Directing
Michael Pressman
Born
1950-07-01 (76)
Place of birth
New York City, New York, USA
Known for
Directing
Credits
39 titles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Michael Pressman (born July 1, 1950 in New York City, New York) is an American director and producer of film and television. Some of the films he has directed are The Great Texas Dynamite Chase (1976), Doctor Detroit (1983), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday (1996). For television, he has directed episodes of Picket Fences, The Practice, The Graudian, Boston Legal, The Closer, Law & Order, Weeds, Grey's Anatomy and other series. He is an alumni of Camp Rising Sun and studied filmmaking at the California Institute of the Arts.
Known for
7.2Chicago Hope is an American medical drama television series, created by David E. Kelley. It ran on CBS from September 18, 1994, to May 4, 2000. The series is set in a fictional private charity hospital in Chicago, Illinois.
Chicago Hope
1994
7.0Nick Fallin is a hotshot lawyer working at his father's ultrasuccessful Pittsburgh law firm. Unfortunately, the high life has gotten the best of Nick. Arrested for drug use, he's sentenced to do 1,500 hours of community service, somehow to be squeezed into his 24/7 cutthroat world of mergers, acquisitions and board meetings. Reluctantly, he's now The Guardian - a part-time child advocate at Legal Aid Services, where one case after another is an eye-opening instance of kids caught up in difficult circumstances.
The Guardian
2001
6.0When a man is eaten alive by an unknown creature, the local Game Warden teams up with a paleontologist from New York to find the beast. Add to the mix an eccentric philanthropist with a penchant for "Crocs", and here we go! This quiet, remote lake is suddenly the focus of an intense search for a crocodile with a taste for live animals...and people!
Lake Placid
1999
6.2The Turtles and the Shredder battle once again, this time for the last cannister of the ooze that created the Turtles, which Shredder wants to create an army of new mutants. Meanwhile Splinter is coming... to a decision.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
1991
5.5David loves his wife, Gillian. Unfortunately, she died two years ago. David deals with his grief by continuing his romance with Gillian during walks with her "ghost" on the beach at night. While David lives in the past, other family problems crop up in the present in the real world....
To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday
1996
5.1A shy but gentle man named Clifford Skridlow is a professor of comparative literature at the financially-strapped fictional Monroe College in Chicago. A chance encounter with four beautiful women at a restaurant changes his life forever.
Doctor Detroit
1983
Film credits
2000s · 2 titles
7.5Television director/producer Michael Pressman mounts a production of Frankie and Johnny in the Clare de Lune starring his wife, Lisa Chess. But their attempts to stage the play and work on their marriage keep running afoul, and everything's threatened by their difficult male lead, Alan Rosenberg. Michael's best hope, as a husband and producer, is to step into the character that Alan has abandoned.
Frankie and Johnny Are Married
2003
8.0Mackendrick on Film is an educational project constructed around the film teachings of legendary pedagogue Alexander Mackendrick. Taking as its starting point Mackendrick's body of written work contained in his book On Film-making: An introduction to the craft of the director, Mackendrick on Film is a structured 'illustrated lecture' that features never-before-seen footage of Mackendrick at work in the classrooms and studios of the California Institute of the Arts, new interviews with former students and colleagues, extracts from archived interviews with Mackendrick about his career as a teacher of cinema, rare photos, and a selection of his student handouts, storyboards and sketches.
Mackendrick on Film
2004
1990s · 2 titles
6.2The Turtles and the Shredder battle once again, this time for the last cannister of the ooze that created the Turtles, which Shredder wants to create an army of new mutants. Meanwhile Splinter is coming... to a decision.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
1991
6.4This short documentary treats movie fans to a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the first two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action film adaptations of the popular comic book and animated series. Included are interviews with the cast and crew who share their experiences from making the film, as well as discuss the efforts that went into it.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mania: Behind the Shells — The Making of 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'
1991
Series credits
7.2Chicago Hope is an American medical drama television series, created by David E. Kelley. It ran on CBS from September 18, 1994, to May 4, 2000. The series is set in a fictional private charity hospital in Chicago, Illinois.
