Michael Cusack O’Connell
Meet the founder of Haw River Films.
My first experience in film was as a boom operator on the independent Canadian feature, Norman’s Awesome Adventure, shot on location in Argentina on 35mm film. I was hooked immediately.
At the same time, I began my first professional audio job as the house sound engineer at the venerable jazz club Blues Alley in Washington, D.C. After briefly attending the now-defunct College for Recording Arts in San Francisco, what followed was an extraordinary seven-year immersion, working nightly with many of the greatest jazz artists of that era — my real arts education, a graduate degree from the University of Dizzy Gillespie.
With my wife and our two young children, we later relocated to Pittsboro, North Carolina, where I joined UNC-TV, North Carolina’s statewide PBS network. I began as a sound recordist, moved into the ranks of videographer and editor, and in my final eight years served as a producer and director.
Along the way, I founded my independent production company, Haw River Films. Between my own productions and my work producing documentaries and programs at UNC-TV (now PBS North Carolina), I’ve been fortunate to continually refine my craft while creating more than a dozen feature-length documentaries, countless short films, and several broadcast programs for PBSNC.
It’s been a remarkable 30-year journey — and we’re still creating.
I’ve never been one for artist statements. The only one that’s ever stayed with me was written by outsider artist Clyde Jones of Bynum, North Carolina:
“If you like it, that’s great. If you don’t, that’s OK too.”
If you think I’d be a good fit for your project, feel free to get in touch.
The links on this site represent my work. I’ve never put together a traditional reel projects tend to grow from my own interests and from the artists I intersect with along the way.
Thoughts from Mike
Light is Knowledge
“Light, I think, is knowledge. Knowledge is love. Love is freedom. Freedom is energy. Energy is all” — Vitorrio Storaro
Haw River Films 