Speaking
The writer decides what happens. I worry about how you feel about it.
The script was long ago written, the actors have all gone home, and the picture edit is locked. That's when the movie shows up on my desk. For my entire career I've been mastering the art of storytelling without ever getting to change the plot. I can move that single piano note that's making you feel sympathy for the victim just a few seconds earlier and make you feel sympathy for the killer.
After winning an Emmy for Deadwood, three more Emmy nominations, and thirty years crafting emotional stories, I've realized that we don't spend enough time crafting our own emotional journeys.
We all imagine we are objective fact keepers of our own lives, recording an exact record of what happened, who did what, and agonizing over what we should have done instead. But humans aren't data collection devices. We are storytellers. We craft the facts of our lives into a story we tell ourselves, and a narrative always has a perspective. We have to take the time after the story has been written, to music edit our lives, to take control over how we feel about the story of our own lives.
I do it on a deadline, to a spec, for a living, and it works on strangers by the million. The facts of your life are mostly not up for negotiation. How those facts feel is far more in your control than you might think.
What I Speak About
The Stories We Tell Ourselves Matter
The story you choose does more than color the past. It guides the future. Too often we unknowingly cast ourselves in a role in our own story. Cast yourself as the victim and you will wait for someone else to fix it. Cast yourself as the repairman and you will start to fix it yourself. How you feel about your life dictates the ending you imagine, and the ending you imagine is the one you start walking toward.
I take a scene with facts I can't change and I decide how millions of people will feel about it. And our reactions are more universal and craftable than we think.
This talk takes that craft out of the edit room so we can learn to tell ourselves more productive stories.
Audiences leave able to:
- Separate what actually happened from the story they have built on top of it
- Notice which role they have cast themselves in, and what that role is telling them to do
- Ask what their next action communicates, before they take it
The Artist and The Engineer
Most people file themselves under creative or technical early in life and then spend decades defending the filing. I am not a numbers person. I am not a creative person. Both are said with a strange pride, and both are false narratives that hold you back.
My work is an engineering problem. I translate musical tempos into frame-accurate decisions. I solve musical timing and chord changes while maintaining precise sync. The crazy part is that the only metric I can use to measure success is whether a room full of strangers feels the thing they were supposed to feel. I engineer emotions. There was never a moment where I put down one hat and picked up the other, because there was only ever one job.
This talk takes apart the either-or using the career it built, and it lands on the part that matters right now: when the tools change underneath you, and they are changing, the people who come through it are the ones who never accepted the split in the first place.
Audiences leave able to:
- Catch the false either-or in how they describe themselves and their teams
- Put the half of their thinking they have been neglecting back to work
- Meet this period of technological change brought on by AI with both halves running
Behind the Score
How does music actually get made for film and television? From the first conversation about what a scene needs, through the composer, the recording, the editorial work, and the final mix. This talk can be tailored to meet an audience where they are.
From groups with no technical or musical background to working professionals, Behind the Score can be pitched to whatever level of musical and technical knowledge is in the room. It is built for anyone who wonders how Hollywood's various musical workflows are done.
It is also the clearest look I can give a room at collaborative work under real deadline pressure, which is why it plays as well to people who will never touch a film as it does to people who make them.
Audiences leave with:
- A concrete sense of how a scene's emotion actually gets built, decision by decision
- A working picture of how creative and technical people solve problems together against a deadline
- The understanding of how Hollywood solves the problem of constantly changing collaborative creative teams
What People Are Saying
"Micha's story-first approach has changed the way I think about my job."
Jonah Paransky, CEO, Crownpeak Technology, Inc.
"Micha Liberman's professional expertise combined with his keen sense of humor captivated the students' interest... one of the highlights of the course."
Michael Bowers, Adjunct Professor, Elon University
"Micha's one of the most important collaborators I have. His 'pearls of wisdom' that he calls 'Michaisms' have helped me guide my business and my staff to success."
Gabriel Mann, Composer, Modern Family
Represented for tandem keynotes by
Applied AI SpeakersA tandem keynote pairing Hollywood storytelling with practical AI strategy.
Book This PartnershipUpcoming Events
The Artist and The Engineer
Aspire 2026 (AIA Conference), Asheville, NC
Exploring the false belief that you're either a technical person or a creative one, for the architecture and design community.
Learn moreBehind the Score
TEC Tracks, The NAMM Show, Anaheim, CA
A 50-minute masterclass on how music actually gets made for film and television, presented for the TEC Tracks pro audio education program.
Learn morePast Events
The Artist and The Engineer
Binghamton University, Vestal, NY
Alumni Chat: Exploring the false belief that you're either a technical person or a creative one.
Learn moreAll Aboard the Music Workflow Train!
Dede Allen Seminar Room, Motion Picture Editors Guild, Hollywood, CA
Training and technology presentation for the Motion Picture Editors Guild on music editorial workflows.
Learn moreBook Micha to Speak
Micha brings energy, story, and hard-won insight to every stage. If you're looking for a speaker who can connect with creative professionals, technologists, entrepreneurs, or anyone navigating the intersection of art and business, let's talk.
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