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Michael Mandaville

Michael Mandaville

About

MICHAEL MANDAVILLE

             

            Michael Mandaville has worked for 25 years as a line producer, production manager and production supervisor. These films include “Taken”,  "Taken 2" and “Taken 3” written and produced by Luc Besson, “Havoc” with Anne Hathaway, “The Kiss” with Terence Stamp and Billy Zane, ("American History X" (New Line Cinema) with Edward Norton and Edward Furlong, "Friends of Friends" with Bruce Davison and Sherilynn Fenn, "Blood and Wine" (Jack Nicholson, Director: Bob Rafelson), "Millenium's Child" (Disney/Miramax) with William Windom and Karen Black, "Sensation" with Eric Roberts, Ed Begley Jr., Paul Le Mat and Ron Perlman. "Hail Caesar" with Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey, Jr. and Judd Nelson. "Pumpkin Head II" (MPCA) with Ami Dolenz and Steve Kanaly.  Michael also produced  “The Almighty Fred”, an independent film. He has directed commercials, shorts, a documentary and industrial films.  He has also worked on “Manahi” an Arabic language comedy which was the first film shown in Saudi Arabia in 35 years.  

            Michael also worked on numerous TV pilots including "Chunks of Life" (ABC), "Criminal Obsession with Telly Savalas and "Wet" with Arliss Howard, Cynda Williams (Directed by Bob Rafelson).  "The Double O-Kid" with Corey Haim, Brigitte Nielsen. "Girlfriend from Hell" and "Spirit of the Eagle" with Dan Haggerty and Bill Smith.  Michael worked on a CD-ROM Project, "Monty Python's Holy Grail CD-ROM" with Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam.  As an executive with Queens Cross Productions, he worked on "Keys to Freedom" with Jane Seymour and Omar Sharif, "The Tunnel"  with Jane Seymour and Peter Weller and "Tapeheads" with Tim Robbins and John Cusack.

            Michael is a bondable line producer with Film Finance, etc., . He also worked as a Risk Manager at the Motion Picture Bond Company.  Through Transcom Productions, Michael has done Scheduling and Budgeting for clients including Relativity, Intl. Sales Organization, Paramount Pictures, Viacom, Bob Rafelson, Kushner-Locke Company, Mark Damon Worldwide, Europacorp, etc., . 

            Michael follows in the film industry in the steps of his aunt, Molly Mandaville, who worked as legendary film mogul Darryl Zanuck's assistant for 35 years.   He has written many scripts with options and scripts for hire to his credit.   Michael finished his first Tom Clancy like technothriller novel, “Stealing Thunder” which won the Thrillspy Award for best novel and a mystery novel, “A Cold Death" both available on Amazon.   He has three more novels and several plays in process which usually keeps him out of trouble.  He wrote the non-fiction book, “Ciizen Soldier Handbook: 101 Ways For Every American To Fight Terrorism” and speaks on this subject.  Michael received a Master's Degree from USC in their prestigious Professional Writing Program.  He attended the BA program for Columbia College, received a BA from UCSB in Philosophy. 

 

 

Murdo

Murdo

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Description

<p>When Jessica Bryant pesters her wealthy parents to allow her to have a dog as a pet, the answer is a resounding &quot;No&quot;; but they soon come to regret their decision when thier home is broken into one evening whilst they are out and their daughter kidnapped and held for ransom. The kidnappers, in the form of four seedy and incompetent characters wearing Disneyland-type masks, take her hostage and keep her incarcerated in a place from which there appears to be no escape. However, they reckon without the resourcefulness of our heroine, and the courage of a wonderful stray dog who comes to her aid and whom she names 'Murdo'. And so begins an exciting and humurous accounting of the couples' adventures together as they consistently foil and outwit the abductors whilst on the run together.<br /> This is a lovely story of the friendship between a girl and a dog, bringing out themes of responsibility, camaraderie, redemption, salvation and self-sacrifice. It includes some wonderful dialogue sequences as Jessica teaches her new four-legged friend how to communicate with her, with additional delightful conversations between the animals when a rabbit and a sparrow join forces with them in an effort to outwit the kidnappers and restore Jessica safely back to her parents' home. </p>

Story Behind The Book

I have always been intrigued with the history of Paris and its language. I had read an article about a murderous French police chief of Bordeaux protected by the French government for his crimes. At that point, the plot web started to weave. I wondered about this criminal and how he escaped - and who might expose him to the public so he could get his just punishment.

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Reviews

<p><em><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;line-height:normal;">&quot;I took a chance on this one and was well-rewarded. Not your typical mystery, A Cold Death has a unique and inventive story, memorable and sympathetic characters, and very skillful dialogue.</span></em><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;line-height:normal;" /><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;line-height:normal;" /><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;line-height:normal;"><em>I like my thrillers and mysteries with international locations, and Michael Mandaville plunges you deeply into a dark side of Paris you don't get in the travel books, and gives you a more intimate perspective of the city than even the Paris-based mysteries of Cara Black. I also like my thrillers and mysteries to be contemporary but with an historical backdrop or at least history and travelogue asides, and Mandaville serves those up too.&quot;</em> </span></p> <p><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;line-height:normal;"><strong>Amazon.com Review</strong></span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;line-height:normal;" /></p>