Michael Peterson has established himself as a versatile, award-winning director based in Calgary, Alberta, with particular expertise in horror, comedy, and action genres. His directing portfolio encompasses a wide range of media including commercials, documentaries, web series, and television. Peterson has helmed several notable feature films including the sports comedy “Lloyd the Conqueror,” the horror thriller “Knuckleball,” and the upcoming exorcist horror “Shadow of God,” set to premiere on Shudder in April 2025. His television credits include work on “Department of Paranormal Affairs,” “Tiny Plastic Men – Season 4,” and “Caution May Contain Nuts,” along with co-creating and directing the pilot for APTN’s “The Secret History of the Wild West.”
Beyond directing, Peterson brings substantial producing experience to his projects, having shepherded over a dozen feature films. His producer credits include the Fantastic Fest Closing Night Film “Bloodthirsty” (2020) and “Harpoon” (2019), which premiered at Rotterdam International Film Festival and earned recognition as one of the decade’s top horror films on Rotten Tomatoes. His upcoming producing projects include “This Too Shall Pass” (directed by Rob Grant), “Dark Match” (directed by Lowell Dean), “Night of the Reaper” (directed by Brandon Christensen), and executive producing “Camp” (directed by Avalon Fast). Peterson’s industry impact was acknowledged with a nomination for the 2022 CMPA Indiescreen Established Producer Award.
Peterson holds an undergraduate degree from York University and a Master of Arts from UNC-Chapel Hill. He further developed his craft through participation in the 2013 CFC Directors Lab. When not working, he enjoys discovering new music, cooking, reading fantasy novels, and spending time with his family and two dogs.
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Which neighbourhood are you in?
I’m in the Varsity Village area, which is also close to where I mostly grew up.
What do you do?
My company, Peterson Polaris Corp, develops, finances and produces mostly feature films and TV shows. Every so often I’m a director or a writer on these projects as well. Most of what we make are horror, comedy or action type shows and we
What are you currently working on?
Two of the films I produced are playing at the Calgary Underground Film Festival. One is a supernatural horror movie which I also directed, Shadow Of God, and the other is a coming-of-age story that takes place in the 1980s, written and directed by Rob Grant, who I’e worked with on a bunch of movies.
Where can we find your work?
It’s often easier to know where my work can be found in other countries, but Shadow of God played CUFF on Easter Monday and looks like it’ll have a Canadian theatrical release in May. Its world premiere was in Brazil at the Fantaspoa film festival on April 10 and in the US on April 11 on Shudder. This Too Shall Pass played April 26th at CUFF and should come out in the third quarter of this year. To find some of the other films and TV shows I’ve produced or directed, check my IMDB or website — they’re out there. We’ve made a lot of award-winning projects that have received critical and commercial acclaim all over the world, and we proudly make most of them here in Calgary.
