[hider=Michael Marshall]

[center][color=orange][h1]Michael Marshall[/h1][/color]

[img]http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/underwire/2012/06/Ridley_Scott.jpg[/img][/center]

[center][i]The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.
[b]-Orson Welles[/b][/i][/center]

[color=orange][b][u]Name[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]Michael Marshall[/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Nicknames[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]Doesn’t mind if people call him Mike or Michael. Doesn’t like it when people call him Mikey but is too nice to tell them to stop. [/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Age[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]76[/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Gender[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]Male[/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Sexual Orientation[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]Homosexual (closet)[/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Occupation[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]Screenplay Writer[/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Appearance[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]Michael is not one to focus intently on how he looks. As long as his hair isn’t too much of a mess, he isn’t going to make a big fuss over it. He’s quite modest with how he looks. He knows he’s going bald so he just lets it happen. He has a beard due to not bothering to shave it in his years of depression. He ended up taking a liking to it.. As long as it doesn’t get too long, he doesn’t really care. 

Luckily his hair color hasn’t completely disappeared, he’s still got large bits of light brown hair that’s very noticeable but, you can still see the gray and white parts of his hair starting to take over the rest of it. He’s quite healthy for his age but he still has a little bit of a beer belly but nothing that you would call fat. 

His clothing is anything that feels comfortable and avoids attention. It’s usually just a dark plain t-shirt or jacket and occasionally he’ll wear a scarf. [/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Personality[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]Michael is quite a timid and quiet character. He’s spent over 30 years in isolation and depression and it’s made his confidence quite low. He has trouble asking for help when he’ll need it and doesn’t really engage in conversation, usually someone else engages in conversation with him. He prefers to work alone but a small part of him yearns for a partner. Someone else he can bounce ideas off but alas, the last 30 years have repressed that yearn but, it might still be there.

He wasn’t always like that. In his younger days in the 60s/70s, he was quite an outgoing and fun character. He used to be the one that brought the fun and created a night to remember. That same man has been dead for a while but maybe he’s still there. He might just need a little push.[/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Likes[/u][/b][/color]
[indent][list][*]Creative writing on any medium
[*]Someone to bounce ideas off of
[*]A quiet place to work or think
[*]His flask of whiskey[/list][/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Dislikes[/u][/b][/color]
[indent][list][*]Stress
[*]Aggressive people
[*]Actors with massive egos
[*]Clubs[/list][/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Fears[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]Michael fears many things with this looming film production.He fears that he won’t be able to right for a more modern audience after so many years away. He fears that people will see his inexperience and treat him like some sort of liability. He also fears that his depression may get worsened by the film and it would send him even darker into the void. He also fears that too many people would find out about his true sexuality. The ghosts of his past is one of his largest fears. He hopes that he doesn’t go through what happened 30 years ago again. It would kill him.[/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Strengths[/u][/b][/color]
[indent][list][*]Has major experience with screenwriting
[*]Can create wonderful stories with little source material
[*]Is kind to everyone[/list][/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Weaknesses[/u][/b][/color]
[indent][list][*]Might not have great experience with modern day culture and technology
[*]Having a new writing partner scares him.
[*]Will have trouble voicing his opinion to those around him. (non-writing opinions)[/list][/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]History[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]Michael came from a relatively normal home. He had no brothers and sisters and is mother is the one who raised him. When he was young, all he would do is either read books and comics or begged is mother to take him to the cinema. He was in love with all of the stories created on each of these mediums. To him, it took him places that he has never been before. One day he’ll be fighting orcs in a fantasy realm and the next, he’ll be a gangster trying to make some money. The possibilities were endless for him.

He knew his dream would be to become a writer one day, so he was intent on making it happen. He started working at a butcher in his late teens to be able to raise funds to send him to film school. When he finally got enough, he said goodbye to his mother and left home with the desire to become one of the greatest screenwriters of all time. When he got to film school, he was very shy. It was the first time that he had been away from home, so the whole place felt foreign to him. That all changed when is meeting his writing partner and future lover: Henry Kilburn. They instantly connected on ideas, characters and stories and Henry managed to help Michael come out of his shell. 

