Michael Papilla grew up in Walnut, a small city about thirty miles east of Los Angeles. As a child, Michael had difficulties with written words, and he struggled to overcome these difficulties because of his passion for creating short stories. After watching a friend’s home-made independent film, he quickly embraced filmmaking as a way to channel his creative story-telling. During Michael’s senior year of high school, his father bought him a Mini-DV camcorder, allowing him to create short films that became his creative outlet. With his enthusiasm, Michael was able to enlist a large following of friends and acquaintances to participate in making films, often working together so hard that they missed lunches and dinners. With this experience, Michael knew this is what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. While attending the local community college, Mount San Antonio College, he enrolled in several film courses and continued to produce independent films, one earning an IMBD credit, “Forgiven Faith”. Simultaneously, he started a wedding videography business to make money that funded his passion for filmmaking. There was a large demand for his event videos since they had a unique artistic character. Upon graduation from Mt. SAC, Michael transferred to California State University, Northridge, later earning a Bachelors degree in Cinema and Television Arts with an emphasis in Film Production. He directed his introductory production project entitled “Last Hand,” was the Director of Photography for his intermediate production class “The Photo Album,” and produced his senior thesis film "The Pebble Beach". Michael has established a network with other film students at CSUN and other film schools. To this day, Michael continues to make films with this network, and is excited to be part to take his passion to the next level.