We were lucky to catch up with Spider Michaels recently and have shared our conversation below.
Spider, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you have an agent or someone (or a team) that helps you secure opportunities and compensation for your creative work? How did you meet them, why did you decide to work with them, why do you think they decided to work with you?
I call myself the first New Age Renaissance Pirate for a few reasons. One, New Age refers to the 21st century. Two, Renaissance Pirate is a reference to Renaissance Man, which is a multi-talented person with many skills or gifts. And Pirate is self-explanatory. I use the term renaissance because I have experience in a lot of fields and I’ve achieved success in many of them.
One area that I hope to become skilled at is acting and modeling. One of the first things required to achieve any level of success in this field is to have an agent.
A while back, I did some research into Houston talent agencies and found that the most reputable one was the Neal Hamil Agency. After a meeting with the Vice President, Jennifer Molleda, it was decided that I needed some experience before the agency could sign me.
I enrolled in a multi-week seminar offered by the agency and learned quite a lot about the business of acting. The instructors were knowledgeable and the skills we learned gave me confidence, which is important to have.
After I completed the course, I had to go through an audition process with the Talent Manager, Gloria Benedict. I needed to prepare a monologue and perform it well in front of Gloria in order to get signed by the agency.
I researched monologues and decided to look at the script for Reservoir Dogs since it is a favorite movie of mine. I ended up choosing the speech that Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) gives at the diner about not tipping. It’s a very funny speech and I thought I’d enjoy giving it.
On the day of my audition, I went in with confidence that I could deliver a good performance. When my turn came, I stood in front of Gloria and another talent agent and delivered my lines.
After I was finished, I was told that I was a good actor and I appreciated hearing that. The other talent agent recognized my speech from the movie it was from. It was a good connecting moment.
At this time, I got sidetracked with work and didn’t pursue this anymore.
Recently, I reached out to Jennifer Molleda again and ended up signing with the Neal Hamil Agency. Now, I get many varied opportunities sent to me daily.
Signing with an agent is an important first step in moving forward and achieving any success in this business. My suggestion is… do your homework. Learn about the company, agency or people you want to go into business with. The people you associate yourself with is a direct reflection upon you.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
To begin, I’ve considered myself to be a creative person since an early age. As an example, I give you the Junior High School Science Fair that I entered.
One year, I decided to enter the Science Fair at my school, LeBlanc Junior High. A big part of a successful project is coming up with the right idea. I thought about this for a while and finally decided upon a topic for my project. I was always a fan of pirates and I learned early on that pirates suffered from scurvy during long sea voyages because of a lack of vitamin C.
My project was going to be a study of the effects of scurvy on hamsters. The premise was to feed one hamster a regular, healthy diet and for the other hamster, I was going to deprive them of vitamin C and then study the effects on each hamster.
My mother purchased two cages, two hamsters and all of the essentials. My dad built a tri-fold back drop to display my literature, graphs and study findings.
For a few months, I conducted my study, diligently documenting the results. Finally, it was time to reveal my data at the Science Fair.
I had my tri-fold set up. My two hamsters were in their cages along with all of my graphs and results on display. Other kids did things like a volcano and the like. Everyone loved coming by to see the hamsters.
When the judging took place, I stood by my project and answered numerous questions from the judges about scurvy and its’ symptoms, etc. Later that day, the results were announced.
It was stated that the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners would be bringing their projects to LSU to compete in the State-wide Science Fair. All of the kids wanted to go.
They announced the 3 top finishers and I wasn’t one of them. Then, out of nowhere, they announced that I had won Honorable Mention. Then the kicker was that I was being invited to LSU as well. I wouldn’t be bringing my project, but I could go along to enjoy the trip. I was super excited.
Now for the big reveal.
I fabricated all of my study results.
I fed the two hamsters the same diet and just made up some data to reflect my speculation that depriving a hamster of vitamin C will result in seeing the symptoms of scurvy. Creating information like quantities and the weights of the hamsters was not an easy task. I even said that one hamster had bleeding gums, which is a big sign of scurvy.
Out of all of us going to LSU, I had it the best. The others had to worry about the transport of their projects and also had to be present all day at the Science Fair. Me? I cruised the campus of LSU and checked out a lot of things. I even purchased an LSU hat from the campus bookstore.
It is easy to guess that the other kids were jealous of me… especially when I showed up in my new hat and told them all that I had experienced around the campus of LSU.
In the above example, creativity paid off for me at an early age and helped me pull a fast one, lol. And I never looked back. I’ve never told that story before, but it sure makes me laugh. No one at school ever knew about my fabricated study data. I never told anyone… until now.
I’ve enjoyed being creative in all aspects of my life. I consider myself to be quite skilled at the following: Screenwriting, Acting, Poetry, Authoring books, Photography, Videography, Graphic Design, Clothing Designer, SCUBA Jewelry Designer, Stand Up comedy and all things Pirate.
To date, I’ve written 5 screenplays, penned 3 books, written numerous poems, created a successful blog that is read in 186 countries worldwide, taken over 50,000 travel and event photos, shot video of local, national and international events and attractions, including Paris, Amsterdam, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the Indy 500, numerous NASCAR races and most of the monuments and attractions in the U.S.
