Whatever you call him, Mike has been at the warm, beating heart of the Austin advertising scene for over 25 years.

During a seven-year run at GSD&M as a writer/creative director, he helped launch Southwest Airlines’ iconic “Wanna Get Away?” campaign, had Lyle Lovett star in a Texas Tourism spot, and wrote more than 80 commercials for brands including Macaroni Grill, the Texas Lottery, Southwest Airlines, AT&T, Gumout, and The Dixie Chicks.

In 2000, he left the agency world to direct and founded Beef and Pie Productions. But he never stopped writing. As a freelancer, he wrote the Whataburger campaign that helped Mc-J win the account—and that work ran for years. With longtime partners at Austin Beerworks, he helped create the legendary 99-Pack campaign and recently developed the drink and brand High Five THC Seltzers from scratch.

Many of the commercials Mike directs are written by him—sometimes in tandem with an agency, sometimes directly with the client. Directing has made him a better writer: one who understands budgets, logistics, and what’s actually attainable on screen. That comes from a career’s worth of real-world experience.

While documentaries don’t come with a “writer” credit, Mike has ‘guided’ seven short docs and a feature to SXSW. He also created an entire Austin-history documentary website—short films, deep stories, and living archives—at 23rdStreetMural.com.

All of this creation and collaboration makes Mike an excellent writer for hire, whatever you’re building.

He’s won just about every award in the business—except a Clio, for some reason. Don’t hold this against him. The judges that year!!!