Michael K. Bucher(1939-2012)

Michael K. Bucher grew up in the little farm community of Astoria, Illinois, USA. At the age of 11 he instantly fell in love with movies. Barely able to see over the back of his theatre seat, he saw the magical and mystical projection beam playing in the air at the Hughes Astoria Colonial Theatre. The beam drew him to it's source and by age 14 he became the resident projectionist and worked in that capacity through high school. From the money earned, he bought 8mm camera equipment and started shooting and editing movies, casting his parents Sherman and Elizabeth, younger sister Ann, brother Roger and several friends as actors. The farm where he lived made a perfect backdrop for his 8mm "Westerns." He also shot short films documenting each of his four years in high school. Today, these movies are hilarious, showing the real life "American Graffiti" of the time. As high school graduation approached, he had to make a decision whether to go on to college and attend film school or get practical experience. He had read every book he could find on cinematography and had learned volumes from shooting and editing his own films. Deciding on the practical experience route, he joined the US Air Force and was sent to film school in Orlando, Florida. This involved "on the job training" and he soon found himself behind a 35mm Mitchell camera. After a year in Orlando, he was assigned to the Air Force Motion Picture Studio (LML) at 8935 Wonderland Avenue in Hollywood, California, which was the alma mater of producer/director `John Frankenheimer'. Here Michael worked with producer/director 'Jack Haley, Jr.' and others and at 18 years of age was 1st assistant cameraman, working on a sound stage shooting legendary actor 'James Stewart'. Michael learned skills from top technical artists in the Hollywood motion picture community. Filming assignments took him worldwide. The Air Force had a self improvement program to better one's expertise in cinematography. In between projects, Michael would work with all types of camera equipment, use various film stocks and experiment with lighting. The footage was developed, printed and critiqued.

After four incredible years in the Air Force, Michael moved on to Chester Springs, Pennsylvania and for a short time worked with "The Blob" director 'Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr.' at Valley Forge Films. He was then offered a position as cinematographer with Walter Annenberg's Triangle Television Productions in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, home of `Dick Clark''s "American Bandstand." Shortly after, Capital Cities Communications purchased Triangle and later the ABC Television network. Michael became a director of photography for Capital Cities Television Productions. He traveled extensively, filming dozens of documentaries, docudramas and featurettes working with many notable actors from motion pictures and television. At Cap Cities, Michael met top Hollywood film editor Robert K. Lambert, A.C.E. and they remain best friends to this day.

After 15 years with Cap Cities, Michael moved to Helena, Montana and became a free agent. One of his many career highlights was photographing long-time friend actor/producer/director James Brolin's feature motion picture My Brother's War (1997) in Ireland. It won best feature at the First Annual Hollywood Film Festival in the budget over 1 million dollars category.

Michael restored a 1950s 35mm Super Simplex projector, identical to the ones used when he was a projectionist as a teenager and installed it in his screening room. The classic projector serves as a reminder of his many dreams that came true.

He has often said if realizing one's dreams is a measure of success then he's as wealthy as Bill Gates.