Michael Bartlett was born in Salinas, California, and studied Music at the California Institute of the Arts, Juillard School of Music in New York, and the Nordwestdeutsche Musikakademie in Detmold. He was a member of the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin for many years and made his directorial debut in 1986 with the feature Konzert fuer die rechte Hand. He studied at the American Film Institute from 1988-1989 and made several shorts there including Apartment Under The Influence. He has since made "Engel wider Willen - die Welt der Kastraten" (1992), "Wie es ihr gefaellt: Cheryl Studer - eine amerikanische Sopranistin" (1996) and "Ein toedliches Verhaeltnis" (1997).

Source: German films Service & Marketing GmbH