Mike was born in Southern California. Mike’s father, a machinist at Universal Studios, and his mother, a claims representative for a car insurance company, saw opportunity in Southern Oregon real estate and moved to Bonanza, Oregon. From an early age, Mike showed an interest in computers. Prior to elementary school, he taught himself how to program the family’s Commodore 33 so he and his friend could code in their own video screens and play together. Mike grew up hunting, fishing, and camping like most Southern Oregon youths. But, in school, Mike was always trying to find a way to express himself creatively. Involved in the Henley high school newspaper, Mike was the head ad sales person. Mike was always known for challenging school assignments; often presenting projects with originality that pushed the envelope.  One project in particular caught the interest of the Seattle Art Institute. It was a short film that he created with a cast of comedic characters. Instead of pursuing the arts, Mike put his creative desires on hold. He stayed at Sykes where he’d been a customer care representative since he was 16, supporting a variety of products from Disney Interactive, Apple Computer, Adobe System Inc VISIO, Best Buy, and Intel.

When Sykes Adobe accounts moved all of their support cross-country to North Carolina, Mike and a few others were given the opportunity to move with the company to Charlotte. Mike jumped at the chance. He moved his wife and young family to Charlotte where he focused specifically on supporting Adobe’s products. That was where Mike gained his knowledge in Adobe’s video-editor, Premier and After Effects, the special effects application still prevalently used today. He would become a certified expert of Adobe Illustrator. In his spare time, Mike began illustrating creative projects.

When his daughter was two, Mike moved his family back to Klamath Falls. Despite his sterling record with Sykes, his transfer papers weren’t processed. He found himself back in Klamath Falls with no job and a family to support. He took a job as a screen-printer with Trekker Designs. Without health insurance, Mike quickly moved back into his position at Sykes supporting new Intel products. Following a lead, Mike called the owner of Prismo Graphics and met with him. Several months later he was offered a job building their computer networks.  Before long, he was learning animation. Within the month he became Prismo Graphic’s lead animator, the only one in the company that had both the attention span and patience to learn the programs, as well as the maturity to perform. Mike went on to create animation graphics for India Special Effects, Titler. “Titler can quickly create approximately 1300 dynamic effects from supplied pre-animated DVFonts, textures, and objects,” read one review.  Mike became a supervisor of all animation and graphic design and system administrator. It seemed that he finally found a good combination of what he was good at and what he liked.

In 2002, Apple approached the owner of Prismo Graphics for acquisition. They were especially interested in Titler. Two weeks later, Apple purchased Prismo Graphics. It was just months after the birth of Mike’s second daughter. Mike was part of the team that was chosen to move their headquarters to Apple in Vancouver, Washington. He was 22.

In Vancouver, over 300 people were working on an exciting Apple project, Final Cut Pro 4. Mike and his associates from Prismo Graphics worked on LiveType, a special effects titling program that would be included in the bundle. LiveType would be marketed towards major film and television producers. Mike worked on the project for a year and a half, sometimes insanely long hours to meet the deadlines. As the lead animator, Mike created animation graphics. He localized existing animation for German, French, and Spanish use and created sample templates. He even demonstrated LiveType at public tradeshows including the National Association of Broadcaster trade-show in Las Vegas.

With news of an elderly family member growing ill, the family once again packed their things. Mike moved back to his hometown of Klamath Falls and started Optimistik Animation in October 2003. “It was too specialized” Mike admits, “to make any money in the Klamath Market.” Still Mike continued to design websites and posters for Portland bands and was chosen from the pool of designers to create the Klamath Falls Centennial logo. Mike also designed the city’s original recycling website.

Mike returned to the building where Sykes stood, recently acquired by another customer service call center, NEW (National Electronics Warranty). In a year’s time Mike was moved to management as Customer Service Supervisor where he led a team of 17 Customer Service Representatives. Mike moved to the training department where delivered technical training courses, monitored and coached employees, and recommended changes to training materials and curriculum. Within the year he was promoted to Program Specialist Supervisor. In his spare time, Mike worked collaboratively in a musical project called Stars Can Frighten. The band plays local shows, as well as shows in Portland.

Optilux Design incorporated in 2008 when Mike’s Optimistik Animation merged with Christy’s XY Design. Together, they were able to build a full-service design house with a rich diversity of talents and experience. Mike’s well-rounded background makes him very comfortable with clients from all walks of life. He is dependable and takes criticism well. He can articulate HTML into layman’s terms and is open to learning. Mike has a drive to be responsible and honest and looks forward to the growth of Optilux Design.

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