Meet the director: Mick Flaaen

Mick started making films with his friends as a child using a Super 8. Mick didn’t come from money, so he had to ask for a screen from his parents one year and the projector the next. He started acting at age 18 and studied in Europe at The Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute, where method acting originated. When he got back, his passion for film took a back seat to family, and only three years ago did he remember his passion for making films.

“We really have a treasure with The Grand and The Tacoma Film Festival,” said Flaaen, going on to explain the importance of having an artistic outlet for a city just bursting at the seams with creativity.

Flaaen’s reemergence into film making came after a documentary he made about The Lakewood Playhouse. Within no time at all, the short was being shown in theaters before feature length films as well as local broadcasting.

His current filmic endeavor, “A Funeral Dance” is a story about the MLK Ballet troupe preparing for an opening night. This was Flaaen’s first feature length film. Flaaen described it as being, without giving away too much, a bit of a “swan song”, and went on to say that,“with every creative process, there is always a journey.”

Look for Mick Flaaen’s A Funeral Dance this Monday at 8:30p.m.at the Grand Cinema.