Chicago Hope
1994
7.0Nick Fallin is a hotshot lawyer working at his father's ultrasuccessful Pittsburgh law firm. Unfortunately, the high life has gotten the best of Nick. Arrested for drug use, he's sentenced to do 1,500 hours of community service, somehow to be squeezed into his 24/7 cutthroat world of mergers, acquisitions and board meetings. Reluctantly, he's now The Guardian - a part-time child advocate at Legal Aid Services, where one case after another is an eye-opening instance of kids caught up in difficult circumstances.
The Guardian
2001
Behind the camera
6.0When a man is eaten alive by an unknown creature, the local Game Warden teams up with a paleontologist from New York to find the beast. Add to the mix an eccentric philanthropist with a penchant for "Crocs", and here we go! This quiet, remote lake is suddenly the focus of an intense search for a crocodile with a taste for live animals...and people!
Lake Placid
1999
6.2The Turtles and the Shredder battle once again, this time for the last cannister of the ooze that created the Turtles, which Shredder wants to create an army of new mutants. Meanwhile Splinter is coming... to a decision.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
1991
5.5David loves his wife, Gillian. Unfortunately, she died two years ago. David deals with his grief by continuing his romance with Gillian during walks with her "ghost" on the beach at night. While David lives in the past, other family problems crop up in the present in the real world....
To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday
1996
5.1A shy but gentle man named Clifford Skridlow is a professor of comparative literature at the financially-strapped fictional Monroe College in Chicago. A chance encounter with four beautiful women at a restaurant changes his life forever.
Doctor Detroit
1983
7.0A miracle occurs for a homeless family consisting of two wayward children and their protective aunt with the help of an angel. When a young woman's niece and nephew are threatened with foster care after her sister is hospitalized following yet another overdose, she flees with them until they land in the sleepy town of Bethlehem just before Christmas and a series of kindnesses and coincidences gives the trio a chance at happiness.
A Season for Miracles
1999
6.1While staying at an inn in a colonial-recreation village for her anniversary, a young woman becomes possessed by her murderous ancestor through an antique mirror and compelled to murder her husband.
Haunted by Her Past
1987
5.6A Vietnam vet returns home from a prisoner of war camp and is greeted as a hero, but is quickly forgotten and soon discovers how tough survival is in his own country.
Some Kind of Hero
1982
7.0When Tim McFall's young daughter dies as the result of toxic waste dumped in the local river, he tries to shut down the company and everybody turns against him. In his fight he is joined by a beautiful student activist, and soon his obsession with revenge threatens his marriage as well as his career.
Incident at Dark River
1989
4.9Candy and Ellie Jo are a pair of sexy bank robbers who blast their way into small-town banks with a carload of dynamite! When they take Slim hostage, it begins a thrill-packed crime spree across the state of Texas.
The Great Texas Dynamite Chase
1976
7.2Raymond Avila is an ex-gang member trying to build a future. His kid brother Chuco is a sullen low-rider still caught up in the life. Despite their differences, their family bond is strong. But that bond is violently tested when rivals challenge Chuco's gang and ignite a neighborhood war.
Boulevard Nights
1979
5.7Nan Moore is a U.S. government employee whose son is killed when Korean Air Flight 007 is shot down by Soviets on September 1, 1983. While the "official" story maintains that the flight accidentally veered too far into Soviet territory, was mistaken as a spy plane and shot down when it failed to identify itself, Ms. Moore suspects otherwise. However, in the course of her struggles to get to the bottom of what actually happened, she finds herself constantly stonewalled. Facing a conspiracy of silence and the increasing hostility of the authorities, Ms. Moore attempts to find out exactly what occurred, but with every answer she discovers, new questions arise...
Shootdown
1988
4.2A small-town star helps a young apprentice land the girl of his dreams.
Those Lips, Those Eyes
1980
4.2A small-town star helps a young apprentice land the girl of his dreams.
