Michael Merriman
P A I N T E R • D I R E C T O R • P R O D U C E R

    Born in Cocoa Beach, Florida, Michael Merriman was raised in Texas and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from West Texas A&M University.  After 12 years as an art director and creative director in the agency world, he made the leap into directing in 1988.  

     He began his directing career as a writer and director of music videos.  He has directed over 200 music video projects.  Seventeen of these videos reached #1 on the music video charts.

     Merriman is a 5 time nominee for “Music Video of the Year” from the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.  In 1995 Merriman was chosen as CMT’s “Director of the Year”.  In 2002, Merriman was nominated in six categories for the CMT Music Awards, including “Music Video of the Year” and “Director of the Year”.  .

     In 2002 the Academy of Country Music awarded Merriman “Music Video of the Year” for Brooks & Dunn's “Only In America”. In the Fall of that same year he was a finalist for the Country Music Association’s “Music Video of the Year” for Travis Tritt’s “Modern Day Bonnie & Clyde”, starring Billy Bob Thornton.

     In addition to his work in the field of music, he has completed multiple television documentary projects for PBS, including “The Art of the Tretyakov from Moscow", “The Circuit Rider”, multiple documentaries on Elvis Presley and most recently a musical event for PBS honoring Johnny Cash.  For CMT, he directed “Kindred Spirits”, a one hour television special honoring the songs of Johnny Cash, featuring artists such as Keb Mo, Rosanne Cash and Bruce Springsteen.  He has directed and collaborated with Academy Award winning actor Billy Bob Thornton as well as celebrated talents such as Ashley Judd, Dan Rather and Sir David Frost.

In addition to the numerous awards and nominations for his work in music and documentaries,

     Merriman’s talent also has been recognized for his work in regional and national ad campaigns for Toyota, Tide, Procter and Gamble, ABC and more.  He’s received a host of awards in the commercial realm for his unique gift of storytelling in the thirty-second format.  

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