Michael S. Ojeda was born in Chicago, Illinois. He wrote and shot his first film at the age of 10. As a result of his never-ending childhood passion of film-making, he eventually attended and graduated from the well-respected film and television school, Columbia College in 1991.

Since graduating, Michael’s unique technical and creative versatility has put him in high demand as an independent Director, Cinematographer, Writer and Editor. As his work on numerous music videos, TV commercials, and feature film projects continue to provide impressive results, Michael’s reputation and demand continue to flourish.

In 2002, Michael decided it was time to take the next step in the evolution of his career and embark on the development of his own feature film.  Michael wrote, directed, edited, and raised private funding to create “LANA’S  RAIN”.  With a modest budget of only $215,000.00, Michael produced a critically-acclaimed, award-winning film with the look of a multi-million dollar picture.

Michael’s achievements for “Lana’s Rain” were quite impressive, especially for a freshman effort. Along with garnering a limited theatrical release, “Lana’s Rain” was recognized with the BEST ACTRESS honors at the 2003 Milan International Film Festival and was lauded by critics throughout the world. “Lana’s Rain” eventually enjoyed nationwide distribution by Image Entertainment and is currently available in Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, and other video stores nationwide.

Among the film’s many accolades, renowned movie Critic Roger Ebert gave “Lana’s Rain” 3 stars, saying, “(It’s) a compelling hard edged story… shows a sure sense of noir style and a toughness that lasts right up to the final scene… it includes a revenge twist so ingenious I will not even hint of it.”

Reelmoviecritic.com wrote, “This low budget film by writer/director Michael S. Ojeda is an impressive debut effort. It has a polished look, with lots of action.”

Most recently, Mr Ojeda has been busy as a Director of Photography on numerous period re-enactment TV shows for the History Channel and Discovery Channel, including: “The Life of Jesse James”, “The Egyptian Book of the Dead” and “The Gangster Dillinger”. Michael acted as both Director and Director of Photography on the National Geographic Channel’s three-episode re-enactment epic “Secret History of the Bible”, “The Knights Templar”, and “The Apocalypse”.

Michael partnered with Carlton Brown president and owner of Totalvision Video, Inc. in 1995 when Michael was hired as an editor at the company. They have collaborated on many projects over the years. He, along with Carlton are Total Vision's Directors of Photography.