Michael Paxton

Michael Paxton holds an M.F.A. from NYU's Graduate Institute of Film & Television. After his thesis film, "Forbidden Fruit" won numerous awards at the NYU film festival, he moved to Los Angeles and began working for Walt Disney's Feature Animation Department in 1989 during the production of "The Little Mermaid." He continued in feature animation production until he produced and directed a number of successful plays in Hollywood, two of which were based on the works of Ayn Rand ("Ideal" in 1989 and "Anthem" in 1991). Moving into feature films, he wrote, produced and directed his first documentary, "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life," which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1997 and won a Golden Satellite Award in 1998. He was the Associate Producer on "Lion King 1 1/2" for Disney and "Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows" for Miramax. He has written a number of children's books for the Disney company, as well as, penning a companion book to "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life." Under Whitetail Productions, Michael continues to work on his own screenplays and productions.