker. He currently resides in Olmsted Falls, Ohio. Mike was born on March 23rd, 1989, at Fairview Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. His parents include Traci Winkler and Michael Napier. They later divorced. His mother then later remarried to Mark Wanyerka in 1993. Movies have always been Mike's passion. The first movie that truly inspired him was "Star Wars: A New Hope". Since he was 5 years old, he has been interested in movies and hasn't stopped since. In fact, he remembers the first film he ever saw at the theater. It was "Jurassic Park" at the now closed down Berea theater. His grandparents took him to see it when he was only five. He wasn't scared one bit by it. As years went on, movies lingered in his mind. His grandfather, Paul, gave him his first camcorder when he was 10. And so it began. He gathered his friends in the yard and started shooting his own movies. Including kung fu and Star Wars fanfilms. At first, his dream was to be an actor. But, as time went on. He came to enjoy his time behind the camera more fun and interesting. He loved directing and staging scenes. This was it. He knew this is what he wanted to do. Direct his own films. So as time went on, he was making films. But, without scripts. He started just brainstorming ideas and putting them on camera. As he got older, he decided it was time to learn how to develop a screenplay. With that, "The Agency" was born. He completed his first screenplay for "Pursuit of the Ares Virus" in July of 2009. Casting began and the cameras started rolling on his first big production. It shot from August to December of 2009. Released in January of 2010. Later, he went on to produce two more sequels to create the trilogy. His first movie series was complete. Although his creative team changed from Agency 2 to 3, he held things together, while being teamed up with former friends Stephanie Leonard and Jason Gorze. After all three trilogy films were complete finally in January of 2011, it was time to move on with a new idea. He wanted to do a thriller. "Deceived" was created. A year later, "Time Travelers", a passion project that he wanted to do since he was in middle school, was created and made a trilogy of those as well. His newest short film, "Faith", is his opus, he says, and he can't wait for everyone to see it. Mike makes films for the sheer passion and pleasing and giving entertainment to the world. He hopes to be successful and make the best movies he is capable of. Mike in his own words says, "This is only the beginning".