WILD GIFT is the film company run by photographer/filmmaker Michael Lavine.  Michael grew up in Denver where he experienced a tumultuous upbringing, including a stint in a commune and too much LSD. Renowned for his bold, colorful iconic portraits of musicians such Kurt Cobain, Notorious B.I.G, and OutKast, Michael has been making his own brand of visually unique images of celebrities for over 30 years. As a writer Michael’s work focuses on bold, colorful grounded features with elements of psychedelic realism.  His work navigates themes of guilt, grief, and mortality through the lens of the family bond.

Michael has published two photography books - “Noise from the Underground” (Simon & Schuster) photographs of over 100 bands; including Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and Soundgarden, and “GRUNGE” (Abrams) a series of B&W photographs documenting the Seattle punk scene of the 1980’s. As a director Michael has made several short films. His dramatic short “Weekend Away” (starring Sophia Takal) played at numerous festivals. More recently, Michael finished the short film “The Wanderer” (starring Alice Kremeberg) which is premiering at Fantaspoa in Brazil and will be out playing festivals for 2025. Michael has spent the last few years developing  “The Dark Odyssey” a series of metaphysical sci-fi stop motion animation short films, which has played at over 100 festivals all around the world. Michael resides in the Hudson Valley NY and although he quit drugs many years ago, He’s still a workaholic.