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The Mike Saga

In the Beginning:

Mike has always been drawn to great stories with strong lead characters that drive the story.

Out of the many Scientists, Philosophers and other prominent figures throughout time, his creative process and structure of writing is heavily influenced by Aristotle because he believes in strong protagonists and equally strong antagonists which result in great conflict.

That’s pretty much why MacGyver was so successful and long running. MacGyver was about as strong and intelligent as any lead character can be.

He is also drawn to cool/mind blowing concepts like the ideas used to write episodes of Stargate. It’s Science Fiction but based on real science and real astrophysics but with an obvious leap that enables us to go to different worlds to tell meaningful original stories.

As far as film goes, he likes stories that most people don’t know about like Glory League which is the unknown but compelling and empowering story of the Colored Hockey League that really was the “Roots” of the NHL. Bringing stories that are not commonly known in today’s day and age to the big screen is one of the best ways to bring those stories to spotlight and give people the opportunity to learn about our collective history as a planet and in certain instances, they’re own personal history. Every story that is pursued by BigPix is a story that we believe needs to be told. It goes further than just entertainment. Telling amazing stories like Glory League can promote a positive change in people’s lives and give insight into the struggles experienced by some.

We also hold a strong affinity to cultural icons that changed the world forever. Our screenplay Leonardo does a deep dive into the genius of the quintessential Renaissance Man himself. Da Vinci

We asked Mike who were his greatest mentors and the people who led him into his 40+ years of film and TV. Here is what he had to say.

“My first mentor was Lila Garrett, who was one of the first female directors in Hollywood. Lila got me into the Director’s Guild of America and pretty much launched my career. With Lila I learned hands on how to write, produce and direct for the screen. Lila’s significant other was the legendary Mort Lachman who was the Executive Producer of the iconic sitcom All in the Family. I was an AD on the 200th Anniversary Special and had the honor of being allowed in the writers room for script writing and punch ups during that time. A truly amazing and unforgettable experience watching masters at work both behind the scenes and on set.” – Mike Greenburg

“My next mentor was Don Ohlmeyer who actually gave me my producing break on the miniseries The Golden Moment. Don was a great leader and a perfectionist in production and postproduction.” – Mike Greenburg

“Next was my five years producing with George Englund who was partnered with Paul Newman at Warner Brothers in Newman Englund Productions. My time with those guys took the qualitative level of shot and scene execution to new heights. George was an innovative and master storyteller on film from The Ugly American to Shoes of the Fisherman to the first Rock Western Zachariah and the first scripted story film ever shot on IMAX called My Strange Uncle which I had the honor to produce. You cannot make even the slightest mistake anywhere on film in the IMAX format because the screen is so huge. It was that early IMAX filmmaking experience that made me a perfectionist on set and in post.” – Mike Greenburg

Perfecting the Craft:

MacGyver gave Mike eight years to continue to perfect his craft and contribution to the filmmaking process. The Stargate decade was filmmaking “on steroids” because it involved so much state-of-the-art computer-generated imaging due to the SciFi concept of different worlds and aliens. But, even with all that jazz you still need to tell a compelling story with meaningful and memorable characters.