As a kid, Michael Tiddes used his father’s video camera to make homemade movies casting his GI Joe figurines in explosive scenes complete with special sound effects, the first sign of a future career in filmmaking.
Further fueling his ambition was his grandmother frequently taking him to see films in the movie theater, where the giant screen was his window of opportunity for a shot at Hollywood.
And his childhood dream is now well-founded.
Tiddes, 38, is one Hollywood’s emerging new filmmakers, exposing him to the sights and sounds and the glamour of the world’s most famous entertainment industry filled with movie and TV stars, historic studios and a ritzy ambiance where people dream of going.
The former Miami Lakes resident’s big break came when he was chosen to direct the 2013 scary movie Haunted House, starring Marlon Wayans, Cedric the Entertainer and Essence Atkins, which took in $18.1 million during its first week, beating out Sean Penn’s blockbuster movie Gangster Squad.
The plot centers on a young couple, Malcolm (Marlon Wayans) and Kisha (Essence Atkins), who move in together to start a new happy life, and on the first night, Malcolm is awakened by Kisha's noisy flatulating that drives him out of the room. When Kisha notices her keys on the floor she tries to tell Malcolm that they might have a ghost.
To prove to Kisha that they do not have a ghost Malcolm calls over cameramen, Dan the Man Curnney (David Koechner) and his brother Bob (Dave Sheridan), and Malcolm tries to have sex with the camera on, but Kisha tells him to turn it off. Malcolm turns the camera back on and records the whole thing, and in the morning Malcolm and Kisha watch the video and notice that the door moved. Malcolm tries to convince Kisha that it had something to do with the vortex in which he moved his hips during sex last night.
Haunted House took in $60 million world wide, marking a successful debut for the new filmmaker.
“I had so much fun with the movie,” Tiddes said from Hollywood. “It was so amazing because I grew up watching Marlon Wayans and his family and Cedric the Entertainer and they were willing to do anything to make the movie a success.”
He said the filming of the movie took three months with a $1.5 million budget.
As a result, Tiddes said he is on board to direct and write future projects with the Wayans family and Cedric the Entertainer, conceivably a sequel to Haunted House.
“I love working with them,” Tiddes said. “Cedric the Entertainer is so funny.
“I directed Haunted House, but I have done a good amount of things to get to that point,” he said. “Had the opportunity, worked hard at it, stayed in focus and all the important pieces fell into place.”
Tiddes was born in New Jersey and moved to Miami Lakes when he was 6 years-old.
He initially enrolled at Norland High for the school’s magnet program for music and drama before he transferred to the Design and Architectural School and Hialeah Miami Lakes Senior High School. He graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas.
Though a born filmmaker, he was rejected by the filmmaking program at the University of Central Florida but persevered and continued his studies in fine arts at the university and picked up an extra job so he could enroll in the reputable Valencia College film program.
In 2002, Tiddes moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of directing. He landed his first job in the business working as an assistant to Wayans Brothers Producing partner, Rick Alvarez.
He quickly rose through the ranks of the company, developing and working on movies such as White Chicks, Little Man and associate producing Dance Flick. Currently, Tiddes is writing a comedy feature he hopes to direct for the big screen next year.
Tiddes received a Bachelor of Arts degree in painting from University of Central Florida and an Associate Science degree in Film Production from Valencia College in Orlando.
“It’s been a journey,” Tiddes said. “Moving to Los Angeles was a struggle, working jobs until I could break into the business.”
Tiddes depicted Hollywood as an “interesting place with eccentric people who are fighting and chasing their dreams of becoming movie stars, directors and producers.”
He said California reflects Miami, a highly ethnically diverse and densely populated town.
Tiddes said he hopes to direct and write remakes of his favorite childhood movies, including Star Wars, Scarface, Revenge of the Nerds and Ghostbusters.
“I fell in love with those movies as a kid,” he said. “It would be a dream to direct any remakes of those movies.”
Tiddes is married to Kelly Tiddes and has a young daughter named Logan.