The moment Bill Lae saw Star Wars he knew what he wanted to do: make movies with lots of visual effects (explosions in particular). Bill has been doing visual effects in Hollywood for over twenty years (Buffy, Angel, X-Files, Outer Limits, myriad commercials & music videos.)
He's an award winning film-maker. He wrote, directed and co-produced (along with Mark Teague) the critically acclaimed (Daily Variety) mockumentary, SuperGuy: Behind the Cape. SuperGuy and Bill’s Young Merlin both went into development with Paramount Television. Inspired by the original Ghostbusters, Bill's screenplays and scripts are typically comedy meets fantastical.
More recently, he's been writing, directing, and producing short form comedy for the internet. His Cooking with Carmine campaign for Lyco-Red went viral and garnered over 9 million dollars in earned media. The Champions of Greatness series won the "Best Marketing Campaign" at ExpoWest, the leading trade show in the natural, organic and healthy products industry.
Bill produced, wrote and directed the Couch Critics , a television series that analyzes and criticizes films in a comedic, hip environment. The show is like At the Movies meets Saturday Night Live. Five episodes aired in the Los Angeles area. Outside the realm of production, Bill is a stand-up comedian and has performed at the World Famous Improv in Hollywood. He also entertained at the California Comedy Conference.
He's current;y shopping several TV projects including "The Fanverse Games"-- sketch comedy meets Jeopardy for pop culture fans.
Bill is an expert at "sizzle" and a master at bang per buck. After producing and directing his Indie film SuperGuy: Behind the Cape (wherein an entire world had to be created) he was contracted by the TV GUIDE NETWORK to helm their UP-FRONTS (network demo reel to TV sponsors) for an unprecedented 3 years in a row. Bill can take a project from scratch to polished product. He is an expert at virtual set studios.
Bill is a hard-core geek & computer nerd by education. He earned both a Masters and Bachelors Degrees in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University. He specialized his education in computer graphics and robotics, concentrating on motion control, animation and photography.
Unique traits: Fantastical meets comedy is my thing. 'nearly impossible to get the SNARK out of my voice. Satire is another pleasure. I did visual effects and graphics in Hollywood for years (Buffy, X-Files, Outer Limits). Ironically, I came to dislike most VFX films because they relied completely on VFX and the stories stank. Little has changed...so my mission is to put the story AND SCIENCE back into Science fiction and other films!
Crossing Over Budget: $1M - $5M | Comedy After an entanglement curse is invoked, a gay ghost must help a pipsqueak, straight young man lose his virginity and “live life,” and the virgin must help the ghost uncover and bring to justice his diabolically dangerous and secretly powerful murderer before the innocent gardener accused of the crime is executed in three days.
U.F.OH! Budget: $5M - $10M | Fantasy ⋄ Comedy A TV “Science Guy” who scoffs all alien visitation theories is falsely accused of kidnapping a child, and he must blame it on an alien abduction so he can join forces with the kooks he detests to find the missing boy and unravel the UFO events in a small town, all before a mercenary company secretly gets away with exploiting the very real extraterrestrials.
Fanverse Games
(
Television
by LightForm Productions
writer director producer Jeopardy-like game show for sci-fi/fantasy/comic-book fans MEETS sketch comedy show.
Champions of Greatness
(
Commercial
by LightForm Productions
writer director producer Won the "Best Marketing Campaign" at EXPO WEST- health food and supplements conference.
Cooking with Carmine
(
Commercial
by LightForm Productions
writer director producer Viral campaign that garnered over $9million in earned media for "Lyco Red"-- a company that makes organic/vegan red dye from tomatoes rather than BUGS!
TV Guide Network UPFRONT REEL
(
Industrial
by LightForm Productions
writer director producer Upfront Reel for the TV GUIDE NETWORK. 'hired an unprecedented 3 years in a row to create this reel. "Upfronts" are the presentations that all networks put together to pitch their network to their (prospective and current) sponsors. Think of it as a network's demo reel of its shows for that year.
SuperGuy: Behind the Cape
(
Film
by LightForm Productions
writer director producer Critically acclaimed by "Daily Variety," "Film Threat" and many others. http://superguy.info/reviews.html
"Best Produced Screenplay" winner at Riverrun International Film Festival.
Option by Paramount TV. Wrote the pilot for a series for UPN.
Movie: What if there really was a man who could fly? What if there really was a Super Hero? What if he didn’t grow up in the best of families? What happens after the parades? “SuperGuy: Behind the Cape” takes the viewer behind the scenes and into the life and times of SuperGuy, AKA: Mark Trent. This is a “Reality TV Show” that follows the somewhat-super hero. He’s super strong and can fly, but even those powers have their limits.
We get a glimpse at his personal life and take a long, hard, unforgiving look at society’s reaction to this phenomenon. SuperGuy is not perfect, cannot live up to expectations, and can't seem to catch a break. From being compared to Superman to not being able to be everywhere and save everybody, his life becomes a super mess. His only true arch enemies turn out to be his dysfunctional family and the American Public as they all but crucify him for “Doing Good.”
In a world that desperately wants to believe in something, in a world that desperately wants to look up to someone, in a world full of despair, victims, and wackos, he fits right in. Behold, the man of plastic. You will believe a man can fall.
Doctor's Agree
Commercial
by LightForm Productions
writer director producer Commercial to sell a "micro-lingul" supplement.
Best Marketing Campaign for "Champions of Greatness" at Expo West
(2016)
Best Produced Screenplay for "SuperGuy" at River Run Film Festival
(2001)