Michael A. Gill-Branion

Gill-Branion was born Michael Anthony Branion to Rozener and Buford Branion of Bloomington, Illinois in 1966. His name became hyphenated after marrying his wife, Sarah Ann Gill in 1997. Details of a scattered childhood indicate he lived in several locations throughout the Midwest from 1980 to 1985. He attended four different high schools after his parents divorce and ironically four different colleges after his father's death in 1987. Gill-Branion is best known in China as a practitioner of exotic Kung Fu, which includes Bak Mei, and 7-Star Mantis. He was trained from 1979 to to 1985 by Grandmaster KeyChung Song. Although his Sifu KeyChung Song (9th degree black belt in China, Korea, & the United States) is of Korean descent, he is highly respected in both China and Korea as a Shaolin Kung Fu master. National attention came to Gill-Branion in the United States from the controversial newspaper article, "Sleeping with Shakepeare" by Venus Lee, in 2006. He served as a LISC AmeriCorps member near the busiest border in the world from 1999 to 2001. His knowledge of border issues between the United States and Mexico may be considered an asset for our time. Gill-Branion graduated from the University of Southern California with a Public Policy, Management, & Planning degree in 2006. He became a member of the American Planning Association in 2004. In 2008, he began writing presentation treatments for Red Baron Films. His third book, "The Forgotten Prince", was first edited by best selling author Sheree R. Thomas. The presentation treatment and spec script based on the story, "The Forgotten Prince", are proposed to become a feature film. Manuscript submissions to international trade book publishers is underway.