Those Lips, Those Eyes
1980
5.8A troubled, rebellious teen drives his rambunctious baseball team out to Houston where they play an exhibition game and the boy meets his estranged father, and hires him as the teams coach.
The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training
1977
6.3A small-town couple find themselves stranded in an unfamiliar, and unfriendly, big city. Weaving in and out of the proceedings are a bunch of murderous criminals with names like DOA, Ice and Slash. The couple are in for a night that they won't forget.
Final Jeopardy
1985
7.0A middle-aged mom and her teenage daughter adjust to life together after Dad's affair breaks up the family.
Like Mom, Like Me
1978
5.6A hard-working architect is pulled into intrigue when his wife hires a private investigator to make sure he's just working late. The private eye sees an opportunity to frame him for a murder instead.
Quicksand: No Escape
1992
6.6After Al Capone is imprisoned, he still continues to run his empire, and plots to assassinate the mayor of Chicago.
The Revenge of Al Capone
1989
6.6A lonely teen troubled by a past family tragedy is suspicious of his sister-in-law, believing she is being unfaithful. His confrontation with his brother sets off a series of tragic events.
Saint Maybe
1998
9.0Mississippi in the early '60s is the setting for this story of a 12-year-old African-American girl who, along with her white friends, tries to ease increasing racial tensions.
And the Children Shall Lead
1985
4.7After being released from prison, small-time con artist Cade tracks down his old girlfriend. When she rebuffs him, he fakes his past in order to get hired as the principal of the school where she teaches, in the hopes of winning her back. Cade soon begins to take a sincere interest in the welfare of his students, and enlists the help of his friend Matthew to break a drug-dealing network that has infested the school.
The Impostor
1984
7.5Television director/producer Michael Pressman mounts a production of Frankie and Johnny in the Clare de Lune starring his wife, Lisa Chess. But their attempts to stage the play and work on their marriage keep running afoul, and everything's threatened by their difficult male lead, Alan Rosenberg. Michael's best hope, as a husband and producer, is to step into the character that Alan has abandoned.
Frankie and Johnny Are Married
2003
7.5Television director/producer Michael Pressman mounts a production of Frankie and Johnny in the Clare de Lune starring his wife, Lisa Chess. But their attempts to stage the play and work on their marriage keep running afoul, and everything's threatened by their difficult male lead, Alan Rosenberg. Michael's best hope, as a husband and producer, is to step into the character that Alan has abandoned.
Frankie and Johnny Are Married
2003
4.0A therapist goes outside his office and into his patients' personal lives to help them. He is treating a man who is hearing sounds but apparently there is nothing wrong with him psychologically. And a woman who despite being in a healthy relationship goes around picking up guys and having sex with them. She decides to seek help and what the doctor learns is that the problem goes back to her childhood and her family.
Private Sessions
1985
6.0The true story of Jan Scruggs, an embittered Vietnam veteran who returns from the war a broken man. However, with the help of his loving wife Becky, he begins to find a new life for himself, and a personal goal when he agrees to begin a determined campaign to raise funds for a veteran's memorial.
To Heal a Nation
1988
6.0A woman is torn between her boyfriend's ending their relationship and being separated from his young son with whom she has bonded.
Joshua's Heart
1990
7.0Honest cop in corrupt 1940s Los Angeles fights against gangsters who are kidnapping and selling women into prostitution.
Man Against the Mob: The Chinatown Murders
1989
5.6A widowed New York City architect and his young daughter take a Christmas vacation and end up in a small mystical town in Colorado where everyone believes in Santa Claus.
The Christmas Gift
1986
6.5A despairing young widow who abandons her baby at pond-side among bulrushes and a man who's fighting to reclaim his own son are drawn together. A baby plops out of a rainy, stormy sky into the arms of the town's beloved, vaguely addled spinster. Miracles suddenly reverse the fortunes of the town as drought and unemployment disappear, only to be replaced by boosterism and greed.
Miracle Child
1993
8.0The life and legacy of Helen Keller, including how she used her celebrity to advocate for human rights and social justice for women, the poor and people with disabilities.
Becoming Helen Keller
2021