Something that I started this year is Stand Up comedy. I’ve only been on stage a few times, but I’ve experienced some good nights so far. I’m visiting Los Angeles and plan on getting on stage numerous times in the Hollywood area while in town.
I say all of this to illustrate an old saying about throwing everything against the wall and seeing what sticks. I believe in following my passions and being a creative person. There are a lot of opportunities in life to do just that.
If I had to say what sets me apart from others, it’s that I march to my own beat. I’ve always gone my own way. There are always hardships when doing this but the pay-off is so much better than being a 9 to 5er.
One thing that I’m most proud of is the development of a website called TheSTORMFactory.com. This site allows me to be creative in many ways and also utilize my many God-given talents like photography, videography and creative writing.
I’m equally proud of being a Founder and President of a Nonprofit Corporation named The STORM Foundation, which offers aid to disadvantaged children and the mentally ill. We have done a lot already to bring smiles to many faces.
The STORM Factory and The STORM Foundation are both comprised of exLifeguards from Houston’s first waterpark, WaterWorld. I was on the Lifeguard Competition team for many years. WaterWorld won 15 consecutive Lifeguard Championships over a 10 year period. I was on the team for 13 of them.
Our competition team was called S.T.O.R.M., which stood for Strong Team of Rescue Men.
Since I utlilze my lifeguard friends to help me with Factory assignments and the Board for the Foundation is made up of WaterWorld exLifeguards, it was a good fit to use the name STORM for both of these entities.
The STORM Factory has a slogan… “Capturing the fun in life and taking no prisoners.” If you get the chance, you should visit the site and take a look around. There’s photos, videos, a blog with travel and event stories, poetry, screenplay synopsis’, and even previous interviews.
The STORM Foundation also has a slogan… “Helping children for a better tomorrow.” We are always looking for donations to fund our projects. If you cared to check out our site and donate, it’s listed at the end of this interview.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative person is the work itself and seeing the response you get from others for said work.
It is always gratifying to hear praise for your efforts. Whether I get complimented for a meaningful poem or someone tells me that they really enjoyed one of my books, it never gets old to know that your talent is appreciated.
Trying not to sound egotistical, I’ve been told most of my adult life and even as a child that I have certain talents. Hearing these compliments has definitely given me drive. When someone believes in you and tells you that whatever it is you created is good, it puts wind in your sails to do more.
An example of this is when I was invited to Hollywood for an Awards Banquet for one of my screenplays. Another example of positive feedback is when I sent a poem that I wrote about Anne Frank to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. They loved it and informed me that they would be adding it into their archives.
For my videography work, I’ve been praised by Harley-Davidson for my work in creating a Music Video of their first National Championship in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle category.
With my photography work, I’ve been told that I have a great eye for photography and the list is too long of how many times I’ve been complimented by people for capturing a great image of them while they are living life to the fullest. And my Photo Galleries have over one million views a year.
The clothing designs that I’ve created for my company, Contraband Clothing Company, are favorites of many people. I also own the trademark for the word Contraband… as only a Pirate can.
As far as acting, now this will sound conceited, but it is the truth, I’ve been told numerous times that I look like a movie star. Take that however you will, but it did cause me to pursue a career in acting just to see if I can fulfill the potential that others see in me.
And for Stand Up comedy, people have laughed at my jokes, witticisms and stories for decades and recently I decided to try and make more people laugh about the crazy life I’ve led. So far, it’s working.
If I could say one thing about the rewarding aspect of being a creative person, I would say that compliments don’t cost anything and don’t detract from the person giving them. In fact, it usually makes the compliment giver look quite good and it means the world to the recipient. I would urge everyone to be supportive of your friends and family in their desires and dreams. You never know who will be the next big whatever. Maybe it’s someone you know. Maybe it’s you.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I wouldn’t say that there is any one particular goal or mission that drives me, but many.
Given that we all know we’ll be gone from this planet one day, I think we all wish that we could leave our mark, to show that we were here for a while. Some find that having children fills that desire. Others seek other ways to be remembered.
Another important aspect of life on Earth is that of respect. We all desire to be respected by our fellow man and woman, whether that be as a good husband, wife, employee, manager, professor, etc.
Being well-liked is a third aspect of being human. I don’t think people like being disliked and inversely, most people want to be liked. Being popular is a sign of being a good person that others gravitate towards.
If I could hit the trifecta in being remembered for my creative projects and respected, as well as liked by my fellow Earthlings, well then, my work here will be done and I can move on in the Afterlife knowing that I truly fulfilled my potential with whatever talents God gifted me with.
To close out this interview, I’ll leave you with a few quotes.
“Think of others, it will make a difference in you.”
– Spider Michaels
“I love the smell of insults in the morning. It smells like victory.”
– Spider Michaels
“I’m not the smartest in the class. I’m the smart ass in the class.”
– Spider Michaels
“Only you can follow your path. No one can be you and you can’t be anyone else so be true to yourself and follow your dreams. A magical world awaits.”
– Spider Michaels 
Contact Info:
- Website: https://TheSTORMFactory.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Spider_Michaels/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spidermichaels/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/spiderschannel
- Other: https://TheSTORMFoundation.org https://SpiderMichaels.com https://PaulMichaelsPhotography.com
Image Credits
Jordan Fischels