Who is Ted V. Mikels?

American filmmaker Ted V. Mikels holds a unique position as one of the most unconventional directors of exploitation cinema. Famous for his eccentric home life (he once lived with a harem in a castle with secret passageways) and promotional gimmicks (he was known for having nurses and ambulances on hand to assist "scared-to-death" moviegoers), Mikels is now considered a pioneering master of low-budget movie making.

Examples of Mikels' influence can be seen everywhere: from music (punk band The Misfits wrote a tribute song called "The Astro-Zombies"), to Mikels' film The Doll Squad being the template for the television series Charlie's Angels, to inspiring the look of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.

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Theodora Michaels

Legal / rights and clearances

Theodora K. Michaels has been working in the music industry since 1987, and in the film industry since 1995. She and her husband, Kevin Sean Michaels, co-own VAMP Productions, which has produced the independent documentaries "Vampira: The Movie" and "The Wild World of Ted V.Mikels." Ms. Michaels is a graduate of Hunter College (B.A., magna cum laude with a triple major of music, psychology and the Thomas Hunter Honors Program, 1991) and The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (1997). Ms. Michaels has extensive experience in researching copyright law issues, and has actively participated in Copyright Office proceedings both in writing and in person. She has also lectured and participated in panel discussions on copyright and licensing issues before lay audiences at the immense pop-culture convention Dragon*Con. She is especially interested in fair use, the interplay of older laws with modern technologies, and the internet's potential for mass collaboration. Ms. Michaels currently serves on the Copyright and Literary Property Committee of the New York City Bar Association.

Official website: TheodoraMichaels.com

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