It was about the early 60s when they both got out of film school. They both got a shitty apartment together in Los Angeles and they were doing everything they can for opportunities and money. All they could get were either intern positions for asshole producers at the studios or doing grunt work with the technical equipment. They learned the hard way that the film industry was a very competitive place but they weren’t willing to let that get them down. Luckily they’re big break came when the writer hired to do a major paramount picture dropped out and they needed someone to quickly rewrite the screenplay before it gets sent off  to the director. Their was only a few days to rewrite and no one was willing to do it in that small space of time but Michael and Henry took that suicide mission in desperate need of an opportunity. They stayed up for over 48 hours straight trying to rewrite it. It was the most stressful and nervous experience he had ever done. From that day on, he swore not try and back himself into a corner like that again. Even among the stress and anxiety, that was the night that they had discovered their love for each other and realized who they were.They also realized that it could damage their careers before they had even started if their secret got out. They made a pact not to tell a single soul of their love for each other. They got it handed in and many months later, the studio were impressed with the critical reviews for the film. It wasn’t amazing, it was just decent reviews but for a rushed script, that was a miracle. That’s when the studio started to focus more on Michael and Henry. 

The 70s had arrived and that’s when Michael and Henry started to receive critical acclaim. They had written several screenplays over the course of ten years and each one was either a critical success, box office success or both! Both Henry and Michael received two Academy awards; one for best original screenplay and one for best adapted. They were at the top of their game and it all went to their head. A rocketball mixture of drugs, alcohol and sex was all Michael and Henry did. They felt at the top of the world and that nothing could stop them but the bigger they are, the harder they fall. 

The darkest year in Michael’s life. It was a dark Tuesday evening when Michael heard the news. He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t want to believe it. His world had stopped and his heart felt like it was crushed to a million pieces. The moment he saw the body when he was asked to identify it. It was indeed Henry. His skin had become pale and his lips blue, like ice. He couldn’t help but look at him. He was so full of love, life and joy but now he was just an empty husk. Michael didn’t know what to do with himself. The killer shot him outside of the club they were supposed to meet at; Michael stayed behind at the studio to go over some details of a new screenplay with a producer. He kept repeating the same scenario over and over again in his head. Would things have been different if he had been there? Would they both be alive or dead? The killer turned out to be a pissed of drug dealer that Henry tried to rip off. What pisses Michael the most was that the deed was done out of business and it wasn’t personal. It would have easier somehow knowing that it was something more understandable that killed him.

For over 3 decades after that event. Michael retired from the film industry and from the public itself. For the first few years, people went crazy about where he went but by the late 80s, that hype had died down and no one cared anymore. No one cared anymore that Michael was now drinking himself to death in is home, drenched with sorrow and self-pity. That soon changed when he was reached out by a budding director named Jake Fowler. Michael was very reluctant at first but after one drink, Michael agreed to come out of his hole. What’s amazing is that this was the first time in so long that someone tried to reach out. He decided to cautiously but gracefully take the opportunity. Michael was curious to see how the film industry had changed in the time that he has been away.
[/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Favorite memory[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]The moment that both Michael and Henry got their first major screenplay finished. This was the official first one has they agreed that the rushed one didn’t count. In celebration, they opened a bottle of cheap wine and ordered some Chinese food. It was modest night followed by a beautiful full moon. It was perfect. His love life and career was going places. [/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Least favorite memory[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]The moment that he saw Henry’s body at the police station. He had never felt more depressed and more empty than that moment. It felt like and entire part of him had been ripped away. The pain was so excruciating that he couldn’t even feel it. It had literally killed him inside. Nothing will ever make surpass this memory for Michael. This was indeed his darkest moment. [/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Why did you decide to work for this movie?[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]He was dragged out of retirement by Jake Fowler to help him develop is film. Michael was very reluctant and negative at first but Jake told him that he understood who he was and why he left the industry. Michael couldn’t believe that someone finally saw what he felt, let alone have someone reach out to him. He agreed to do Jake’s film but was still reluctant in doing so as it had been so long since he was back in business. [/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Birthday[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]24/04/1939[/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Twitter Name[/u][/b][/color]
[indent]Has none due to the fact he lived in recluse from society for over 30 years. [/indent]

[color=orange][b][u]Miscellaneous[/u][/b][/color]
My character would love to write for Soulmates or Never Have I Ever. [/hider]