“I discovered the rules and learned when to break them; that was fun, which is rule number one.”
It’s always awesome to be reminded that L.A. is full of creative and inspiring artists. He’s not Tarantino, and that's ok because Mike Bruce is on his way to forging his own legend in the world of film. The man who began with a camera, a computer and a vision is now a Cannes recognized filmmaker that also directs videos for rockstars like Oasis' Noel Gallagher and the Dandy Warhols among others.
In 2005 he moved from Paradise, Northern California to L.A. to begin production on his first feature film, "The Legend of God's Gun."
“The Legend of God's Gun was my film school. I knew from experience from going to music school that you can't learn how to be a songwriter in the classroom," says Bruce. “You learn by doing it, by imitating your heroes, by engaging on the battle field.”
With no previous schooling Mike let his passion alone guide him and went to work creating what has inevitably become a cult classic. Not bad for a newcomer.
“With TLOGG I shot first and asked questions later. Then went back and shot some more. It was mostly me, a camera and a computer so I didn't have to answer to anyone. I could do everything on my own at my own pace and learn every aspect of filmmaking as I went along. I wasn't told the rules. I discovered the rules and learned when to break them,” says the filmmaker. “And that was fun, which is rule number one.”
"The Legend of God's Gun" is a rock-n-roll spaghetti western starring the band Spindrift and members of The Brian Jonestown Masscre. It took longer than expected, but three years later it was finally completed and sold to Indican Pictures and Bleiberg Entertainment for worldwide distribution.
So what started a project among friends, including Kirkpatrick Thomas, the mastermind behind L.A. based band Spindrift, became something bigger than he expected and forged his path in film.
“In a sense, if it wasn't for Kirpatrick Thomas's musical genius, I wouldn't be where I am today. Making a film, especially a feature length film, is about the hardest thing you can attempt to do. The only thing that pulled me through was my desire to be a filmmaker and the music of Spindrift.”
Upon returning to Los Angeles Bruce joined forces with producer Cameron Van Hoy and penned a new feature entitled Treasure of the Black Jaguar. The project premiered at the Raindance Film Festival in London just last year where it won the Distribution Award.
Following a screening at Cannes the Hollywood Reporter reviewed it as a "Well-made adventure set in Sergio Leone-type terrain and blasted with Robert Rodriguez-ish firepower...a delirious descent into a heart-of-darkness, where survival instincts and base greed trump basic goodness and civilized values."
This caught the attention of Courtney Taylor-Taylor (The Dandy Warhols) who transplanted Bruce to Portland to make music videos for the release of the album "Earth to The Dandy Warhols".
Working in Portland with the Dandy Warhols helped him earn his stripes in music video production and led him to his most recent experience working with one of the biggest rockstars in the world.
The best part is coming…
Mike recently directed three videos for Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds including “The Death of You And Me", "If I Had A Gun" and "AKA...What A Life!” All three are coated with twisted darkness, beautiful western styled cinematography and dreamlike sequences that keep your eyes glued to the end.
For Bruce working with one of Britain’s notorious ‘bad boys’ has been the experience of a lifetime. Gallagher gave him complete artistic freedom and Bruce gave him some fucking amazing videos in return.
“Working with Noel was the first time I've worked with someone who had so much trust in me. It was liberating. Once he approved the first script to "The Death of You and Me" he never fought me on anything. He gave me complete freedom - which is how I ended up doing three videos,” recounts Bruce.
“I made them all to be continued with a connecting story line. It was literally a dream come true. I've wanted to make a "proper" music video with a budget and crew ever since I picked up a camera. Noel Gallagher gave me that opportunity. He's my hero. Yesterday he was interviewed on VH1 and at the end of the interview he called me a genius. I am definitely not a genius, but I am happy he thinks so."
Mike Bruce currently directs music videos and is developing his upcoming feature “Desiree Dream,” a ghost story about a clairvoyant song writer.
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