My Story

I have been drawing since I was able to pick up a writing implement. My drawing talents excelled in school where I won many awards at art shows. In my days at Baldwin High School, I took up Graphic Arts to expand my talents. In parallel to my interest in art, I began acting in summer theater and would later appear in TV commercials and land extra rolls in feature films. Being inspired early on by TV shows like The Monkees and The Partridge Family, I took up learning the drums at the age of 5 and later bass guitar at 15. Music soon took over as my main passion as I got a taste for playing in local bands and began to compose original songs. By the time I was 19, I was playing in front of large crowds and opening for national acts.

As a young adult, I decided to put my acting to use by combining my improvisational skills with my natural ability to mimic famous voices, such as Bullwinkle, and began making regular appearances on the Scott Paulsen Radio Show on Pittsburgh's WDVE. I also got my first taste at producing music as I entered the studio to co-produce a charity song to which I penned the lyrics. Dream Makers was a local "We Are The World" type effort where I gathered musicians of all types from around the Pittsburgh area to take part in singing and playing on the song that would get notable air play as well as a Rockumentary that would air on TV; thus, I came to discover yet another talent of mine - team building. I believed in the "We are the Dream Project" and got others to see my vision for it, and talked every one of the artists into donating their time and efforts to make the project successful. Five years later, I was at it again - only this time, I decided to produce a full-length CD of local bands performing classic rock hits. The Power-hitters Tribute to Classic Rock was recorded and released to raise money for the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation.

A year later, I fell in love with the Internet and the abilities that the home computer could deliver. I started teaching myself how to build Web sites. My vision was to start building sites for the bands that I would produce and incorporate this talent into my music production company. To further my advancement on my design capabilities, I decided to attend Duquesne University in Pittsburgh to obtain a degree in Multimedia Technologies. It was here that I gravitated towards everything related to Multimedia Design - including computer animation.

Atlas Design Group was formed in December of 2001, and by 2005 I had built the division up with two other employees, four freelancers and a book of business. I was then offered the opportunity to buy the company for no more than work-on-trade. I and my new business partner, Tim Gerwing, would look to take Atlas Design Group to the next level as our own company in 2006.

In 2009, I formed the division that was to become Zoetifex Entertainment to focus more on visual effects and animation for TV and Film. A few years later, an opportunity arose for me to put together a demonstration of Zoetifex' animation capabilities, for a gentleman in New York who was looking for a company to produce a new animated TV Series based on vintage radio and TV audio. I came up with the idea of taking the audio from Alfred Hitchcock's five-minute long trailer for his movie "The Birds." I edited the audio down to a minute and began coming up with unique visuals that put a twist on the actual audio. I then had to put my team-building skills to use to round up some of the most talented animators that were available for work. Zoetifex was coming to life, and my vision was to build the studio from the ground up - with the key ingredient being the talent. The team I was able to build had experience working with such companies as Disney, Blue Sky, Digital Domain, Imagi, Electronic Arts and more. The end result was even better than I had hoped for. The client instantly fell in love with the piece - and so have tens of thousands of viewers on the Internet.

I have been leading, creating and entertaining for most of my life. From my background in music, to acting and voice-overs, to my artistic skills and award-winning designs. I have unique, creative ideas and possess an ability to round up the most talented people available on a moments notice. I believe, and what's more - I have been able to get others to believe in what I'm doing.

Services

Below is a short list of some of the services I provide to my clients.
Digital Media

From Web Design to Interactive Applications and Internet Advertising, I have over 15 years of experience to make your project look clean and professional.

Video Production

I have over 25 years of experience in the Film Industry. From Corporate Videos to TV and Web Commercials, I work with some of the best in the industry to deliver a top-notch production.

Animation

I work with animators that have worked for Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, Blue Sky and more. I have experience to deliver both 2D and CG (3D) high quality animation productions.

Graphic Design

I can deliver all forms of digital artwork for advertising, internal corporate use, web sites, business cards and stationary. I also specialize in new logo designs and re-designs.

Accolades

Winner of Platinum Award Level MarCom Awards - 2021 for This Video produced for Apple Box Studios.

Winner of a Silver Telly Award for Tourism Marketing for This Video produced for Apple Box Studios and Visit Pittsburgh.

Giving advice and guiding curriculum for Pittsburgh Technical College as a member of their Advisory Board since 2001.

Technical Advisor and Board of Directors for Shekinah Ranch Camp since 2007.

Senior Judge for Annual Web Awards (www.webaward.org) since 2001.

