ST. LOUIS - St. Louis-based production company Michael D. Francis Presents recently filmed its first TV pilot for a major cable network in January and is now on the lookout for the next great Midwestern stories to tell. While the details of their first pilot currently remain under wraps, Francis said he is actively searching for his next projects.
“Above all, I'm always looking for interesting people doing interesting things in the Midwest,” Francis said. “People running cool businesses. People with connections to real true crime stories. People with interesting or unusual family or lifestyle dynamics. Bold people who are attempting to change the world around them in bold ways. Intriguing people in the local music scene.” Anyone who has a story idea can submit it to the company via michaeldfrancispresents.com.
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Francis grew up in Kansas City, Kansas, and began his entertainment journey there. After hosting local talent shows and doing stand-up comedy at Stanford's Comedy Club on Westport, he soon started acting and producing gospel stage plays around town with TGBTG Productions. Since then, he has worked in Chicago and LA casting and producing with networks such as A&E, MTV, CBS, NBC, BET, TLC, Lifetime, PBS, ESPN, and Animal Planet on a slew of popular shows including Judge Judy, Let's Make A Deal, America Got Talent, Survivor, The Biggest Loser, American Ninja Warrior, Monday Night Football, Nellyville, Who Do You Think You Are, and The First 48.
In 2018 Francis founded Michael D. Francis Presents, a boutique Midwest TV production company based in St. Louis and specializing in transformational documentary and reality-style programming for television and digital platforms across all genres.
“We turn reality into TV by developing, producing, packaging, and selling across all genres for broadcast, cable networks and digital platforms,” Francis explained about his eponymous company. “I started the business to find interesting Midwest stories to help increase production in this area since they have to be filmed here, starting with St. Louis.”
In addition to helming his own company, Francis puts his talents to work to nurture and grow the local media talent pool. As an event producer for the In Motion Filmmaking Conference, he was responsible for taking it from a local to a regional level. He leads Film Everything Saint Louis and St. Louis Production Team on Facebook, is a member of the St. Louis Public Schools Career and Technical Advisory Committee and serves on the board of three local non-profits: Continuity (which expands diversity in media production), the Korey Johnson Foundation (which teaches young people life skills by teaching them to be philanthropists) and the Missouri Motion Media Association (the only statewide advocacy and education organization in Missouri, working to reinstate film incentives and strengthen our production industry).
To learn more about Michael D. Francis Presents, please visit their website at: michaeldfrancispresents.com.
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