Michael Golamco is an Americanplaywright andscreenwriter for film and television. He is of Filipino and Chinese American descent.[1]
Achievers (2001) was Golamco's first full-length play, and was read publicly in New York City by theater group Second Generation Productions.[2] In 2001, a full production of the play was put on by a theater group called "Propergander" that includedRandall Park,Vivian Bang,Tim Chiou,Eddie Shin and others.[3] The play was then produced at other universities includingDartmouth College (the first university performance),Cal Poly Pomona,UC Berkeley and in 2005,Stanford University.[4]
In 2006, Golamco wrote a feature film screenplay version of the play, which was turned into a film directed by Abraham Lim (who also helped co-write the screenplay), and which also starredRandall Park,Tim Chiou and others - the film received positive reviews from publications such asVariety, which called it a "a divertingly loopy experience by turns deadpan, surreal, and quietly poignant" with "cleverly interwoven plot strands, a lively mix of visuals, spot-on perfs and a cool soundtrack".[5][6]
Currently in development,The Shadow on the Moon is a self-described "hard-edged comedic and dramatic exploration of the link between religious awakening and mental illness."[7] In August 2005, the play was publicly read in New York City with the theater company Second Generation Productions.[8]
Golamco's playCowboy versus Samurai (2005) has run with the National Asian American Theater Company in New York, receiving favorable reviews fromThe New York Times.[9] The play was also produced in Seattle[10] as well as in Canada at the Vancouver Asian Canada Theater company[11] and in Hong Kong by Looking Glass Productions.[12][13] TheLos Angeles premiere of the play will be produced and staged by Artists at Play in the Fall of 2013.[14] The Los Angeles premiere from Artists at Play was directed by Peter Kuo, and starredFeodor Chin as Chester, West Liang as Travis Park, Julia Cho as Veronica Lee and Daniel Vincent Gordh as Del (the last two cast members also being from the Emmy Award-winning webseriesThe Lizzie Bennet Diaries). The play has also been produced in Minneapolis (by Mu Performing Arts), Seattle (by SiS Productions), San Francisco (by theAsian American Theater Company), San Diego, California (by Mo’olelo), and Dallas, Texas.[15]Cowboy Versus Samurai was also selected by theTribeca Film Institute for its All Access Open Stage Program, and is available in print in Smith and Kraus'sNew Playwrights: The Best Plays of 2006 andThe Best Stage Scenes of 2006.
Golamco's play about Cambodian Americans growing up in Long Beach,Year Zero (2009), ran at theSecond Stage Theater in New York City,Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, and at the Colony Theater in Burbank, Los Angeles.[16][17]Year Zero also was a Grand Prize winner of theChicago Dramatists' Many Voices Project, and was nominated for aJeff Award in the "Best New Work" category.[18][19] In New York, the originating cast starred Mason Lee (son of directorAng Lee) as Vuthy, andDavid Huynh played Vuthy andTim Chiou played Han when the production went to LA's Colony Theater (with Chiou also playing the role of Han in the Chicago production at theVictory Gardens Theater).[20][21][22]
Golamco's most recent play,Build (2012) premiered at theGeffen Playhouse in Los Angeles during October to November 2012.[23] The play concerns the story of two Silicon Valley legends struggling with coding their latest video game and dealing with a female artificial intelligence, or A.I.[24][25] According to an article inLA Weekly, Golamco also immersed himself in the gameWorld of Warcraft in order to write the play.[26]
Golamco's short plays includeHeartbreaker (2007), a predecessor to his full-length playYear Zero (2009).[27] It featured the same Cambodian American teenage character of Vuthy (pronounced "Woo-tee") and was performed for Second Generation’s TEN Reading Series at New York’sJoseph Papp Public Theater in April–May 2007, has also been published in the anthology "BEST TEN MINUTE PLAYS OF 2007: 2 Actors" (Smith & Kraus 2007), and was also selected as a finalist for theActors Theatre of Louisville’s 2009 National Ten Minute Play Competition/Heideman Award.[28]
Another short play written by Golamco isPlease Stand By (2008), about a girl named Wendy who hasautism spectrum disorder and a fixation onStar Trek. She has written a three hundred page script for a newStar Trek television series and needs to reach Los Angeles so thatJoss Whedon can read it. And despite what her caregiver and younger sister wants, Wendy also desires her freedom.[29] In 2008, the play was performed for Thumping Claw alongside one acts written by Carla Ching,Julia Cho and Lloyd Suh, starredVivian Bang, Monica Hong and Bernadette Bonfliglio, and was directed by Heidi Helen Davis. The short play is also the basis for Golamco's feature film screenplay of the same name, made into the filmPlease Stand By (2017), directed by Ben Lewin (The Sessions) and starringDakota Fanning as well asToni Collette.
Golamco also received the Helen Merill Award, was a member of theCenter Theatre Group's writing workshop, and is currently working on new play commissions from theSouth Coast Repertory and theSecond Stage Theater.[30] Golamco is also a member of the playwright collectiveNew Dramatists.[31]
Golamco has also written the screenplay for the award-winning short film,Dragon of Love starringRandall Park and directed by Doan La.[32][33] He has also co-written a feature film entitledThe Achievers (based on a stage play he wrote entitled "Achievers") with Abraham Lim, and also directed by Abraham Lim, starringTim Chiou,Randall Park,Samantha Quan and Alexis Rhee.[34][35] In 2014-2015, Golamco wrote a feature film screenplay entitledPlease Stand By, which was released in 2017, directed byBen Lewin (The Sessions), and also starringToni Collette,Dakota Fanning andAlice Eve.[36][37]
In 2019, Golamco co-wrote the screenplay along withRandall Park andAli Wong for the filmAlways Be My Maybe, directed byNahnatchka Khan.
In May 2019, Golamco was confirmed to co-write theAkira live action adaptation withTaika Waititi (who was set to direct before exiting to directThor: Love and Thunder).
Golamco was a staff writer for the NBC television seriesGrimm.[38] For the series, he has written the teleplays for the episodes "You Don't Know Jack" (Season 4, episode 20) (2015), "Hibernaculum" (Season 4, episode 17) (2015), "Cry Luison" (Season 4, episode 5) (2014), "El Cucuy" (Season 3, episode 5) (2013) and "Synchronicity" (Season 3, episode 17) (2014), the story for the episode "The Law of Sacrifice" (Season 3, episode 18) (2014), and was a story editor for the episode "Thanks for the Memories" (Season 4, episode 1) (2014) of NBC's seriesGrimm.[39] Forseason 4 of the series, Golamco was promoted tostory editor along with another staff writerThomas Ian Griffith. Golamco became executive story editor forseason 5, at which time Griffith becameco-producer on the show.
Golamco is a graduate ofUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he majored inEnglish literature.[40] He also graduated fromRedwood High School inLarkspur, California.[41]
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