Member of Pixel Corps since 2003

Winner: Best Visual Effects (Honorable Mention) - 2007 48 Hour Film Project - Pittsburgh

 Winner: Best Costumes (Honorable Mention) - 2007 48 Hour Film Project - Pittsburgh

 3rd Place: Audience Favorite - 2008 48 Hour Film Project - Pittsburgh

Flagler Award 2016

Won by Visit Tampa Bay - Henry Brings Business to Tampa Bay

The WebAwardsMultiple Web Awards since 2000

Web Marketing Association - WebAwards
Multiple Categories

Silver Online Telly Award - 2013

ITxM - Donor First Series
Produced by Apple Box Studios

My Talent

SOFTWARE AND TECHNICAL EXPERTISE
I am skilled on both Mac and Windows platforms.
Management:
Producing
Directing
Writing
Client Relationships
Staff Training
Public Speaking
Adobe Creative Cloud:
Photoshop
Illustrator
InDesign
After Effects
Premiere
Audition
Dreamweaver
Acrobat
3D Animation Programs:
Maya
Modo
Cinema 4D
Programming:
HTML & DHTML
JavaScript
PHP
ActionScript
MySQL
UI/UX
and more...
Michael M. Kadrie
A BRIEF SNAPSHOPT OF MY EXPERIENCE
Creative Director- 20 years Experience
V.P. Digital Media- 10 years Experience
Producer - 25 years Experience
Director- 19 years Experience
Public Speaker- 17 years Experience

Career Objective

To serve as creative director/producer for companies that will allow me to utilize my creative, communication, leadership and management skills, and to benefit those who are focused on continued improvement of their creative product, organizational growth and the success of their clients.

 Download My Resume [PDF Format]

Career Highlights

• 20 ✚ years in the creative services field
• 18 ✚ years experience as creative director art director
• Served as Producer/Director/Creative Director for dozens of VFX projects and 2D & 3D animated films/projects
• Solely responsible for all marketing collateral for the #1 Broker/Dealer in Pittsburgh (per Pittsburgh Business Times)
• Assembled a leadership team to purchase Atlas Design Group from BlueVase Securities
• Serving as featured judge for the Web Awards since 2001
• Branded, ID’d and helped develop UI/UX for new social media mobile app
• Providing expert advice and helping shape the curriculum of Pittsburgh Technical College as a member of their Board of Advisors since 2001
• Grew Atlas Design Group to over 100 clients, both locally and nationally, in more than a dozen markets within 6 years
• Launched a successful world-wide web campaign with Coral Ridge Ministries – the 5th largest ministry in the country
• Conceived and lead production of Piece of the Pride (flash-based on-line application) for CalU and Nationally
• Conceptualized and created animated intro to CalU Football games for their stadium’s new Jumbotron
• Conceptualized and Produced an animated short that has appeared in several film festivals world-wide
• Created Motion Graphics Animation for VisitPittsburgh that won the 2013 Silver Telly Award
• Public Speaker to students entering into the field of animation and other creative design fields and to other business owners in the industry
• A career of helping companies from start-up to Fortune 500 realize a vision and/or new direction for their Brand

Career History

Education

Duquesne University: Pittsburgh, PA 15282

Multimedia Technologies - B.A. Program
Bachelors Degree Multimedia Technology
Courses in Multimedia Technology including: computer graphics and computer animation.
 

Baldwin High School: Pittsburgh, PA 15236

Diploma - Academic Courses
Courses included 3 years of Graphic Arts and 3 years of Spanish.

Community Service

Eucharistic Minister – St. Elizabeth Church – Baldwin, PA

Volunteer design work for Shekinah Ranch, Passionists Overseas Missions and Diana Irey – Washington County Commissioner and others

Unpaid Public Speaking engagements at schools such as California University of PA (CalU) to help guide those entering their college education

Testimonial

Demo Reel

This is my working production demo reel - updated May 2019.

My updated Demo Reel that is a diverse display of my career's work. A lot of my career is in here. Freelance work, Atlas Design Group, zoetifex Studios, Apple Box Studios and The Chronicles of Christ. All are represented in the minute and a half reel. For a better look at some of these projects, I invite you to check out my Animation and Video Portfolio.

If you have any questions about my work, or you have a video project that you need my help with, please feel free to Contact Me.

My Video Demo Reel

Updated May 2019

My apologies as the Demo Reels are experiencing issues with being embedded.
Please view this Demo Reel Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqc7-SBKb3I

Manny Moe Demo Reel

Combined work of myself and Thad Ciechanowski

My apologies as the Demo Reels are experiencing issues with being embedded.
Please view this Demo Reel Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh7jeMZ6SpU

Contact Michael

I am currently available for freelancing.
You can contact me using the form below, or at the information below:

Michael M. Kadrie
m: P.O. Box 97839
Pittsburgh, PA 15227
e:
c: 412.956.1458
f: 866.606.0960

 

My Freelance rates are negotiable and vary from project to project depending on type and scope of project. I can also work on a flat scale if you have a fixed budget for the project you need help with.

I would love to hear from you!