Rich Brauer is the president of Brauer Productions, Inc., an independent film production company he founded in 1977 after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Motion Picture Production and Undersea Photographic Technology from Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, California.
Throughout his illustrious career, Brauer has produced and collaborated on hundreds of award-winning commercial and educational projects for a diverse range of clients, including The History Channel, Twentieth Century Fox, Animal Planet, Pure Michigan, Harcourt-Brace Publishing, EDS, Society of American Foresters, Subway Sandwiches, U.S. Coast Guard, National Park Service, and many others.
Notably, Brauer has produced a series of educational films focusing on Great Lakes maritime history, a subject close to his heart, which appeared on PBS. He co-founded the Maritime Heritage Alliance in 1982 and the Inland Seas Education Association in 1989.
In 1993, Brauer began producing and directing feature films, starting with "Sleeping Bear". His feature film productions include "The Lost Treasure of Sawtooth Island", "Barn Red", "That One Summer", "Frozen Stupid" (all of which star Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine),followed by "Mr. Art Critic", "Fitful, the Lost Directors Cut", "Dogman", and "Dogman2: The Wrath of the Litter", all of which have enjoyed worldwide distribution.
In 2000, Brauer served as Director of Photography and Interim Producer for the Jeff Daniels' comedy, "Escanaba in da Moonlight". In 2001, he was DP on another Jeff Daniels' comedy feature, "Super Sucker", which won the 2002 Audience Award at HBO's U.S. Comedy Arts Film Festival in Aspen, Colorado. Additionally, in 2001, Brauer lensed the remake of the classic Ambrose Bierce Civil War tale, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", directed by Brian Egen, shot on location in West Virginia and North Carolina.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the film industry, Brauer received the Michigan Filmmaker of the Year award at the 2009 Traverse City Film Festival, presented by filmmaker Michael Moore. Previous recipients of this prestigious award include actor Jeff Daniels, writer Kurt Luedtke, actress Christine Lahti, and Roger Corman.
Brauer and his crew continue to produce commercial projects and feature films from their home base in Traverse City, Michigan.
