Michele graduated with a degree in Television, Radio & Film Production from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications of Syracuse University in 1994.  A Bay Area native, Michele decided the climate was too chilly in New York and moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area shortly after graduating from SU. She never really got the thing about “the Orangemen” anyhow.  Though orange is one of her favorite colors, simply because it is so irrefutably awake… 

Her first job out of school was creating programming and distribution materials for Tara Releasing, an independent film distribution company in San Rafael.  Shortly after, she started working as an editor on the documentary film, Camp Lavender Hill, about a summer camp for children of gay, lesbian and bisexual parents.  Much of the work that Michele has produced subsequently has been for and about young people, where she feels the true and tender voice of a culture lies. Professionally, Michele has worked as an editor, producer and photographer on several independent films and Bay Area collaborations, including Tom Shepard’s Sundance award-winning documentary Scout’s Honor.

 Michele began her teaching career  in 1999 at Odyssey Middle School in San Mateo where she worked for several years as a Photography and Filmmaking instructor and mentor for gifted children between 11 and 14 years old.  When asked about the experience of trying to get a classroom of rowdy and intelligent teenagers to quite and focus on their craft, she just chuckles and reminds herself, “these kids are here to remind us older folks that creating art is as much about the process as it is about the result.”

 She made her way into the CCSF lifeline first as a student in 1997.  She took several classes in the BEMA, Film and Photography departments, and shot and edited her first 16mm film-to-tape experiment, A Vignette.  What started out as a film that was  to be edited on a flatbed and an AVID system simultaneously, quickly turned her focus to non-linear editing.  In Fall 1999, Michele began working as a part-time instructor in the BEMA department of City College. She now teaches several classes in the department, primarily in the digital, non-linear editing realm.  She also teaches classes and workshops at Art Institute of California-San Francisco,  BAVC, GLIDE Memorial Teen Center, the Napa/Sonoma Film and Music Institute and the Mill Valley Film Festival. 

She also runs a production company called lilblackcat productions, where she works as a freelance producer, shooter and editor for PSA’s, promo pieces and short films for corporations and individuals, artists and non-profit clients, from development to post-production.  Currently, she is in the middle of production on her own documentary film about disabled animals, alternative therapies that are used to assist them and the amazing human-companions and healthcare professionals who champion for their right to live long and healthy lives.  Her greatest desire in life is to work with her heroine and fellow animal-guru and protector, Dr. Jane Goodall.