bio | influences | trivia | filmography
Michael Dowse Biography
(bio)
The spirited Michael Dowse was born (1973) and raised in Calgary. He has worked as a film editor on John
Hazlett's BAD MONEY (1999) and Matt Bissonnette and Steven Clark's LOOKING
FOR LEONARD (2002). His short film 237 (2000) was followed by his feature
debut, the cult hit FUBAR (2002), which premiered at the 2000 Sundance
Film Festival. IT'S ALL GONE PETE TONG (2004) is his second feature, and
has already garnered praise, winning the City Award at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. As Dowse puts it, with his second film he really wanted to, “Rip
cinema a new asshole.”
(influences)
In various interviews and newsbites and Web foraging, Michael Dowse has
listed some of his creative influences that have nuanced his
work:
- Franz Kafka - One of the most influential writers of
this century. Virtually unknown during his lifetime, the
works of Kafka have since been recognized as symbolizing
modern man's anxiety-ridden and grotesque alienation in
an unintelligible, hostile, or indifferent world.
- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe - Famous for his dictum
"Less is More", Mies attempted to create contemplative,
neutral spaces through an architecture based on material
honesty and structural integrity.
- Charles Bukowski - By the 80s, Bukowski had become an international
celebrity and underground cult hero. He wrote the autobiographical
screenplay for the 1987 film BARFLY. Readers identify strongly
with Bukowski's writing. His suffering gives them hope,
and his pain is often one they have experienced themselves.
Modest Mouse even wrote a song about Bukowski.
- Franz Liszt - Regarded as the greatest pianist of all time Listz's
genius extended far beyond the piano to expand musical composition
and performance well beyond its 19th Century limitations.
His unique compositions bewildered, inspired and inflamed the imaginations
of his own era.
- Karl Lagerfeld - German-French designer of high fashion Karl Lagerfeld
won international fame for his work with several Parisian style houses.
- Walter Murch - Walter Murch has been editing sound in Hollywood since
starting on Francis Ford Coppola's film THE RAIN PEOPLE.
He edited sound on AMERICAN GRAFFTI and THE GODFATHER PART II, won his
first Academy Award nomination for THE CONVERSATION, won
his first Oscar for APOCALYPSE NOW, and won an unprecedented double
Oscars for sound and film editing for his work on THE ENGLISH
PATIENT.
- John Cage - In 1949 Cage received a Guggenheim Fellowship and an
Award from the National Academy of Arts and Letters for having extended
the boundaries of music through his work with percussion orchestra and
his invention of the prepared piano.
- Rocky and Bullwinkle - Jay Ward's flying squirrel, Bullwinkle,
his motley friend, and the two Pottsylvanian spies, Boris
and Natasha.
(trivia)
- Michael Dowse lives in Montreal. He has three dogs (one is a flyball
champion), two cats, and three children.
- In 1990, Michael
Dowse visited Roswell after his friend claims to have
seen a UFO while visiting Seattle.
- During the filming
of Michael
Dowse’s
first feature, FUBAR, a film crane fell on the director,
severing the pinkie and ring finger on his left hand. Also during the
shoot, star Paul Spence’s hair was caught
in the caterer’s meat slicer. If you watch closely, you’ll
notice that Spence wore a wig for the second half
of the shoot.
- Michael Dowse was a talented junior hockey player. However, due to
one leg being slightly longer than the other, it affected
his skating speed in his later years.
- Michael Dowse is a regular customer of B&H Photo-Video (located in New York City)
(filmography)
Films
- It's All Gone Pete Tong (2004) - Director, Writer, Editor
- FUBAR (2002) - Director, Writer, Cinematographer, Producer
- Looking for Leonard (2002) - Editor
- Mile Zero (2002) - Assistant Editor
- 237 (2000) - Director, Writer, Editor
- Bad Money (1999) - Editor
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